Tag Archives: Periodic table

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Video of the day: why you shouldn’t smoke near dinosaurs

Samuel Vimes as he appears in The Pratchett Po...

Image via Wikipedia

Today was rich in incident. The sun shone, gilding the faded, autumnal sky. Terry Pratchett’s latest novel turned up in my letterbox. Oh joy, a Vimes adventure to be savoured on a sun-kissed verandah, with a cigar and a non-alcoholic drink to hand.

Customer service from my phone company was revealed to be even more dickish than originally feared. Not so good, that one.

Orac slapped down some of the more deadly nonsense being spouted by Robert Eau Young (the magical alkaline water merchant). Things are getting better.

The branch of the “Occupy Wall Street” movement that felt impelled to occupy the financial centre of Brisbane was revealed to be gloriously inept on all fronts. They set up a webcam live stream, which was almost immediately hogged by an anti-vaccine nutter, with added birther and truther lunacy for those stubborn traces of reality that just won’t brainwash out.

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Video of the day: A dandelion discusses ozone Down Under

Antarctic ozone layer in September with the ho...

Image via Wikipedia

The Chemistry department of the University of Nottingham has done it again. Since this particular subject is important, as it affects our lives and health, just as it will affect our children, I’ve promoted it to Video of the Day.

Professor Martyn Poliakof and his hair talk about how the ozone layer protects us, how the hole is formed, and why ozone closer to the ground is A Bad Thing. Amazingly, he manages to do this while wearing city clothes on a busy beach, surrounded by bikini babes, and never once losing his concentration. Outstanding, sir.

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The Periodic Table of Videos

Chemist Professor Martyn Poliakoff, from the U...

Chemist Professor Martyn Poliakoff, from the University of Nottingham, is filmed in his office for The Periodic Table of Videos project. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Or: do you have a Licence for explosives, sir?

There is apparently a trend in many Western countries of students moving away from scientific studies and opting more for “soft” subjects like sociology and theatre studies. Which is a shame, because a well-balanced society needs both. The Chemistry department of the University of Nottingham have launched their own online campaign to (re)interest people in chemistry, by making short, Youtube-sized films about every single known chemical element: The Periodic Table of Videos

And so you have it: elements that pong, elements that go BANG!, an in-depth investigation into whether professors in inorganic chemistry can boil an egg (answer: no), useful hints on how to blow up a birthday cake, and a strong general sense that chemistry is fun.

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