/oss/taxonomy/term/317/all en /oss/article/contributors-general-science/why-scary-lab-accidents-happen <p>If a chemist has never been in a lab accident, he has been lucky. Of course, luck is more likely to come to those whose mentors have learned from bad experiences and to those who have taken preventive measures seriously, despite their anal nature. Chemical reactions create products with behaviors that differ from those of the ingredients. That’s what makes them intriguing, and it’s also what makes them potentially dangerous. No matter how simple and controllable a reaction seems on paper, when it’s carried out in real life, the exact conditions determine its rate.</p> Fri, 21 Jun 2024 20:57:40 +0000 Enrico Uva B.Sc. Dip. Ed. 9986 at /oss /oss/article/technology-you-asked-general-science/how-do-sparklers-work <p>You stick them into a birthday cake, stand back and revel in the brilliant shower of sparks. What you are witnessing are glowing metal particles, usually aluminum, but iron titanium, zinc or magnesium can also be used. They glow because they are undergoing combustion. In other words, the little metallic particles are burning, undergoing a reaction with oxygen to form metal oxides.</p> Fri, 17 Sep 2021 20:41:28 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8851 at /oss /oss/article/covid-19-history-general-science/bat-poop-accused-crimes <p>COVID has not been kind to bats. They have been accused of harbouring the SARS-CoV-2 virus and transferring it to people via an animal vector. But this is not the first time that these flying mammals have hit the headlines. Back in 1993, newspaper readers were stunned by this one: “Holy Blam, Batman! Bat Dung Brews Methane; Park Building Explodes!”</p> Fri, 09 Jul 2021 18:32:34 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8781 at /oss /oss/article/history-general-science/when-you-play-fire <p>There is an old saying that if you play with fire, eventually you will get burned. The same can be said for certain chemicals. Of course, I don’t mean “play” in the literal sense. What I mean is that when chemicals are produced, especially on a large scale, as many are, accidents can happen. However, risk can be minimized by adhering to good manufacturing practice and proper handling and storage of chemicals. Unfortunately, human error, negligence and greed can take a toll.</p> Fri, 25 Jun 2021 17:12:37 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8769 at /oss /oss/article/history-general-science/shocking-catastrophe-beirut <p>The Beirut explosion may be the worst ammonium nitrate disaster in history, but it is not the first such calamity. Let’s go back to the early morning of April 16, 1947 when spectators flooded to the docks in Texas City, Texas, drawn by the bright orange flames and the massive plume of black smoke that enveloped the S.S. Grandcamp, a French ship that had caught fire in the harbour. Then, as people marveled at the inferno, and quick-thinking vendors circulated with peanuts and other refreshments, there was a reverberating explosion.</p> Fri, 07 Aug 2020 16:40:11 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8358 at /oss /oss/article/you-asked/can-coffee-really-explode-microwave <p>This is due to a phenomenon known as superheating. First, we have to understand what boiling is all about. At the surface of a liquid molecules are always evaporating. If we leave a glass of water out, it will eventually disappear. If we heat the liquid, its molecules move faster, become more energetic and more molecules go into the vapour phase. As a consequence, the liquid disappears more quickly. At the boiling point, molecules all over the liquid, not only at the surface are energetic enough to go into the vapour phase.</p> Thu, 06 Dec 2018 17:00:50 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 7478 at /oss /oss/article/technology-history/little-night-magic <p>All fireworks rely on a combustion process that has three basic requirements: some sort of fuel to burn, a supply of oxygen, and a source of energy to initiate the reaction between the fuel and the oxygen. In the case of fireworks, the oxygen comes not from the air but is supplied by substances which release it by means of chemical reactions.</p> Wed, 04 Jul 2018 16:08:30 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 7159 at /oss