If you harbor some anxiety about visiting the dentist, you certainly aren’t alone. As many as 75% of adults report some level of dentophobia — fear of dentists. For those who dread […]
The Strange Case of the Exploding Teeth
The Pink Poop Pandemic and the Breakfast Cereal That Caused It
What do monsters eat for breakfast? When Mary Shelley described Frankenstein’s monster, her words were remarkably descriptive. She did not, however, disclose what kind of breakfast cereal the freak of nature might […]
The Baffling Mystery of New Zealand’s Exploding Pants
Farmers have a hard enough time of it with all the challenges they have to face. Weather, regulations, animal diseases, crop blights, and fluctuating commodities markets are only a few of the […]
NASA Knows it Needs an Official Nose
When you contemplate all the skills involved in sending someone into space, you think about math, physics, rocketry, and orbital dynamics. Odds are that you didn’t spend a lot of time thinking […]
Which Came First: the Match or the Lighter?
We may not know whether the chicken or the egg came first, and we might not even know why some stars appear to be older than the universe itself. There is one […]
Pray That Your Nose Never Knows This Putrid Perfume
What most offends your olfactory senses? Week-old dirty running socks? Rotten eggs? A well-ripened dirty diaper? Think of the odor that curls your nose hairs and sends you into fits of revulsion. […]
Et tu, Next Breath?
One of the most famous assassinations in history took place on March 15, 44 BC. Julius Caesar was attacked by a group of Roman senators and stabbed to death. William Shakespeare famously […]
No One is Worthless. Everyone is Worth at Least $160
If you have ever heard someone described as “worthless,” you would do well to remember that no one truly qualifies as such. Setting aside the value of life and what a person […]
Do You Want Your Peanut Butter Creamy, Crunchy, or Diamond?
Peanut butter has been a source of delight since the time of the Aztecs, and just when it seems well decided that nothing can be done to improve upon an already good […]
Relativity? Big Deal… We Want to Know About His Report Card
Albert Einstein’s 1896 Report Card. An often-repeated legend tells of Albert Einstein struggling so hard with math and physics that he failed his college entrance exams. In reality, Einstein excelled in both […]
They Always Said His Inventions Would be the Death of Him
Thomas Midgley, Jr. held over one hundred patents for his mechanical engineering and chemistry advancements. Certainly not winning any prizes from environmentalists, it was Midgley who developed the lead-based additive for gasoline, […]
Nerd Humor for Punny Chemists
A mosquito was heard to complain, “A chemist has poisoned my brain!” The cause of his sorrow Was paradichloro- triphenyldichloroethane. paradichlorotriphenyldichloroethane is an insecticide, closely related to dichlorotriphenyldichloroethane, more commonly known as […]
Pepto Bismol — For More Than Just an Upset Tummy
Exposing Pepto Bismol to high heat will reduce it to a chunk of metal known as a bismuth slag. See a video demonstration here.
Kids (and Adults, for that Matter), Do NOT Try This at Home!
Mischievous students are often eager to start Chemistry class with dreams of creating explosives, mixing up deadly poisons, or dissolving things in corrosive acid. Much to the surprise and harm of many […]
Super Sticky — Accidental History
Eastman Kodak researcher Harry Coover discovered Superglue years before he figured out what to do with it. At first, its stickiness infuriated him.
Commonplace Fun Facts 