paulsutton

I seems that who ever is in power President / party , it ends up being down to who controls the upper house (senate if I understand things) as to if things get through. Unless the president signs executive orders (which trump did seem to sign quite a few) Solving the underlying problems, that are behind many of the larger problems is, as with the UK going to require a long term strategy Right now in the UK we have a cost of living crisis, a crime problem and many other issues, our MPs are on summer recess and we are also waiting to find out who windows the Conservative leadership race, all this while people are struggling to make ends meet. Until then we seem to be in Limbo as no one wants to make a decision until the new leader is in place. Both sides have ideas, no one which seem to be long term, we need common ground, Western politics seems to be broken on both sides of the Atlantic, but America is seen as a country that takes the lead, and needs to be strong for others to follow and for the west to stand up to aggression.. Granted Donald Trump was also right when he said other NATO countries need to pay their way fully too. I don't exactly agree with Donald Trump on many things, but I did like the fact he tried to reach out and talk to North Korea, regardless, surely dialogue is better than mistrust and actions that could risk all out war. In the absence of other ideas. Paul I am sure that if that was on the voting form it would win a landslide victory on BOTH sides of the Atlantic, which may kick modern politics in to changing their course.

So from a UK perspective, which one of those is better?

Lol, Oops

Yes, I read that too, should be fairly simple, but you may need a lot of molten sulphur for that to produce a nice amount of sulphur with the rubbery properties. Melting in a test tube, if you try and pour in to water it ends up solidifying before it reaches the end of the tube, last time I tried that was years ago, so was about 14/15 at the time and had to do chem outside at that point as I was banned from the kitchen

I am sure you may be able to buy Sodium Citrate,

I think swimming pool chemicals contain chlorine, my chemistry set also had I think Calcium Oxy Chloride, which I think decomposed in to maybe Calcium Oxide and Chlorine. Problem is that the gas is still dangerous, in a lab you would probably use a fume cupboard for handling it. I can't help much with this though.

Once we start running more sample return missions we may get a better picture. However IIRC the current mission to collect Mars samples is more to do with finding evidence of life than perhaps determine mineral composition. We may not know until those samples are returned successfully.

I decided to create this so people can discuss the upcoming Artemis 1 mission to the Moon. I will also be creating a blog post and other resources (for displays) so hopefully encourage people here to discuss further. https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-1

Thank you for this, it makes more sense now,. So I guess the same would apply to other molecules being in different places, that have the right properties for vibrations. I think water does as I read about that years ago. Interesting stuff. The JWST is going to hopefully gives us lots of science, so will be good to see what papers & articles etc are published over the coming years. Paul

Hi I am not sure if this question is quite in the right place, but it seems appropriate. Just been watching the August Space telescope science institute lecture, looking at images and spectra from the James Webb Telescope, https://www.stsci.edu/contents/events/pls/2022/webbs-first-look-images-and-spectra-from-nasas-newest-great-observatory I have a question regarding a slide on atmosphere spectra to determine the composition and have attached a screenshot of the slide According to this, Some of the molecules exist at different ranges in the electromagnetic spectrum for example Water seems to be at between 5000 and 10,000 nm but also between (or closer to) 20,000nm Is this due to how these molecules exist in the atmosphere so Liquid and gaseous states, I think they said they detected water haze on the planet described. Or is there another reason why molecules appear in more than one place.? I am not too sure on the right terminology but do understand that different molecules are absorbed and hence we can work out by absorption which molecules they are. Thanks Paul Sutton

As an update to this, I am repeating the original experiment with some lab grade Sodium Chloride. This will hopefully generate some nicer cuboid crystals. From there I want to try and look at obtaining a seed crystal and then growing from that. Also made sure the NaCl solution is saturated. Will see what happens. All fun stuff, hopefully over time I can repeat with other solutions such as Copper Sulfate Paul

sorry, I mis read the list of items needed 0.1 M ethanoic acid ( there is a space in there for a reason eh) my bad but lack of experience with this. Once i spotted this, I edited my original post but not the title. Hmm, i was just quoting their information sheet, i didn't think of it as flammable either. This is why we have materials safety data sheets I guess to get accurate information. If reaction with bicarbonate of soda would give of CO_2 anyway. The method uses 3 different brands, one of which has bicarbonate of soda. I have attached the method sheet for reference. istoothpastebasicstudentsheet_513804.pdf

Hi I have been looking at a resource, on the Royal Society of Chemistry website. This is a school investigation, to look at if toothpaste is basic, and therefore can neutralise an acid https://edu.rsc.org/ideas/everyday-neutralisation-myths-busted/4015026.article This investigation is aimed at UK Secondary aged students 11- 14 years. I was thinking, if this could be adapted for use in primary schools ? This experiment uses 0.1 M ethanoic acid (danger: corrosive and flammable) would using white vinegar (this is still ethanoic Acid ) be a good substitute for use in primary education. ? Which is probably far safer. I would guess vinegar is a much lower concentration or more diluted. I am not a expert at all this, but it should work. Thanks Paul Sutton

Being ready is the key to all of this, any country needs to be ready to deploy at the shortest of notice, it seems that Russia can do this. The UK seems to be damaging the steel sector here, rather than investing in it. Great, we seem to need steel to build warships, carriers etc, so lets buy it from Chiba (cheap). Problem from my view point, we upset China --> China blocks steel exports --> we can't build warships as we no longer have the capacity to produce the materials needed. Now apply that to other industries that now rely on china and we are stuck. So what is the link between salaries and cost of weapons ?

