Celebrating the many sides of silver
CHEMFUSION
Let me tell you a little personal anecdote. About twenty-five years ago I was asked by a local library to give some lectures to the public. Since I had always been interested...
Read More >>Overcoming the challenges of dietary data
NUTRITION
Your grandmother, if you were lucky enough to have one, probably told you to eat your fruits and veggies. And now it seems that those grandmothers who meddled with our dietary habits and urged kids...
Read More >>Starring role for the world’s first plastic
MATERIALS
Quick, think of a movie star. Who is it? George Clooney? Dwayne Johnson? Jennifer Lawrence? It’s a good bet that the name Fred Ott didn’t cross your mind! Yet Fred was the world’s first movie star.
Read More >>Marketers berry the data
CHEMFUSION
“Blueberry” is a magic term these days when it comes to marketing. Supermarket shelves brim with blueberry yogurts, muffin mixes, waffles, juices, and even blueberry pills — all with...
Read More >>Sizing up the science of sweet
CHEMFUSION
We would like to have our cake and eat it too. In a sense, that is just what non-nutritive sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose, and stevia promise. Cut out sugar, a dietary villain, and replace it with a non-caloric sweetener and reduce your chance of putting on the pounds!
Read More >>Chemistry catches up with the myth of vampires
CHEMFUSION
It is always interesting to speculate on the origin of a folkloric tale, especially one that is as widespread as that of the blood sucking creature of the night known as the vampire.
Read More >>Dangerous chemicals lurk in holistic medicine
CHEMFUSION
Divide some laboratory rabbits into three groups. Feed one group normal rabbit chow, the second group a high-cholesterol diet and the third a high-cholesterol diet supplemented with 0.2 percent curcumin....
Read More >>The fancy fast-food wrapping that gets a bad rap
CHEMFUSION
We feel a bit guilty biting into a hamburger, pizza or hotdog. They comfort the taste buds but not the body, with all the fat, salt, cholesterol and various additives....
Read More >>The Canadian discovery that sparked a global industry
CHEMFUSION
On May 4, 1892 Thomas Willson, a Canadian inventor, placed some calcium oxide (lime), coal tar and aluminum oxide in a container and heated the mix to a high temperature....
Read More >>Magnets attract not only metal but gullible people
CHEMFUSION
Magnets are fascinating. Imagine the amazement of the ancient Greeks who discovered that some naturally occurring stones, later named magnetite because they were found in the region of Magnesia, attracted...
Read More >>Chemistry career sparked by the sting of capsaicin
CHEMFUSION
My early years were spent in Hungary so it should come as no surprise that my first venture into the world of chemistry involved paprika. Bread smeared with goose fat...
Read More >>Chemistry crucial to battling terrorism at airports
CHEMFUSION
We have become familiar with the routine at airports. Your carry-on bags are passed through an X-ray machine, after which an officer...
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