Now Blogging at GeekMom with Mythbuster Kari Byron!

I've been busy the past few months helping to launch GeekMom, a site dedicated to moms who want to share their geeky passions with their kids. To start us off, we've got MythBusters host Kari Byron writing about her new adventure as mom to a one-year-old girl. Kari is also the host of the new hour-long kids' show Head Rush. Check us out!

And I'll still be blogging at GeekDad, so be sure to stop by there too!

The Buckyball is 25 today!

Google's animated doodle alerted me to this milestone in modern chemistry. Buckyballs, discovered in 1985, are carbon molecules that are exceptionally strong and light. They're used in carbon fiber bike frames and a whole host of other cutting edge products. We saw the original inspiration, Bucky Fuller's geodesic dome, on a trip to Montreal.

Check out my post on GeekDad.

Discover Magazine is Looking for Home Experiment Videos!

Unfortunately, all our best videos are just a couple seconds long. But if you're interested:

DISCOVER is currently producing a Web TV show about home science experiments and demonstrations, and we're looking for submissions—the most enlightening, visually impressive, surprising, or just plain funny videos out there. Submit your video below (it's OK if you've already uploaded it elsewhere on the Web) and we'll select the best ones for the show. (Winners will of course be identified.)

For more information, go to the Discover Magazine website.

Lots of Periodic Tables

Just a pointer post to an interesting post by my fellow GeekDad writer Nathan Barry on some creative versions of Periodic Tables, including illustrator Russell Walks' cool-looking Periodic Table of Imaginary Elements.

Salt Crystal Trees

I just did a class on The Chemistry of Crystals for a local elementary school's Saturday Scholars program where we did the Salt Crystal Garden project I did with my kids in 2007. In addition to  using cubes of kitchen sponge as a base, we used cardboard toilet paper tubes to make Salt Crystal trees. Since the crystals were just starting to form by the time the class was over, I tested the project out the day before to make sure it would work. It took a while to get going, but the result was pretty spectacular.

The formula we use is an adaptation of the one found on the website for Mrs. Stewart's Bluing. Bluing is a colloidal suspension of very fine blue iron powder in water. Its actual purpose is make laundry white! Although I've listed the changes we made, I never gave the final version of the directions, so here they are:

Materials

• porous base, such as a sponge or cardboard toilet paper tube
• Water: Distilled water is better than tap water.
• Salt: Plain, iodine-free pickling salt works better than table salt.
• Ammonia (NH3): Optional. Irritating to eyes and toxic. Use plain ammonia, not ammonia cleaners.
• Laundry Bluing: Bluing, a suspension of tiny particles of Prussian Blue (Ferric Hexacyanoferrate), makes clothes look whiter by tinting them slightly blue, among other uses. Mrs. Stewart's Bluing is a brand sold in some supermarkets or online at www.MrsStewart.com.
• Plastic cup and plastic spoon: For mixing chemicals. Throw them away when done.
• Disposable plastic bowl: To hold your garden.
• Liquid food coloring.

NOTE: I outfitted the kids with rubber gloves and safety goggles, to make things more scientific. 

1. For the sponge, wet with water and wring it out. Cut it into 1-inch sized pieces. Lay them in the bowl. Or cut the top of the cardboard tube into strips and bend them to look like tree branches. Stand the cardboard tube in the bowl.
2. In the cup, mix equal amounts (1 or 2 spoonfuls each) of salt, ammonia, and bluing. Stir until dissolved. For cardboard base, also add an equal amount of water.
3. Pour over the sponge or around the base of the tube. Try to keep it away from the sides of the bowl.
4. Sprinkle on 2 more spoonfuls of salt.
5. Add some drops of food coloring where desired.
6. Garden should start growing in 1 hour, depending on materials and humidity.
7. The garden will keep growing for several days. You can keep adding more salt and more solution. To make it last, don’t knock it or let it get blown, because the crystals will collapse.

Update: I've been adding more water to one of the crystal trees but not the other. Look at the difference in how they've developed. The tree that was watered is spiky, while the other is puffy!

 

A Little Nanoscience Cross-Posting

We did one of the nanoscience experiments from NISE Net and posted it on Home Physics. This bit of Kitchen Nanoscience demonstrates how difference in scale affects forces like gravity. It's quick and easy, if you've got some dollhouse or LEGO-sized drinking vessels around!

Home Chemistry in Chemical & Engineering News!

As promised, Chemical & Engineering News has an article mentioning our hand warmer experiment. Check it out!