The Skeptic

[cenchempics]

‘BLOOD LAMP’ Mike Thompson, an artist based in Amsterdam, wanted to design a piece that forced people to think about the cost of the power they use. So he made a lamp lit with the user’s blood. His “Blood Lamp” glows thanks to a reaction with luminol, a molecule used in police forensics that gives off electric blue light when exposed to an iron-rich protein in blood called hemoglobin. Iron atoms catalyze the oxidation of luminol, creating a high-energy, unstable peroxide molecule that releases energy as blue light as it relaxes to its low-energy ground state. After the user adds blood and the reaction consumes all of the luminol, the light fades, and the lamp can never be used again.

Credit: Mike Thompson

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Ambiguous Cylinder Optical Illusion.

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Roads that charge electric cars on the go may be coming to the U.K. 

The U.K. is beginning an 18-month trial period for electric motorways, which charge electric and hybrid cars as they drive. The roads work by placing electromagnetic field-generating tech under highways and fitting electric and hybrid cars with equipment to turn those fields into electricity. It’s an ambitious (and pricey) project — but in the future it may not even be necessary.

[cenchempics]

SIMPLE TRICK

The disappearing spoon, a classic magic trick, takes advantage of a basic physical property of the element gallium: The pure metal melts at 29.7 °C. For the trick, an illusionist casts a spoon from gallium, an easy feat on a stovetop. The spoon looks, sounds, and feels like a normal metal spoon at room temperature. But when stirring hot tea or water at just under 100 °C, the spoon quickly melts and pools at the bottom of the glass. Performers often use a special cup with a hidden chamber at the bottom; the now-liquid gallium flows out of sight of the audience, completing the illusion.

Gallium is available to the general public from a wide range of online retailers.

Credit: www.periodictable.ru

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Related C&EN Content The Elements In Style

For The Love Of Chemistry

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The Application of Sunblock in Visible and UV Light. 

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Indicatore misto verde di bromocresolo - rosso di metile in acqua

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Stunning Visuals That Depict Endangering Species By Destroying The World

Creative agency Photoby&co have introduced a set of highly creative advertisements for environmental activist Robin Wood. The incredible graphic designs engages the public to think of the drastic changes the world can suffer from by destroying the natural habitat of animals.

Keep reading

[the-future-now-deactivated20170]

Burger meet copper. Follow @the-future-now

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Simulation of Two Planets Colliding

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Heeey jerk

Heey little nerd

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This is what piercing the sound barrier looks like

Via The New York Times

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An infrared image of an algae bloom in the Baltic sea, acquired by Landsat 8 on August 11th, 2015. The field of view is approximately 30 kilometers across. (3200x4200)  

[scienceisbeauty]

Dancing Droplets

A puzzling observation, pursued through hundreds of experiments, has led Stanford researchers to a simple yet profound discovery: Under certain circumstances, droplets of fluid will move like performers in a dance choreographed by molecular physics.

[just--space]

[jedavu]

Surreal Hybrid Drawings Bloom and Burst Across Sketchbook Pages

Self-taught artist and graphic designer Joseph Catimbang (aka @pentasticarts) creates visually complex doodles using only black pens and a sketchbook.

[ohscience-blog]

Artist: Eleanor Lutz

Website: Tabletop Whale