Brainiac's alkali metals were FAKED!

The Brainiac video purports to show the explosions of alkali metals - rubidium and cesium - in a bathtub partially filled with water. The explosions are faked. They're bull-pucky. 

There is an honest video - I think - of the alkali metals going into water thanks to World of Chemistry and Roald Hoffman.

There are also videos from Periodic Table of Videos from the University of Nottingham that go through information - not just the explosions in water - of the alkali metals.

The above video explains why the Brainiac videos are faked from a thermodynamic basis.

Don't trust the internet, folks.

The Hunt For Green Helium

Helium is a noble gas, so the helium itself is already green. The helium itself doesn't do any damage to the environment.

However, we only find the helium in pockets of methane meaning that any hunt for helium is really a hunt for methane - a really effective greenhouse gas.

The video explains that scientists are now hunting down pockets of nitrogen with helium rather than methane with helium. That would be a big find.

Make a superhydrophobic surface at home

Your speakers aren't broken; the video is soundless.

It's also shows a very direct and simple way to make a superhydrophobic surface out of soot.

I recommend the first method from the video because acetone is way more flammable, and I have no idea where you'd get a wickless burner. I don't have any of those.

Bouncing Droplets: Superhydrophobic and Superhydrophilic Surfaces

Here there be tygers.

Well, math not tygers, but consider yourself forewarned.

The video goes through the concepts of hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity (sp?) as well as super- versions of each, paying special attention to the math of the angles as well as the energy between the surface and the liquid then the liquid and the vapor phase. 

I'm going to have to watch this a couple of times to understand the math a little better.

If you get it before I do, please explain it to me.

Walter White Teaching Chemistry - BREAKING BAD CLIPS

There is actually some decent chemistry being explained in Breaking Bad. 

I assume they had some chemistry consultant on set to write things on the board and proof the explanations that Walter was giving to his class.

Admittedly, Walter is portrayed as a pretty awful teacher who has some really interesting things to say about a subject that he finds fascinating. I'm hopeful I'm a little more engaging with my students much of the time, but I fear that sometimes I come off a bit like Walter White in the classroom.

Drink THIS If Your Mouth Is Burning

Well, dangit.

I've been saying that the heat-killing ability of milk toward chili peppers was because the capsaicin is soluble in fat which means that full-fat milk should be way more effective at reducing the burn.

But the study cited in this video says that skim milk was slightly more effective than was full-fat milk.

Dangit, how dare they learn something that makes a good story I've been telling for a couple of decades not be true anymore...

Food Plastics = Estrogens in Your Body

I promise that I'll have something fun and dopey for next week. We've been on a run of pretty heavy content mostly telling us that polymers are killing us.

I'm going to go outside and watch some butterflies.