Modified sponge mops up oil but not water

"Due to the nature of the industry, cost-effective high absorbents are needed...Any advancement to have high spill sorbent is of use." ~ Seshadri Ramkumar

See, what he's saying is that the oil industry (and the shipping industry and pretty much everybody else) spills oil in the ocean...and lakes...and rivers...and fields...so we need to be ready to soak up the oil.

The environmental impact and morals of our modern dependence on fossil fuels aside, the chemistry here is pretty cool.

Though the name of 'compound 1' seems a little odd to me because I can't imagine that the first compound they tried was their successful attempt. There's a reason why we have Formula 409.

Either way, 'compound 1' attracts to nonpolar solvents like oils but has little to no attraction to polar solvents (like water).

Smartphone "Spectrophotometer"

Sure, but what students of mine would actually have smartphones?

Oh, that's right, pretty much all of them.

It's fascinating to see what we can do with smartphones.

I may have to try this one out myself because AP chemistry now requires a Beers Law lab.

Purity

See, it's funny because scientists are known to reduce other branches of science to being just an applied version of their own. Chemists claim than biology is just applied chemistry, then physicists claim that chemistry is just applied physics and so on.

Then comes mathematics on which all of the sciences are based and which isn't necessarily - at least as far as this comic is concerned - based on any of the other STEM fields.

Plus it has a squirmy, stick-figure-style octopus and a psychologist with a stick-figure, folkster beard. That's inherently funny.