This article was first published in the Montreal Gazette.
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No, this story is not about space travel. It is about the naming of elements, specifically, selenium, discovered by the Swedish chemist Jons Jacob Berzelius in 1817. He named it after Selene, the...
As early as the ancient dynasties of Egypt, silver coins were placed in the drinking vessels of the nobility to protect them from harm. Of course, this was not the result of any scientific...
Leonid Tenkaev and his wife claim that the nuclear accident at Chernobyl in Ukraine transformed them into human magnets. Pictures of the couple show spoons, keys and even irons sticking to their...
Like any plant, the tea plant is composed of hundreds of different compounds. Some of the most interesting ones fall into the category of polyphenols, so called because of their molecular structure...
When it comes to chemical composition, tires are extremely complex. Different kinds of rubber, carbon black, vulcanizing agents, antioxidants, antiozonants, polymerization accelerators,...
Imagine the surprise of the first cave person who ever glanced into a reflecting pond. The image probably wasn't too pleasing but the effect was surely intriguing. Vanity was instantly born and the...