For some reason, probably ignorance or lucky sampling, I get more fanboy rush from small-scale chemistry than astronomy. Any other excuse that I came up with just now got trumped with, “Nebulae do it way bigger with unparalled whiz-bang.”
No wait, “On small scales, the physics can be tinkered with.” *teehee*
I’ll start and end this linkdump with Theodore Gray, the persona MacGyver could’ve been if the producers didn’t mind lawsuits.
(see final link)
The Elements Book Promo – A montage set to The Elements song
Some of his wizardry is among the Popular Science archives.
Back in 2007, there was a brief PBS show called Wired Science.
Basic PopSci genre material. It did have a nice segment called What’s Inside.
What’s Inside Your Fridge
What’s Inside Your Garden
What’s Inside Your Dog
What’s Inside Your Mouth
Dangerous Science – The demise of chemistry sets
* United Nuclear is still around in case you want to buy some heavy water for sinking ice cubes and such.
To combat the problem mentioned above, Gray composed a book of fun dangerous stuff! :D
The site built around the book includes descriptions of each experiment with pictures/videos.
Gotta buy the book for specific instructions (like how not to die), but the site’s still great standalone.
His wooden periodic table site, while awkward to navigate, contains hidden MacGyver gems like where you can scavenge graphite rods for electrolyzing hydrogen or stirring molten metal.
Tags: Chemistry