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Science BaseLayers of graphene, water and heliumGraphene is perhaps the thinnest material known. Essentially it is a single, isolated layer of the carbon allotrope graphite. In SpectroscopyNOW this week I discuss new research into how a single layer of graphene is transparent to water molecules in the sense that the water can “see” whatever is underneath without the graphene influence. More [...] Layers of graphene, water and helium is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog Post mortem breast implants When you leave your body to medical science you might imagine some marvellous discovery among your organs and tissues that leads researchers to the wondrous discovery of a universal anticancer drug or something equally stupendous. In reality, it can be a much more mundane, especially for any women donating their mortal coil. Researchers at Emory [...] Post mortem breast implants is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog Deodorants still don’t cause breast cancer It was perhaps inevitable that a paper published in the journal Journal of Applied Toxicology that showed parabens (a preservative used in underarm deodorants and countless other products) to be present in breast cancer tissue samples would be grabbed by the tabloids and others and turned into the latest scare story about how deodorants cause [...] Deodorants still don’t cause breast cancer is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog Alchemist Chemistry News The Alchemist learns how to manipulate tiny polystyrene beads with a set of micro-tweezers this week and spots the smoking gun in forensics using capillary-scale ion chromatography and suppressed conductivity. In the world of chemophobia has asked why parabens are still the focus of research into underarm hygiene and breast cancer despite the lack of [...] Alchemist Chemistry News is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog Shape of snowflakes On Christmas Day 2006, I posted a blog about how snowflakes are not all different and some of the science underlying the formation of snowflakes. The American Chemical Society had a nice infographic at the time showing the principles of snowflake formation (PDF here). There’s no snow around here, but this is Britain, the weather [...] Shape of snowflakes is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog The Northern Lights are in my mind I’ve not yet seen the Aurora borealis, nor the Aurora australis, but they’re always on my mind. I am sure they’re amaaazing and wunderfuuul. This week a coronal mass ejection (CME) from the Sun stimulated the earth’s atmosphere and magnetic field to produce some marvellous lights that were even seen as far south as Northern [...] The Northern Lights are in my mind is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog Is antioxidant luteolin an anticancer super-nutrient? A flavonoid compound found in fruit and vegetables, luteolin, was recently hailed as an anticancer supernutrient by the tabloid media. Aside from the fact that over-dosing on antioxidants could be detrimental to one’s front-line immune response to pathogens, the research was purely laboratory based and said nothing about whether or not luteolin might actually prevent [...] Is antioxidant luteolin an anticancer super-nutrient? is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog Cornstarch monsters on a speaker cone Sometimes an old viral video needs another airing. In this video from about three years ago, a mixture of corn starch poured into a speaker cone is vibrated at 30 Hz using a signal generator and the video shot at 30 frames per second (coincident timing with the speaker frequency). Corn starch is a non-Newtonian [...] Cornstarch monsters on a speaker cone is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog Visceral manipulation My gut feeling is that visceral manipulation is yet another sCAM practice based on falsehoods, an economy of truth, and, basically, lies. Science-based medicine gives us the low down: “I think we can reasonably assume that any abdominal manipulation sufficient to disrupt adhesions would risk tissue damage and internal bleeding, but [visceral manipulation] is not [...] Visceral manipulation is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog Viscous fluid on a moving belt A stream of very viscous syrup falling from a nozzle on to a moving belt. At first, the speed of the belt is enough that the thread of syrup is just pulled out straight. However, as the belt is slowed down, the thread at first bifurcates to a meandering state, producing a sine wave and [...] Viscous fluid on a moving belt is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog |
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