What Use is Potassium?

Today, 6 October, in the year 1807 Potassium was isolated for the first time by Sir Humphry Davy in England. The 19th element has so many uses it would be impossible to live without it.

Let's be curious and ask 'what use is Potassium?'

Top 5 Intelligence Quotes

I love quotes. Just a few words can describe something so perfectly and so succinctly that no other phrase will do.

Here are my top 5 quotes about intelligence. Feel free to add your own in the comments section:

Number 5 - Thomas Woodrow Wilson

I not only use all the brains that I have, but all I can borrow.

It is one thing to be clever, but no one person can no everything. You should take advantage of everyone around you. As the old adage goes 'two heads are better than one'!

How are Percentages Used and Abused?

Percentages are used everywhere. From discounts in shops to stories about the efficacy of a new drug. It is perhaps this widespread usage that makes us so susceptible to misinterpreting them. Of course retailers want you to think you're getting a better deal than you are. But it is always a good idea to think carefully about any percentage presented to you and work out what it means.

Let's be curious and ask, 'how are percentages used?'

What are atoms made of?

Image created using Canva by me
Atom image from openclipart.org

The atom is the most quintessential symbol in science.  It is commonly drawn as a circle with smaller circles orbiting it. What do those circles represent? And what are those circles made of?

Atoms may make up the world around us, but let's be curious and ask, 'what are atoms made of?'

What is Rosetta Doing?

Image created using Canva by Matthew Bird
"Rosetta - comet fly-by" by DLR - http://www.flickr.com/photos/dlr_de/11962922525/.
Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

The spacecraft, Rosetta, has been in the news a lot recently. It has recently been woken up after a 31-month hibernation in January this year. Launched in 2004, this mission has had a lot of coverage.

You likely know it has something to do with a comet, so let's be curious and ask, 'what is Rosetta doing?'

How are Graphs Manipulated? Skewed Statistics 3

Graphs are useful to present a sets of data in a visually appealing way whilst still containing all the information. Last week in the Skewed Statistics series, we looked at correlation and causation, a topic which often includes graphs. We saw then how data can be manipulated to imply causation. Graphs, too, are easily manipulated. Sometimes this is to make the data easier to read or understand. Other times this manipulation can mislead. It is important to know how graphs are used and abused.

Let's be curious and ask, 'how are graphs manipulated?'

What is e?

Less well known than it's popular friend, pi, e is nonetheless a very important number. Approximately equal to 2.718, Euler's number pops up in everything from finance to hats!

But what is it? Let's be curious and ask 'what is e?'

What is the Pale Blue Dot?

On 14 February 1990 the command was given for the Voyager 1 spacecraft was ordered to turn around and take a photo. This photo, now known as the Pale Blue Dot, is, in my opinion, the most significant photo ever taken. It is significant in that it shows our own immense insignificance. Voyager 1 took a photo of the Earth from 6 billion kilometres (40 Astronomical Units / 3.7 billion miles) away at the request of Carl Sagan.

Last week's photo's were of chemical bonds. This week we are looking at just 1 image. Let's be curious and ask 'what is the Pale Blue Dot?'

This post doesn't have a header image, nor any other image on it. The only image I wish to share in this post is the Pale Blue Dot. Beneath the image I have included Carl Sagan's thoughts on it. If you're struggling to find your home planet, it is the Pale Blue Dot in the brownish sunbeam near the right of the picture.

"Pale Blue Dot" by Voyager 1 - http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view_rec.php?id=601.
Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Correlation or Causation? Skewed Statistics 2

Last week we looked at averages and saw how they can be abused. This week we turn our attention to correlation and causation. Correlations are probably the most abused statistical entity, particularly by pseudo-science and disreputable media.

Let's be curious and ask 'correlation or causation?'.

What is i?

Last week we spoke about the irrational, but very real, pi. Today we're going to take a look at the number i, where the i means 'imaginary'.

