River of Mac 'n Cheese!

I'll explain later!

But first I should explain I got the idea for this post from Talisi's blog! She wrote about this article explaining how the Yellow River in China is turning pink from tofu water! It just bothers me how the Yellow River is pink. It sounds like a confused teenage who doesn't know who they are in life. Apparently steam heating stations used for making tofu dye the water pink so people don't think it's drinking water. This is why people should stop eating tofu all together! My friend told me they have tofurkey (tofu turkey). WHY.

Anyway, if you're wondering about the relevance of this post to chemistry, I'm vaguely touching on how harmful waste products react with water to make these pretty cool but depressing colors. Depressing meaning my reaction when I look at the Hudson River. Chemistry explains this will come back to hurt us later! But for now let's look at cool pictures.

A RED RIVER. C'MON MANKIND. This sounds like something from a horror movie! It's also unsettling to know most of these colored rivers are in China. They must really care for all of their people... I guess Crayola factories must be located in China. What factories aren't located in China. 

The Vermilion River which got this awesome color from pollution from a nickel mine. I'm really sorry mother nature... but in this case I'm happy you were polluted... This river is just so cool! 

The Yellow River now located in New Hampshire in Massachusetts, contaminated by pollution from textile, shoe, and paper mills. If this is the same deal as with yellow snow, stay away!

Lastly the River of Mac 'n Cheese! I've always had an obsession with Mac n' Cheese, and this river in Wales looks very similar to the color of my favorite Kraft food! Wow, if I swam in this river my life would be made. As long as I don't have health problems after. 

Well all of these chemicals in the ocean react with water to form new substances. Then when evaporation occurs, these pollution substances are changed into gases. When they condense, they become rain and fall back down to Earth as acid rain. An elementary school education is enough to know this! 

So moral of the story: dump stuff on Mother Nature, and Mother Nature will dump it right back on you. 

Because cells have to be difficult.

Inspired by my school's upcoming hot dog eating competition, I figured the process of digestion involves chemistry. It does. Shocking. WARNING: I apologize in advance if this turns out to be gross; a man's got to do what a man's got to do for a chemistry blog.

Well since cells can't use hot dogs as a source of energy, the human body has to break it down. These cells should know they can be replaced at any second and will be! Literally. Mitotic division takes place every second.

Well the process of digestion all starts in the mouth! Odds are you don't know that saliva contains an enzyme called amylase. This makes the break down of food easier. So the next time you spit, you should feel very generous knowing you've just shared enzymes with the world.

WAIT. This article says how the stomach stretches and stores food otherwise we would eat food all day. What's so bad about that? That sounds like wonderful life!

Back to boredom. So the stomach secretes two liters of a combination of hydrochloric acid, pepsin, and other liquids with a really high acidity to break down the food. It's really disturbing considering that's enough to fill two big soda bottles... Because of this really high acidity, our stomachs would probably digest themselves if it weren't for mucus. Then most of the digestion actually takes place in the small intestine.Check out the original article here.

So if you really love food, PROVE IT. Enter the hot dog eating contest! Even if you don't win, you're a winner for how many hot dogs you get to eat.

Outer Space. Explosions. Enough Said.

Recently in a binary pair of stars, one of the stars exploded as a supernova right next to the other one! Talk about an ugly breakup. Well teachers usually exploded on me on a daily basis, and I don't get an article written about me!? Oh well. Still waiting. 

Maybe I keep writing about stars because they look so cool. 

Anyway these stars are basically a load of spinning oxygen, magnesium, and neon. The star that exploded has the 25-40 times the mass of the sun. Yes. Too much gas and you explode. Well anyway when this star ran out of hydrogen, it got pretty ugly. "I'll find another star who can give me the hydrogen I need!" Read more in this article: http://news.discovery.com/space/astronomy/star-survives-supernova-blast-to-the-face-140321.htm#mkcpgn=rssnws1. Now this star will either be a neutron star or a black hole. So first it explodes and then causes more misery. This star must be Kim Jong-Un's role model.  