Indeed, here in the UK the situation in Ukraine does seem to make the news, but takes lower priority over the pandemic. While The west dithers and divides. Other countries are stepping up to take our place. While the west cuts military, Russia / China seem to have been building theirs up. China is clamping down on the time students can spend playing games, so people CAN study, like that or not it seems sensible if they want a future well trained / educated workforce. Or at least that is how interpret their motive(s) on that one.

I was thinking more for the Copper Sulphate. But I understand your point.

Thanks for this, I have copper sulphate in with my chemistry kit, so can give that a go. I think i need to find a way to grow the initial seed crystal then. I am about to start as a TA in a primary school. There are various ideas here, perhaps we can investigate as a class too. It would need the usual risk assessment though which is fine, as i can find the materials safety data sheets for everything. I will get hold of some pure Sodium Chloride too, as that won't have the Ferrocyanide in. Thanks again Paul

I tried to grow some Salt crystals a while back, it worked using table salt, however this also contains Sodium Ferrocyanide. Would I be better using pure Sodium Chloride (from a chemical supplier) ? I think the crystals should be more cuboid shaped, which I think is how the molecular structure is for Sodium Chloride. I have attached a photo of my previous attempt results. I am not what the Sodium Ferrocyanide does, it is an anti caking agent or something. so that may explain the results. Thanks Paul

I guess he is now about 7, you can perhaps get some plastic tubes (or transparent plastic beakers / containers ) and add vinegar to bicarbonate of soda, this is where the old 35mm film pots are nice as the CO_2 build up makes the lid pop off. You can also make crystals from salt, which I know from working in an after school club, kds reallyseem to like crystals, but it is proobably safer to make them than bashing rocks together in an attempt to remove the crystals (in the case here it was quartz) but to kids they are crystals. I just found this (via a quick search, so not my website) https://www.science-sparks.com/how-to-make-salt-crystals/ Paul

Hi Just posting this here to ask if I am on the right track when explainign an experiment result. I am setting up a STEM group, as part of this I have a book aimed at 7-11 year olds that has lots of simple but still very effective experiment in. One is Adding Vinegar to Bicarbonate of soda in a sealed zip lock back, so when the two react the bag fills with CO_2 and then I guess splits open due to the pressure. A second related experiment is creating a cold pack, similar method, only you put some holes in to reduce the pressure build up, this causes the reactants to cool. looking at this explanation of endo vs exo thermic reactions. https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/mcat/chemical-processes/thermochemistry/a/endothermic-vs-exothermic-reactions Would I be right in interpreting the above an endothermic reaction as the bag cools down, so absorbs heat and cooling the surrounding area. I have a few other ideas such as crystal growing ingredients such as salt, sugar. Extracting Iron from cereals and a few others, that look interesting als have a few physics experiments I want to have a go at and the room we are using gives the space for this. Hopefully being here will be useful to others too. Thanks you for any help on this REGARDS Paul

As with any source of information if you are going to use anything in your own research it needs to be cited properly, from a academic viewpoint it would be viewed as plagiarism which will reflect badly on you. By citing you are backing up any claims, and if there are issues with the source. There are tools that make this much easier, esp if you use LaTeX and a bibliography file. Paul An example (probably not very good, but I just tried to think of a quick example) if you were writing an essay on Star Trek for example. Spock suggests "The needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few, or the one" [1], this could be an example of Vulcan logic, as he was suggesting that to save the crew he should sacrifice himself, their needs out weigh the needs of the one (him), the few could be his close friends. e.g Kirk, Bones, Scotty et al. [1] Spock, Star Trek II the Wrath of Kahn, 1982,

Prior to the pandemic, poverty and inequality was hidden to some extent, the pandemic has really put this in the public eye, a UBI could perhaps address issues such as food poverty, allow people to buy basic IT kit the rest of us take for granted and kids could study on their own devices. This in some cases, if they are not turned off from education will help kids achieve more in school , eat properly and produce better outcomes, too many people of all ages seem to be falling through cracks in the system. I am not working, back in January I attended training for a Lego WeDo session for schools. The main which was mean tot take place in about June was cancelled due to the pandemic, and with that went my chance to network with teachers, and school staff and perhaps move in to paid employment. People like me WANT to work, the pandemic is making this far harder to get than normal. A UBI would be a real safety net for a lot of people, , at least it would give people a chance.

Ok sorry about that, As I have written the article about this website I am going to send it hopefully it will generate a few more members. On the forum. Regards Paul

I put it on my blog (still draft) so it is easier for me to share the document as a draft review of this science forums website, I want to promote this forum, as it is really useful and helpful as a discussion platform. I have already mentioned it lots of times in various posts to direct people here for further discussion, ( I can't think of many places where I can ask stuff on cutting edge physics or science) I can get hopefully get said article / blog published locally (Torbay) if it sounds ok, so hopefully attract more users here, so i am not intending to put my website link at the end. Just trying to make sure that any review is a fair review of the site. Paul

I am not a expert in immunity and immunology but I think you make a good point here, exposure to dirt / germs helps build the immune system.