I've always known that Jesus is for geologists, as well as for biologists, chemists, physicists, archeologists, astronomers, and all other sorts of scientists. There are, of course, many Christians who are scientists, and many scientists who are Christians. As a graduate student in geology, I found rich fellowship with a half dozen Christian geologists-in-training, and …
Continue reading Jesus is for geologists (and other scientists)
News of surprising biochemistry: Thriving on Arsenic (NASA Astrobiology Magazine) NASA microbiologist Felisa Wolfe-Simon has discovered bacteria that apparently can use arsenic in its DNA in place of phosphorus. Most biochemistry can be done with six elements: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur (CHONPS). Smaller amounts of a variety of other elements are also …
My daughter did the "burn the nut" experiment in her high school chemistry class yesterday. In this experiment, the nut is set up under a calorimeter (which could be as simple as a glass beaker with a thermometer, though other setups work better), the nut is burned, the water warms up, and the student calculates …
In honor of Avogadro's number (6.02 x1023), today is mole day. According to some who celebrate this day, celebrations can actually begin at 6:02 on 10/23. National Mole Day Foundation Mole Day Jokes -- there are some new ones here I had not seen before. Grace and Peace
From Times Online: School lab health and safety rules 'could stop future scientists': It is a scientific fact, tested and proven by generations of pupils, that experiments in school laboratories win young people to the cause of science. White coats, goggles and the chance to set fire to things foster a passion for chemistry that …
Here are some results of a PEW Research Center study on the religious and political beliefs of scientists: Statistic #1 42% -- Scientists ages 18-34 who say they believe in God. 28% -- Scientists 65 and older who say this. What does this mean? Does it mean that an increasing number of scientists believe in …
One more periodic table: from the 1924 CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, which one of my ancestors picked up somewhere. This periodic table has 79 elements, as opposed to the 117 on the current periodic table, 90 of which are naturally-occurring. The familiar modern layout of the periodic table (as on my previous post) …
Here is a PDF of the periodic table I used when I taught chemistry at Bucharest Christian Academy, updated to include copernicium (element 112, Cp). Feel free to copy and distribute this table. The GeoChristian Periodic Table of the Elements Here's what it looks like:
Element 112, a few atoms of which were created in Germany in 1996, finally has an official name. The new name is copernicium (symbol Cp), in honor of astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543). "Copernicium" replaces the temporary name ununbium (un=one, un=one, bi=two for 112, symbol Uub) that element 112 has had since it was created. It …
This item was originally posted in September, 2006. It is now part of my blog recycling program. Because I have new readers of The GeoChristian, I will occasionally go back and re-use some of my favorite blog entries. There is a version of this video on YouTube that I don't think was available last year. …
Continue reading The Inner Life of the Cell — The Extended Version
Here's a nice, simple graphic showing the motion of particles in a gas. Some are moving faster, some slower; the average velocity is a function of the temperature. Here's the caption from the Wikipedia article on temperature: The temperature of a gas is a measure of the average kinetic energy of its atoms or molecules …
This item was originally posted in March, 2006. It is now part of my blog recycling program. Because I have more people reading The GeoChristian now than I did a year ago, I will occasionally go back and re-use some of my best blog entries. Having read a number of technical books and papers on …
Books and Culture has an fascinating review of two books about nerve gas: War of Nerves: Chemical Warfare from World War I to Al-Qaeda by Jonathan Tucker Chemical Warfare: A Study in Restraints by Frederic Brown Some quotes from the review: My favorite of Tucker's tales is the story of Boris Libman, a native of …
Thermite reaction - a chemical reaction that generates enough heat to melt iron. Alkali metal reactions - I've put sodium in water for a science demonstration, but that seems rather tame compared to rubidium or cesium in water! Tacoma Narrows Bridge - the ultimate engineering mishap. Concrete and steel are flexible! Liquid metal - watch …
It is that time of the year; time for chemists (and their students) to gather around their chemis-trees and sing chemis-tree carols. Here's one I wrote for the occasion: THE CHEMIS-TREE SONG (Tune: The Christmas Song) Chestnuts roasting with an open fire With a calorimeter Chemis-tree carols being sung by a choir And students dressed …
ATP synthase moves me to worship the Creator. Every cell on Earth, from simple bacteria to human brain cells, needs a molecule called ATP (adenosine triphosphate; pictured to the left) in order to do a wide variety of tasks. ATP is used as the cell's energy molecule; the source of energy for everything from cell …
Continue reading Electron transport chain and ATP synthase animations
Are you celebrating National Mole Day? National Mole Day—no, moles are not mammals that make tunnels under your lawn, nor brown spots on your skin, nor spies working within an organization—is a celebration of the chemical concept of the mole. So, what is a mole? Here's my Chemistry textbook definition: Mole: "quantity of a substance …
I just finished teaching about electron configurations and orbitals (quantum mechanics stuff) in Chemistry -- you know, the 1s22s22p63s23p64s23d6 stuff. Well, maybe you don't remember. Don't worry about it. If you do remember quantum mechanics, you'll appreciate the graphical depictions of orbitals at The Orbitron, a gallery of atomic orbitals and molecular orbitals. Even if …
Ununoctium (element 118, symbol Uuo) has been created by a lab in Russia, as part of a joint U.S.-Russia project. They created three atoms of ununoctium-294 by colliding nuclei of californium-249 with nuclei of calcium-48: I've already added it to my classroom periodic table: Comments: The creation of Uuo has been announced before. In 1999, …
We're doing elements and atomic theory in Chemistry right now. Sometimes I give my students worksheets, and sometimes I give them "funsheets." I tell them that all worksheets are funsheets, but they aren't convinced yet. Here's a funsheet. You may need a periodic table or a list of the elements to help with some of …
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