He loves me...he loves me not...

Ethylene is the gas that causes blossoms to fall. In nature, it's a plant hormone. It is also used in a controlled way because fruit is picked before it is ripened and then travels to the destination spot as so. When it finally arrives, a whiff of the gas is given to ripen the fruit to be of a consumer's use.

                                                           A Cherry Blossom Tree

                                             

What could be stronger than steel, might you ask?

Maybe you all remember the video we watched in chemistry not too long ago about Kevlar. If so, here's a refresher... Kevlar is a plastic that can stop bullets. It's used in some things such as bullet-proof vests, helmets, and planes. The material is resistant to fire. What makes it so strong is that the fibers in it are in organized, parallel lines- not just a mess. When it's spun into fibers and then heated, it becomes even stronger and is used for military armor, space suits, and safety gloves. It's also 5x stronger than steel and more elastic than carbon fiber. Kevlar is hard to compress and to paint so instead of being used on a car, it's used in the driver's cell when it comes to racing cars. It isn't affected by long exposure to weathering or to the sea.
    
                                                    Muscular Man Wearing a Kevlar Vest

Indestructible Glass and the Man That Went With It

In 37AD an unknown man created unbreakable glass. He foolishly showed it to Tiberius, who was the Emperor of Rome at that time. Tiberius killed him and ruined his workplace because he didn't want anyone to have the knowledge of that special material. The man used a form of sodium borate which is the key ingredient in Pyrex glass. Pyrex glass is the presently known unbreakable gass. If it wasn't for Tiberius who destroyed the man's work we would have had that glass since then...

To Be Bitter, or Not To Be Bitter? That is the question

Bitrex Taste Test

Bitrex: the chemical name for it is denatonium benzoate. It's a non-toxic white powder. In order to obtain the piercing bitter taste, you only need it in small quantities. To give you an idea of how bitter it really is, Bitrex is in the Guinness Book of Records as the bitterest substance known. It is added to household chemicals so that if it is consumed by a child then they will spit it out immediately.

Rhino Horns

Keratin is present in rhino horns. This is THOUGHT to be the best aphrodisiac of all. It is also in fingernails. There are no beneficial effects of eating keratin and it does not arouse anyone. Unfortunately, rhinos are still being killed because the thought of their horns having a sexual stimulating quality. To me, it seems ridiculous because keratin does not give you any of those feelings! Greedy, misinformed people!):


How can we stand to turn something so innocent into this?

Salt, anyone?

The average person eats about 10g of salt per day- three times as much as we need. Sodium chloride is just one salt. We encounter many others in our life. Sodium chloride triggers a specific reaction on the tongue that no other salt or mineral does. There can be substitutes for sugar but NOT for salt.
Every cell in our body needs sodium. Sodium is used mainly with potassium to move electrical impulses along nerve fibers. We must continuously consume salt because it is lost through our sweat glands to try and cool us down. It seems as if sodium has a bad reputation but: if you took a large dose of sodium chloride you would only vomit, while taking a large dose of potassium chloride would kill you because it disrupts the rhythm of your heart.
It is not necessary to add salt to your food- there's already plenty in there! Excess salt is bad for people with kidney disease and it raises their blood pressure. In a study conducted in London it was concluded that 70,000 deaths could be prevented per year in the UK by reducing salt in the diet.
Salt and sugar can save millions of lives in tropical countries. Diarrhoea, and the dehydration it causes, kills twelve million children every year. Here's the solution: a drink made of 8 teaspoons of sugar and one of salt in a pint of water. It will save a sick child's life. These two chemicals can effectively and cheaply restore lost bodily fluid.

Bones!

Calcium phosphate is very insoluble and tough. No wonder why dinosaur bones have survived all this time! Human skeletons can be perserved for 1000s of years under normal conditions- no special treatment necessary. In 1994, Mark Roberts discovered the oldest bones in Europe, belonging to Boxgrove Man who lived half a million years ago!
As we get older the replacement of calcium does not entirely compensate for the loss, and so to delay this erosion we need a daily intake of calcium and vitamin D. Teenage boys should take 750mg of calcium a day, teenage girls: 650mg, and breast-feeding mothers: 1100mg.
The weight of calcium phosphate in our skeleton reaches its maximum when we are about 30. Then after that, we lose 1% each year.More women die from the after-effects of osteoporosis fractures than from all cancers of the ovaries, cervix, and womb put together!
Fluoridation (adding fluoride to water) is the cheapest way of reducing tooth decay. If our diet contains too much fluoride we may get osteosclerosis, which is the hardening of our bones which could also lead to a deformed skeleton. The skill is in finding a balance between the two. "This is easily achieved with regular snacks like sardines on toast made with white bread." I have yet to meet someone who eats sardines regularly...

                                                             Cross Section of a Bone