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?'

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?'

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.

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?'

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.

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.