Is alcohol the most dangerous drug?
The story The headlines that hit every news broadcast that I heard on Monday reported that ‘alcohol is more dangerous than heroin’. This was taken from a report put together by the Independent Committee on Drugs of which Professor Nutt, the sacked government chief drugs advisor, is a member.
Bonfire night bonanza
Bonfire night gives a great opportunity to put an exciting spin on chemistry. Of course – you can demonstrate flame tests; sprinkle iron filings into a Bunsen flame to make a pretty sparkler affect or carry out a spot of fire-writing (see weblink below). All of these are fun but tend to fill the lab […]
Space tourism
The story How long will it be before visiting space will be as common an event as boarding a flight to Spain? And will we be holidaying on Mars rather than Marbella in the future?
Bats and fats – novel ways of teaching the scientific method
Searching through the web as I do on a daily basis I come across many weird and wonderful scientific studies. You know – the kind of things that make you wonder why they bothered.
The light fantastic
The story The Nikon Small World competition first began in 1974 and the results from the latest batch of entries were announced this week. This annual event seeks out the latest and greatest photomicrographs (photographs taken using a light microscope).
Teaching science using chocolate
The story Today is the start of Chocolate week in the UK. This event celebrates the country’s favourite sweet treat with a host of cocoa-filled happenings around the country. And what a great excuse opportunity for some science lessons using chocolate.
Graphene dream
The story The Nobel prize for physics was awarded this year to two scientists working in Manchester for their work on developing graphene and creating a method to make it in large quantities. Graphene is an individual layer in graphite – the material pencil ‘leads’ are made from so the chances are that you have […]
Denim for DNA
The story It is Jeans for Genes day this Friday. This annual fundraising event encourages people to wear their jeans to school or work in order to raise money for the charity of the same name who provide funding and care for children with genetic disorders.
Could London Rock?
The story I wrote a post about the New Zealand earthquake at the beginning of this month and whilst it was terrifying to those involved at least the people of New Zealand are prepared for earthquakes and realise that they could happen at any time. Now reflect on Britain.
Fancy a wee dram?
Maybe not if you knew what it was made from…