Rubbing chemicals on myself all day, everyday

A lot of people will start a heated debated about what is the best invention. Honestly, I think deodorant and antiperspirant are easily two of the best inventions. Imagine how miserable everyone would be if the world wreaked of BO. Well as written on Tara's blog, these inventions that make life bearable may actually contain really harmful chemicals as described in this article.

With most substances, they should be kept away from broken skin. Broken skin in general should be avoided; that'd be for the best, but some chemicals can still be absorbed through your skin! These chemicals include aluminum, parabens, triclosan, talc, and others. I'm not surprised about this after many fun scientific discussions with my eighth grade math teacher, I know metals can be really harmful in the body, especially if digested. So avoid eating spoons. Anyway this shows why sometimes organic products may really be worth it! The word "organic" may not actually be just a label for Whole Foods to jack up their prices!

I actually thought about these chemicals in common body products while doing a chemistry project! In this project, one part involves taking pictures and recording what elements are found in every object of the picture. I took a picture of my shower, and it was very disturbing to find a lot of the chemicals in my shower soaps to be on chemicals to avoid at all costs lists. Like said in Tara's blog, some elements such as aluminum may even be linked to conditions such as Alzheimer's disease. Well I should end this blog now since I have to throw out all of these products and run to Whole Foods before it closes. Fun filled Saturdays.

Come see the last night of Romeo and Juliette Rock Rendition tonight!

Battle to the death: Me vs. fog machine

As I sit at music rehearsal and continue to be attack by fog, why not blog about it for chemistry? Because special effects are really special if they give you health complications. Am I losing sight or is this just a really good fog machine? Well since I'm on the second floor, let's hope it's not good enough to make me fall and break my face. 

Most fog machines heat glycol, glycerine, or mineral oil which creates a gas similar to fog or haze. Since it is heated, this gas usually stays near the ceiling. Maybe this is why they have a fan blowing, so the molecules cool and fall to the floor. Over time, the auditorium becomes filled with fog because more molecules are produced allowing the fog to completely fill the auditorium. It'll be fun trying to find the latter... Maybe this was purposely done so people can't see my face!

It's very reassuring to know this fog can become formaldehyde due to heat denaturation. Great. And if made incorrectly, these substances can be toxic! So don't try making these at home. Thanks for the anxiety http://chemistry.about.com/od/howthingswork/a/smokemachines_3.htm.

Is it had that it feels harder to breathe...

Everybody come see Romeo and Juliette Rock Adaptation! See me play a solo if I don't pass out because of this fog before!

Popping noises. (No this is not a post about joint problems)

Imagine a world without sound. Then imagine seeing a little kid overjoyed with his mouth wide open and some sort of candy in his mouth. Chances are that kid would be eating Pop Rocks! As Pop Rocks continue to be famous, many people are drawn to them mainly because they'll support and buy something that makes no sense to them. My language arts teacher said this is also why George Bush was elected as president twice. Before I start, thanks to Julie for first bringing attention to this topic on her blog http://jewly1.blogspot.com/2014/02/pop-rocks.html from the article http://chemistry.about.com/od/howthingsworkfaqs/f/poprockscandy.htm.

So as Julie stated, the popping noise that fascinates so many people if the sound of carbon dioxide (CO2) being released. To make Pop Rocks, the candy mixture itself is initially made and then mixed with carbon dioxide. This carbon dioxide is then trapped in the candy like a *insert clever simile here*! When this candy is in your mouth, saliva melts the candy allowing the CO2 to escape and create the popping noise. Don't worry, these CO2 emissions are not harmful. Otherwise plenty of kids would flop on the ground on a daily basis due to CO2 inhalation.

After reading this, I thought of another food that is bought more for entertainment than taste, Rice Krispies cereal! Because what other food will you hold to your ear in amusement? Let me just say how many articles about arthritis and joint pain I had to go through to find one article about a cereal.

