Archive for August, 2008

Periodic Table of Videos makes elements fun – especially K

Sunday, August 31st, 2008

Periodic Table of Videos

My 11th-grade chemistry teacher was five feet tall with four-foot boobs and wore lab coats over her minidresses (no, this wasn’t the ’60s) so all you saw were her spindly toothpick legs on top of platform shoes.  Sounds cool, doesn’t she?

But she wasn’t cool at all.  In fact, she was so crabby and had such an instant dislike to me that I despised chemistry class, including all the experiments that I otherwise would have loved.  (At least my Physics teacher was kind of nice.)  But now I can re-learn fun facts about all the elements with The Periodic Table of Videos.

It’s such a blast!  Just click on an element and discover some of its most interesting qualities.  Right now K (potassium) is my favorite.  It’s highly reactive and according to Professor Martyn Poliakoff (the vid host), one of his colleagues describes it as evil — wha-ha-ha.  Check it out:

LINK:
- The Periodic Table of Videos

PB&J Mechanical Munchie Machine

Wednesday, August 27th, 2008

Okay, maybe I’m still in vacation mode, but this is a totally fun project. Just think of all the other cool things you could make after this! When I was a kid, I wanted to build a machine that poured tea (don’t ask me why), but I had absolutely no idea how to even get started. Here are some ideas to get you started.  Eat ‘em up!

LINK:
- How 2.0: PB&J Mechanical Munchie Machine

Summer’s almost over – and it’s a good thing

Wednesday, August 27th, 2008

I’ve been traveling on and off all summer and have gotten very little writing and even less blogging done.  It’s been a blast to be on the road (makes me feel itchy sitting at home right now) but it’s time to get back to work.  Whip-snapping time.  No more creemees, you. Time to hit the gym, pound the keyboard, etc etc etc.