Naughty elements

See, it's funny because oxygen has a high electronegativity, meaning it'll 'steal' electrons from other atoms easily.

Santa has promised those 'stealing' elements coal in their stocking, but oxygen wouldn't mind that because coal oxidizes just fine releasing a bunch of energy in the process.

Somehow the personification of oxygen as a seemingly mischievous little red-headed girl seems appropriate.

Thanks, again, to @difluorine for creating and sharing this cartoon. 

Solar Desalination Skylight by Henry Glogau

I am amazed by people who can develop this beautiful a solution to multiple problems.

The light described above seems to - and it's so perfect that I'm a little skeptical as to the science - purify salt water through simple evaporation while producing a concentrated salt brine that can then be used to power a 5V LED strip to provide light into homes that have no electricity.

I'm stunned.

An electrolytic cell cartoon from @difluorine

I really like this cartoon.

Big thanks to @difluorine for posting this and giving the world permission to use it in classes.

The cuteness of the big-headed figures and the scientific accuracy of everything just makes me shine with happiness.

And in case I ever need the black and white version...

Will a Kettle Full Of Alcohol Stay On Forever?

Lots of interesting stuff from Steve Mould today.

He looks at two different designs of electric kettles and tries to explore how they work, making a few predictions along the way involving the boiling points of water and ethanol. He then takes the kettles apart and explains why the two kettles behave differently and why they don't behave the ways he expected.