It is very likely that you won't have come across i before. It isn't generally taught at GCSE, being reserved for A-Level and above. Although I'd heard of it before, the first time I properly met this number was this year during my Chemistry degree.

Let's be curious and ask, 'what is i?'

What do bonds look like?

Image created by Matthew Bird using Canva.
"Glass ochem dof2" by Purpy Pupple - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

From secondary school onwards we are taught that the world around us in made from atoms and those atoms are held together by bonds. As we get older we are introduced to the different types of bond: covalent, ionic, and metallic. We are also told about hydrogen-bonds, though these don't join atoms together as the other types do.

We are all used to the diagrams we see for bonding, but is that what an actual bond looks like? Until recently the answer was a decisive, 'we don't know'. No one, not even scientists, had ever seen a bond. No one had ever seen an atom. We had calculations and theories saying they were there, but no actual visual of them until recently.

In the first 'Images on Monday' post, let's be curious and ask 'what does a bond look like?'

Which Average Should I Use? Skewed Statistics 1

Statistics are quoted all the time in the media. However, sometimes the media, accidentally or otherwise, can skew statistics such that they lie. In many of these cases the statistic is technically correct, but presented in a misleading manner. Skewed Statistics is series of articles, posted on Saturdays, about how different types of statistics should be used, and how they are misused.

Averages are one of the most common types of statistic used. We all probably remember being taught about the different types of averages in school: mean, median, mode, and range. But do we actually know when we should use each type?

Let's be curious and ask, 'which average should I use?'

What is Pi?

Pi is a number that everyone has heard of. It is a staple of our maths education from a fairly early age. Some may recall it is approximately 3.14. That funny looking symbol, π is engraved in our minds, but what actually is it? What are the practical uses for it? And what on earth is an 'irrational number'?

Let's be curious and ask, 'what is pi?'

How Does Sunscreen Work?

Image designed by Matthew Bird using Canva
"The Sun". Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons.

Sometimes understanding the science behind something will not only benefit you intellectually, but physically as well. Sunscreen is one of the those cases. By knowing how sunscreen works you'll understand why you need to use it and in what way. So let's be curious and find out how sunscreen works.

Who were Marie and Pierre Curie?

Recipient of 2 Nobel Prizes, discoverer of 2 new elements, saviour of countless lives; Marie Curie is perhaps the most famous of all female scientists. Her scientific successes are interesting in themselves, but a look into the life and times of Marie Curie provides a fascinating lens through which to view them. Her personal life involves courage, tragedy and even a duel—more fitting for a Hollywood romance film than a scientist.

But as wonderful as Marie Curie was, she didn't work alone. In one of the great scientific partnerships, her husband, Pierre Curie, did research alongside her. Together they shared, alongside Antoine Henri Becquerel, the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Today (26 July 2014) is the 119th anniversary of Pierre Curie and Maria Sklodowska's (Marie Curie) marriage. So, to celebrate this special day let's be curious and find out who the Curies were.

How Big is a Billion?

Counting is easy, right? When we were very young, we were taught to count in terms of apples or blocks or something like that: one apple, two apples, three apples, and so on. It is easy to imagine three apples. It doesn't require much effort to imagine ten apples. Imagining a hundred apples requires a bit more effort, but isn't too tough.

Now try to image a billion apples. What are you thinking of? A room filled with apples? A concert hall filled with apples? Let's be honest with ourselves, and admit that imagining a billion apples is hard. So, how do we go about imagining a billion apples?

Why Bother With Science?

Science is everywhere. It is in the food you eat and the car you drive, the clothes on your back and the phone at your ear. As this blog’s title suggests, it is all science.

But scientists do all the science in your food and cars, so why should you bother with science? Modern day society is faced with many issues. Just think about global warming, the energy crisis, recessions, poverty, not to mention all the health-risks around the world and the worrying rise of antibiotic resistance.