Posts tagged with ‘chemistry’

Scientists capture first-ever image of atoms moving inside a molecule

Scientists have mapped the probable paths of electrons, have manipulated individual atoms to make nano-structures, but until now, no one has actually seen atoms vibrating their little butts off inside a molecule. 

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NASA’s Spitzer Telescope finds solid buckyballs IN SPAAAAACE

Using the Spitzer Telescope, NASA discovered solid carbon buckyball particles in deep space. Previously, carbon buckyball formations had only been discovered in gaseous form. 

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Scientists can now accurately tell what you’ve been eating from your pee

Urinalysis has been used for a while, but it’s generally used to detect just a few key chemicals to detect for various drugs or pregnancy or whatnot. But with a new method of urine analysis, your doctor will be able to see what you’ve been eating from your pee without him or her going all Laura Dern in Jurassic Park on your stool sample, and without you lying to them to try to make it sound you eat healthier than you really do.

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Pepsi says Mountain Dew has the power to dissolve mouse carcasses

In a weird case of lawyers perhaps saying more than they should, the Pepsi company’s hired guns have said that Mountain Dew is chemically potent enough to completely dissolve an entire mouse.

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Why certain flavor combinations melt in your mouth

Creating harmonious flavors in cuisine is both an art and a science, but what is it that makes some combinations of flavors work and others don’t?  New research suggests that some cuisines may be based on combinations of dissimilar ingredients, but critics say the work is not filtering out flavors that may be unimportant to understanding why dishes are enjoyable.

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Deep within the Earth, iron oxide is turned into a new kind of metal. DEEP EARTH METAL \m/

“You lads ready to… ROCK?”

Iron oxide is a pretty familiar substance here on the earth, but due to the extremely intense pressures deep within the planet, iron oxide changes into a new type of metal entirely, which I shall call deep earth metal, which also could be used to describe a genre of heavy metal played by fantasy dwarves.

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Gypsum deposits on Mars provide definitive proof of long ago surface water

Even though NASA’s Curiosity rover won’t land on Mars until next August, Opportunity is still scouring its little corner of the red plant and it recently sent back images of gypsum deposits, offering definitive proof that water once existed on the surface. There’s still no telling whether it was ever enough to support life, but it was there.

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Two new heavy elements get official names and this time they sound delicious!

Two new super heavy elements, elements 114 and 116 got official names this week. The new elemental names, as approved by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry are Flerovium (114) and Livermorium (116), named after the laboratories that first synthesized the elements.

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What’s the coldest water can get before it turns to ice?

What’s the coldest water can get before it turns to ice? 32 degrees F/0 degrees C? Nope. If you’re clever, you might say 0 degrees F, the temperature at which salt water freezes, but that’s still not close. Turns out, the absolute coldest water can get before it absolutely has to turn to ice is -55 degrees Fahrenheit. 

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