The_simpsons

My name is Goncalo, im 17 and i live in Sweden but my country of birth is Portugal. Im reading the natural sciences programe at the equivalent to high school and i have completed the 1st year (out of 3). My greatest interests in science is organic chemistry and biology (especially molecular biology and botany). I also enjoy diving and social interactions with friends.

I say Italy. Im wacthing the game right now. Plus France won against Portugal (im portuguese) because of a penalty, so i want naturally to France not to win the world championship. Although i like France too, specially Zidane, so im not completely on Italy's side, just a little bit in favor for Italy.

Yeah that reaction is so cool, i saw it when they had a solution of sebacoylchloride(that is the 6-carbon long dicarboxylic acid with chlorine in place of hydrogen in the hydroxide group right?) and 1,6-diaminohexane. Nylon fibers are formed and with a glass stick you roll up a thread of nylon from the solution, that was really amazing (thanks dorothers!) . But if acetic anhydride is hard to find, shouldn't the ingredients for nylon be too? at least so they seem. I think its the most amazing example of polymerization.

Well, my X (X=very close relative, i prefer not to give out to much info about others without authorization) uses venlafaxin (a SSNRI). Without it (in combination with some other factors) X goes literally temporarily insane(anxiety and depression). With it X is rational, straighter and has more energy. This treatment has gone on for a very long time, and seems to continue for a good while. So the consequences of abruptly quiting is terrible(in X's case). the reason X stopped abruptbly is because the medicine causes you to be really sweaty and hot (these days have been very hot). So its kinda dilemma. "Insanity" or extreme warmth? So in this case the extreme ups and downs seem to be higher without it. Well without it its alot more downs then ups. But there's alot of factors that differs greatly from depressed persons as seen.

One funny thing happened my grey parrot. We were eating dinner, the parrot was on the table, eating rice and peas from my plate. Our cat jumps up on the table, sensing the smell of fish. She's just smelling around on the edge of the table, then the parrot runs towards the cat and bits her in the nose and says "kom då!"(Quite unusual because he never speaks to the animals in the house, only to people). kom då means Come on or come here in swedish. Well the cat runs away from the table, poor thing. But quite funny see the parrot act the way he did, especially speaking a phrase that happens to fit in the situation, and the irony of a bird chasing away a cat. But this has been the only confrontation between our cat and our parrot(except for one other time, but was minor).

Found some oriental poppies (Papaver orientale) in my garden, i wonder, how is their alkaloid content compared to the opium poppy? Do they still contain morphine and codeine in lesser amounts or do they lack of it completely? No worries, im not gonna make opium, i have botanical interests and plants secondary metabolites as means of defence interest me.

well first i began taking interest in animals like the orca (always been my number one favourite animal), reptiles and most important of all:PLANTS, when i was about 7 and also got me into biology. then in the 8th grade i began take a huge liking for chemistry because thats when here in Sweden you begin to study it. Today (16 years old, will be 17 next week, in the 1st year of the "Gymnasium" which is the equivalent to high school) my favorite category of science is organic chemistry, especially in plants, beautiful organisms and very interesting when it comes to their chemical processes, a huge source of inspiration in todays chemistry. Especially interesting is their secondary metabolites, plants are truly masters of chemical warfare. Sp beauty of plants got me into it. Now im interested about them in the chemical level, but as then when they sparked my interest in science, they still are as beautiful (or even more) to watch upon today.

yeah i suppose so

You know the big naval battles between germans and british and americans and japanese during WW2? I wonder, how big was the impact on the ocean environment? ships blowing tons of artillery straight to the water, massive sinking ships that must leak alot of petrol when they get hit and sunk by other ships artillery and also airplanes crashing into the water they too, leaking petrol. I have certainly not heard about it, but come to think of it it must have had a negative effect on the sea ecology, but how big?

A question about stinging nettles, since it is my favorite plant im eager to know this. The poison it injects with its stinging hair, what is the chemical composition of them? ive heard from several different sources which of the chemical makes it sting, but some say different things. i have read that its either formic acid or some mix of histamine, acetylcholine and serotonin(?) . or a mix of formic acid and all the others mentioned. Anyone knows which of them are the true chemicals that causes the irritation and burning from nettle stings?

