FUCK YEAH, CHEMISTRY

A couple of chemistry gals sharing what we find interesting (ohh..that's A LOT)We've been studying chemistry for 5 years and everyday something new amazes us, and we want to share it all with you!!

[labphoto]

Separation compounds via preparative thin layer chromatography. This method is similar to TLC (thin layer chromatograpy), the only difference, that this is bigger and 100-200 mg compound could be purified with a plate. These sheets are silica gel bind to glass plates, so if I place my substance on it, than place it in a chamber with some organic solvents, it will probably separate the compounds from each other depending on solubility differences. 

As seen there were two main component in my mixture (that two yellow line) and some gunk at the bottom. After the separation the silica was removed from the plate with my substance in it and I got back the purified compound after washing the adsorbent with a little chloroform. 

[cenchempics]

DIRTY WATER

Jennifer Apell, a graduate student at MIT, uses silica gel chromatography (columns shown here) to purify sediment samples collected from the Duwamish Waterway, a Superfund site near Seattle. She is measuring the level of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the samples to determine which areas of the river have the highest concentration of these pollutants. This research is part of a larger effort to clean up the Superfund site. 

Credit: Jennifer Apell (Enter our photo contest here)

[fuckyeah-chemistry]

For our final AP Chem project, my friends and I made a rap about gas laws. The number of views and the lives versus dislikes are factored into our grade. Could you help us out? 

[fuckyeah-chemistry]

Methylene Blue

[fuckyeah-chemistry]

[fuckyeah-chemistry]

[compoundchem]

Version 1 of ‘A Rough Guide to Spotting Bad Science’. Thanks for everyone’s suggestions earlier in the week, attempted to include as many of them as possible!

Download link here: http://wp.me/p4aPLT-ap

[itsokaytobesmart]

Approach the world with an open mind, but not so open that your brains fall out.

Here’s a list of tips on how to weigh good science from bad. Combine that with my video on “How to Read Science News" and you’ll be in pretty good shape and shall never be led astray: 

[fuckyeah-chemistry]

[cinqfruits]

[fuckyeah-chemistry]

[fuckyeah-chemistry]

[fuckyeah-chemistry]

[sailon-blog]

some science teacher humor

[sailon-blog]

[fuckyeah-chemistry]

Sand Storm From an Airplane

[bpod-bpod]

22 January 2014

Eye Eye

When we see something, it’s because light comes into the eye and hits the back of the eyeball, known as the retina. The most pinpoint sharp region in the retina is called the macula, specialised for detailed tasks such as reading and recognising faces. By studying family trees, scientists have discovered an inherited condition called vitelliform macular dystrophy, or VMD. People with VMD have a build-up of fatty blobs in their macula, seen as the yellow spots in these images of the back of patient’s eyeballs, which eventually causes them to lose their sight. Researchers have now found a new gene fault responsible for VMD. The gene, called IMPG1, makes a protein that helps to stick together the light-sensing cells in the retina. But when it’s faulty, the connections break down and the blobs take over. This discovery provides new insights into VMD and hope for future therapies.

Written by Kat Arney

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Image courtesy of Christian Hamel Institute for Neurosciences of Montpellier, France Copyright Elsevier 2013  Research published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, August 2013

[parttimebiologistfulltimeninja]

[kny111]