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Beaker vs. Milli Mole
Beaker looks a little scared. Credit: Lauren Wolf/C&EN
If you think C&EN’s Beaker is quite the globe trotter, check out this awesome video of Milli Mole’s jaunts around the world, courtesy of the chemistry faculty at the University of Central Oklahoma. To see the video, scroll down to the middle of the page and click the play arrow.
Where will this dynamic duo show up next?
Hat tip to Bill Suits. Thanks, Bill!
Jeopardy IYC Recap
I don’t think I’ve ever been as tuned into the TV game show Jeopardy as I was last night. It’s usually on in the background while I’m eating dinner. But last night was different. For weeks, I had known that this episode would be featuring questions related to the International Year of Chemistry.
I was eager to find out what questions would be asked … or in this case, what clues would be posed.
About halfway through the episode, and after a commercial break, host Alex Trebek introduces the categories for Double Jeopardy. The IYC logo pops up on the screen, and Trebek says, “This is the International Year of Chemistry, according to the U.N.” He then introduces the other categories: musical theater, papal bulls, writers’ relatives, what do you stand for, and nothing.
The contestants went straight for the musical theater clues. The minutes seemed to drag on, and most of the other categories had been completed, before one of the contestants, Jay Rhee, an oncologist from Annapolis, Md., finally tackles the first IYC clue for $1600, which turned out to be a Daily Double:
“Frederick Soddy came up with this term for atoms having the same nuclear charge but different masses.”
Rhee, who was up to $17,100 by this point, bet $100 and poses the question, “What are isotopes?”
“Isotopes is right,” said Trebek.
Rhee asked for a second IYC clue for $400:
“The celebratory year 2011 marks 100 years since this radiant scientist’s Nobel prize for chemistry,” said Trebek.
Rhee: Who is Curie?
Trebek: Be more specific.
Rhee: Who is Marie Curie?
Trebek: Yes!
After a break to tackle some of the other categories, Rhee came back to IYC and asked for the $2000 clue:
“A solid can be finely analyzed using the EELS technique, which studies energy loss in these particles.”
Buzzer (signaling no response). “Energy loss in the electrons,” Trebek offered.
Rhee asked for the $1200 IYC clue:
“A chemical known as an anhydride is one that removes this from substances.”
Contestant Julianne Moore, a mom and volunteer from Placentia, Calif., chimed in: “What is water?”
Correct!
She asked for the next IYC clue for $800:
“You exhale this gas first identified by British scientist Joseph Black in the 1750s.”
Not one to be outdone, contestant Scott Goldstein, a director and writer of a sketch comedy theater from Chicago, Ill., asked, “What is carbon dioxide?”
Correct!
And the IYC category was finished, with one clue left in the “Nothing” category.
Watch for yourself and let us know what you think about the chemistry clues posed and how the contestants did: http://www.chemistry2011.org/about-iyc/news/on-Jeopardy/
What is … the International Year of Chemistry?
Tune in to Jeopardy! next Monday, June 21, for some chemistry trivia. The episode will feature questions related to the International Year of Chemistry. We have no idea what topics will be featured, so you’ll just have to watch! For local air times, visit http://www.jeopardy.com and click on “when to watch.”
Let us know what you think of the contestants’ chemistry knowledge!
IYC Groom’s Cake
Analytical chemist George Ruger sent us these photos of an IYC-inspired groom’s cake that he had at his wedding earlier this year:
How are you celebrating IYC? Feel free to share your photos with us!
More IYC stamps
To celebrate the International Year of Chemistry, countries around the world are issuing commemorative stamps. Newscripts wrote about some of these stamps in the March 14th issue of C&EN. Since then, several more stamps have been issued:
Jersey
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Macedonia
Gabon
For more information on these stamps and to learn about new stamps being issued, visit the IYC Postage Stamp Central page on the IYC website.
Celebrating IYC with a Children’s Book
In celebration of the International Year of Chemistry, South African children’s author Ginny Stone has written a children’s book about chemistry.
In “Sibo Mixes Things Up,” the main character–a young girl named Sibo–has made a huge mess and has to clean it up before her mother finds out. Her friend Lennie comes to the rescue and helps clean up the mess with a chemical “magic potion.” Sibo becomes curious about chemicals and wants to learn more about them. So her teacher invites a guest to come talk to her class about chemistry and how it helps them in their everyday life.
The book is the 10th in a series of Sibo books by Stone. “Chemistry only gets introduced to kids in Grade 6 or 7 in South Africa and I figured there is no earthly reason for them not to know about it when they are younger,” she says.
Stone debuted the book during SciFest Africa, South Africa’s national science festival, which was held this year on May 4-10 in Grahamstown, South Africa. For more information about the book, visit: www.sibo.co.za/sibo_2_011.htm
Photo by Ginny Stone.
Got Peeps?
Have some Peeps leftover from Easter and don’t know what to do with them? Peeps — you know, marshmallow gooeyness shaped like pastel chicks and bunnies?
ACS member Kathryn Hughes sent me this adorable photo of an IYC-themed Peep diorama that she; her husband Matthew Clarke, and friend Abigail Miller, created for the Washington Post’s fourth annual Peeps diorama contest. They affectionately named their diorama “International Peep of Chemistry.” Note the “Peepriodic Table of Elements” hanging on the back wall. And if you look real close, you can see safety glasses on each Peep — and the gas cylinder is strapped down …. and there’s an eye wash and a fire extinguisher, complete with inspection tags.
Even Peeps have to demonstrate prudent practices in the lab!
Hughes is a program officer with the National Academy of Sciences’ Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology. Clarke is a chemist at the National Gallery of Art. And Miller is a chemist at American University.
“It took all of our chemical know-how to pull it together,” said Hughes. But “sadly, our fabulous chemical creativity was not rewarded by even runner-up status.” Nevertheless, it did bring IYC to the attention of the Washington Post judges. The first place winner of the contest was a diorama depicting the October 2010 rescue of the 33 trapped Chilean miners.
Feel free to submit examples of how you are celebrating IYC in your community.
By the way, if you’re curious what these peeps are made of, read C&EN’s What’s That Stuff article on the chemistry of marshmallows.
Catch Nancy Jackson on National Public Radio
Tune in to National Public Radio at 8pm EDT on Mon., May 16th, and Mon., May 23, to hear ACS President Nancy Jackson talk about the International Year of Chemistry on the NPR show “The Best of Our Knowledge” with host Glenn Busby. Topics will include the central role that chemistry plays in our modern world, ACS’s chemistry ambassadors, science education, and mentoring in chemistry.
“The Best of Our Knowledge” features leading experts whose discoveries shape our ways of thinking and redefine our understanding of today’s knowledge-driven society.
The original broadcasts will air on the WAMC NPR network in the Northeastern U.S. The programs will be rebroadcast on WAMC network at 3pm on Fri., May 20, and Fri., May 27. Listeners can also tune in on the web at http://www.wamc.org/prog-tbook.html during these times.
NPR affiliate radio stations nationwide will broadcast the segments on Wed., May 18, and Wed., May 25. Check your local NPR affiliate for the program times. After the segments air, podcasts will be posted online at the WAMC website, and CDs can be ordered by calling (800) 323-9262.
