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The Time I Thought I Would Meet My Maker

12 Jan 2022

Being of Hungarian origin, I have had some experience with hot paprika. That’s why I was not averse to trying some of the hot sauces offered up for tasting at one of the many spice shops in New...

Smoke Alarms Are Not Created Equal

8 Jan 2022

Earlier this week, a fire broke out in a rowhouse in Philadelphia, killing at least 13 people. The deputy fire commissioner stated during a news conference that there were four smoke alarms but...

Want to cuddle? Personality is likely to get you further than oxytocin.

10 Dec 2021

Why do people cuddle? According to a slew of media reports, that answer lies in oxytocin, dubbed either the “cuddle chemical” or the “love hormone.” English pharmacologist and neurophysiologist Sir...

Is it true that rubbing olive oil on a knife will lead to “tearless chopping?”

10 Dec 2021

Not having carried out a proper scientific investigation in the kitchen, I can’s safe for sure, but I would doubt it makes a difference. Let’s delve into a little onion chemistry which will of...

A Real “Breaking Bad” Story

3 Dec 2021

As a chemistry professor, I find it particularly appalling when a member of the profession goes astray. That is just what Professor Bradley Allen Rowland did at Henderson State University in...

Would the Lone Ranger’s silver bullets have tarnished?

26 Nov 2021

We do get some interesting questions. The Lone Ranger was a television series that ran from 1949 to 1957 and recounted the adventures of a former Texas Ranger who with his companion, the Native...

From the Earth to the Moon

25 Nov 2021

No, this story is not about space travel. It is about the naming of elements, specifically, selenium, discovered by the Swedish chemist Jons Jacob Berzelius in 1817. He named it after Selene, the...

The Word “Cisgender” Has Scientific Roots

13 Nov 2021

In 2015, the Oxford English Dictionary added the word “cisgender” to its ever-evolving listing. It defines the adjective as “designating a person whose sense of personal identity and gender...

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