So scientists aren't entirely certain of the causes of this sound, for try to find a person who will donate money for the research of a cereal noise. Good luck with that. But there are theories! Apparently when Rice Krispies cook, high temperatures are used to form bonds between starch molecules. As the rice cereal begins to rise, air pockets begin to form in the cereal. Then add milk which pushes the air in the pockets creating pressure and ultimately breaking the cereal. Thanks to http://www.livescience.com/4098-rice-krispies-snap-crackle-pop.html for information.

Well there you have it. Sorry if I ruined your morning cereal ritual by invoking too much thought.  

If you want to study sound waves, why not study Miley Cyrus

BREAKING NEWS!...

Miley Cyrus has recently been reborn as a cello player. Still, no one tell Robin Thicke about this video because no orchestra is looking for that kind of a member. Don't worry, there is a connection to chemistry!

See now if I tried to do this, it would sound like a group of cats fighting.

Now is the moment we've all been waiting for! I will satisfy your dire need for chemistry! Like a man who just came out of the desert and desperately needs water. Anyway, when I was watching this video, I was wondering how sound could be affected under certain conditions. As a sax player, I wondered if temperature could affect how sound traveled, and what do you know! It does! Now don't you see how Miley Cyrus was a much more interesting introduction than just this! 

We all know from chemistry class air or gases are composed of constantly moving molecules. When it's hot, gas molecules move faster because of the added thermal energy compared to when it's cold. Also, consists of a vibration which repeatedly collides with molecules until it collides with our ear drums which translate these vibrations into the sounds we hear. 

So do you think sound travels faster in hot or cold temperatures? 

Focus on two facts:

1) Sound is a repetition of collisions between molecules by a vibration. 

2) Temperature directly affects the speed of gas molecules. 

Therefore if gas molecules move faster, this means vibrations collide with them faster and thus be transferred faster. In cold weather, the gas molecules move slower giving a slower speed of collision and less opportunities for collisions. So gas molecules are basically like a mosh pit of kids. More energy translates to more bumping between kids or molecules and conversely as well. So sound does travel faster in warm temperatures! Read more of the relation between temperature and the speed of sound here: http://www.ndt-ed.org/EducationResources/HighSchool/Sound/tempandspeed.htm

Still regardless of the temperature, sound still travels at least 300 meters per second. Take sound to Antarctica, and I'll beat it in a race, no problem!... If I get a minute head start... or a couple minutes.... 

"When you look at me with those eyes, my heart stops"

Not because the eyes are blue or anything. That's boring. I'm really interested because I see the fifth state of matter in these eyes! Chicken eyes to be exact, as Sarah writes on her blog http://avogadrosalad.wordpress.com/. based on the original article from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/02/140224124212.htm.

Now how's that for a citation! More like a disgrace to MLA.

People often talk about three states of matter: solid, liquid, and gas. Then there's plasma. And then chicken eyes. The type of matter found in chicken eyes is called "disordered hyperuniformity." 

This state of matter was identified by researchers at Princeton and Washington University in the cones of eyes located in the retina. Sorry, I can't talk about parts of the eye without thinking of this: 

"My cleats are stuck in your corneas!" 

Anyway, these cones detect the colors violet, blue, green and red. This type of matter has properties of a crystal while it can also behave like a liquid. Considering how much attention this is drawing to chickens' eyes, this is pretty impressive. 

Finding this unique discovery from chicken eyes reminds me of a topic first brought to my attention by my English teacher regarding the vanilla scent found in beaver anal glands. Yes, the vanilla flavor you may be eating or the vanilla scent you may be smelling may really be from a beaver's behind! This compound responsible for vanilla flavor and smell is found in a gland between the pelvis and tail. Due to this proximity, this compound is often secreted in natural waste. So the next time you like a girl's vanilla perfume, be sure to tell her "I really love your smell of beaver poo." Then wink and walk away. Then check out the original article at: http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/10/01/beaver-butts-emit-goo-used-for-vanilla-flavoring/ 

If you're wondering about the relevance of my tangent, it's to show how bizarre discoveries can be found in bizarre places. Who would've thought to look in a chicken's eyes for the fifth state of matter? Or a beaver's behind for vanilla? Well that's chemistry for you.