i don't much where my fahter's side of the family originates, but i know alot of my mother's side. both my parents are portuguese (well, my mother is a quarter spanish). My mothers family originates from a count family named Andrade (i still carry that name, also in Portugal you can't switch your name, most of the people have their original inherited names) during the renaissance more or less, in a village (also named Andrade i think) close to O Ferrol in todays Galicia. My fathers side is all Portuguese now what i know of but we haven't researched so much of my fahters side. It even exists in Wikipedia:) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrade

you mean theobromine? That's one of the main stimulants in chocolate, chemically similar to caffeine, only in one of them one hydrogen is replaced by a methylgroup i think. theobromine has much milder effects then caffeine. Doesn't contain any bromine though, the namne comes from Theobroma, which i think is the name for the plant which cacao comes from.

not sure which category to put this in, but here i go. im doing a 5 minute presentation about whatever i want. i decided to talk about chocolate being "addictive" or not. I searched around and read that it makes the serotonin-levels and endorphines levels higher, as well as anandamide. But on the other hand, chocolate conatins so small amounts of some of these psychoactive compounds. Many stuff yet not known. But yet so happy-filling, relaxing and warming. Is it a mere placebo or do certain chemcilas involve in our brains from chocolate? Im not sure how it boosts the release of serotonin, endorphins and anandamides. Tryptophan exists in many other foods for example when it comes to making serotonin. And then we have Phenylethyl amine, argued if its sufficient to make a differnce or not in the tiny quantities it exists in chocolate. how much roles do the active chemicals play in chocolate craving and enjoying? Chocolate addiction/craving caused by the psychoactive compounds or a placebo? ( it tatses good, fatty melts in mouth, nice to eat, reason enough to wanna eat it). I personally love it and i think i eat too much of it and find it hard to resist the temptation, so that's part of the interest forthe subject. Question is: What are your opinions on the matter?

a good link from BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/hottopics/love/

could there be potassium permanganate in the water purifying tablets? ive heard they are used in purifiucation of water and has a strong purple colour which its difficult to wash away in clothes/skin. Not sure though

okey, but the solution is a little bit bluish. on the other hand my foil of copper had a blackened surface of copper oxide after ive burned it before. could the peroxide have dissolved the oxide so it forms copper ions in the solution, hence the faint blue colour in the solution. plus the black parts are gone on the copper now. now its beautiful and shiny:)(If there is a more beautiful metal than copper, i don't wanna know it). does that theory sound plausible?

I put a piece of copper metal in a solution of hydrogen peroxide, and its coming a lot of bubbles from the copper. so my question is, does the hydrogen peroxide oxidize the copper or does the copper catalyze the breakdown of peroxide to water and oxygen?

i have to write a novel for my school, and im thinking about writing a novel about a man struggling to survive after a nuclear war. everything in ruin(kinda apocalyctic envrionment, ruins, dusty air, greyish and cloudy) and its situated in the area around Paris. any tips what to add to keep it a little bit scientifally real and stuff like that. like when he looks for food, what is left alive, how he manages and what will he face? thankful for replies!

have new ones on my list of good smells: ethylformiate(mm Rasperries...),several essential oils which i don't know so much about chemically, (only that they smell lovely and are volatile). and some new to the bad smells: Chlorine, strong smell, yet small amount(during a chemistry lesson where we made an electrolysis on copper(II)chloride solution). Yuck! smelled like pure concenrated swimmingpool-smell.

haven't checked the stores yet, but i like to extract myself, find it intresting. so i want to do it for fun. i hope its possible for me

is it possible to extract oxalic acid from rubarb(at home)? how much oxalic acid does rhubarb contain in the leaves? curious on this, because during the summer it grows a lot fo rhubarb in my garden, and they grow fast. would be interesting

Some have claimed (in a forum discussion ) that when the sodercommando came in and ripped off all the clothes, jewelry etc on the dead jews in the gas chamber, some smoked in the same time, and HCN is flammable, and 75 g/cm3 is enough to cause it to explode, my question is, how much more a less gas was it in the chamber when the nazis went in and ripped of the stuff from the dead bodies? i prsonally don't think it was sufficient amount to ignite it if the were smoking but i need evidence.

nope, in the body it reacts with NAD (nicotineamide adenine dinucleotide) to produce acetaldehyde. the reaction is catalyzed by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase if i remember correctly. then i think the acetaldehyde is converted to acetic acid.

ive reached -43°C one day when i lived in Luleå

according to the statitics of "viltskadecentret"( don't know the english translation) wolfs in sweden kill on an average a 100 sheeps, 5-6 cows and more a less two hunting dogs annually. maybe i gave you a generalising picture about hunters, just want to say that most (at least many) of the hunters are on the pro-wolf side and respects them as the predators of our eco system as they are here.