SECTIONS

chemistry matters

OpinionJanuary 31

Chemistry Matters: Bakelite started something

I once had delusions of adequacy on the cricket field.
Chemistry Matters: Bakelite started something
Chemistry Matters: Bakelite started something
OpinionSeptember 13

Long history of chemical use in warfare

It's an opportune time to revisit the subject of chemical weapons, something avid readers will know I've had occasion to write about previously.
DunedinJuly 5

Chemistry matters: How on Earth element running out?

Two questions for today.
NewsMarch 8

Searching for theory that smells right

''And I can see, hear, smell, touch, taste And I've got one, two, three, four, five Senses working overtime Trying to take this all in''
DunedinFebruary 1

Remarkable thinkers due in Dunedin

I used to be quite good at maths. Way back in primary school, I could rattle off my times tables quicker than most of the kids in the class, and long division held no fears for me. Then came high school; instead of numbers, the textbook was suddenly full of the letters x, y and z, and because of this I rapidly found myself at the bottom end of the class.
Remarkable thinkers due in Dunedin
Remarkable thinkers due in Dunedin
OpinionOctober 14

Y, Lu useful in fighting cancer

A year ago this month, Steve Jobs, the chief executive of Apple, died from neuroendocrine cancer. There is no doubt he was a remarkable man who managed to pull the once-ailing company back from the abyss and turn it into the behemoth it is today.
OpinionSeptember 14

Natural fluorine provokes reaction

"Cuddle a chemist and see the reaction." That's a little chemistry joke that has been around for longer than I have. For chemistry is all about chemical reactions. We mix two or more substances together (we call these reactants), and they react to give new substances called products.
NewsJuly 3

Once more into the world of hydronium and logarithm; but never mind the mole

Last month, I attempted to explain the meaning of pH in around 500 words. To my chagrin, I found that this was an impossible task. The column was littered with arcane terms like "hydronium ion" and "logarithm", and numbers like 0.0000001 and 1 x 107, things that do not make for easy reading. So let's take up where I left off and see if I can't do a better job in explaining what pH actually means.
OpinionMay 17

Radioactivity in you and me

Late last month, a soccer ball that had washed up on Middleton Island in the Gulf of Alaska was discovered by a technician at the radar station there. The ball was found to have come from a school in Japan, about 6000km away, which was struck by the tsunami of March 11, 2011.
NewsFebruary 20

Elements of humour sweeten the chemistry

Students encountering University of Otago Associate Prof Allan Blackman during one of his huge first-year chemistry lecture classes can expect plenty of enthusiasm, a dash of humour and even a few chocolate fish.
Elements of humour sweeten the chemistry
Elements of humour sweeten the chemistry
DunedinDecember 1

1861 good year for Solvay

As I'm sure you know, the Otago Daily Times recently celebrated its 150th anniversary, and so in this, the final column of the year, it seems appropriate to look at what was happening in chemistry in the first year of its publication, 1861.
1861 good year for Solvay
1861 good year for Solvay
NewsOctober 16

Prize proves chemist was not so crazy

Some great scientific discoveries are the culmination of vast amounts of work carried out over long periods of time by many different people.
OpinionSeptember 25

Case of the crooked chemist

We often think of fraud as being the exclusive domain of the financial world - one only has to look at the number of finance companies that have gone bust recently - but it is not unique to this.
DunedinAugust 4

Argon can help keep your home warmer

The summer of our discontent has made for a glorious winter. While the rest of the country seems to have been beset by winds, floods and even tornadoes, "winter" in Dunedin has been a succession of relatively warm, cloudless days, as evidenced by my kowhai flowering in early July.
OpinionJuly 8

Antimatter is going to amaze us

The job descriptions for some professions require little explanation. It's pretty much self-evident that butchers are going to deal with dead animals, accountants are going to do something with money, and doctors are going to help you get better when you're sick.
OpinionJune 5

Fruit waste extracts metal contamination from water

Technological advances have often come at a cost to the environment. While the industrial revolution gave us mechanisation, it also heralded the start of steadily increasing levels of CO2 in the atmosphere.
Fruit waste extracts metal contamination from water
Fruit waste extracts metal contamination from water
OpinionMay 8

All that glisters... can be white, or rose, or purple

Apparently there was some big wedding in London recently. I can't say I watched it. I was probably still too apoplectic over why Mr Pollock chose not to yellow-card a single Blues player earlier that evening. Or maybe I just didn't care a jot.
NewsApril 5

Chemistry Matters: A winning formula

I was going to write about the chemical element boron this month because it has been in the news recently. Indeed, it has provided a most unlikely link between the New Zealand Parliament and the earthquake-and-tsunami-ravaged Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan.
Chemistry Matters: A winning formula
Chemistry Matters: A winning formula
OpinionFebruary 11

Avogadro numbered among greats

This is a big year for anniversaries. As stated in last month's column, it is 100 years since Marie Curie was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Avogadro numbered among greats
Avogadro numbered among greats
OpinionJanuary 7

Year of Chemistry also honours Curie

Happy 2011. And welcome to the International Year of Chemistry - a year-long celebration of the science that encompasses everything we can see, touch, taste and smell.
Year of Chemistry also honours Curie
Year of Chemistry also honours Curie
OpinionDecember 3

Science high priority at Chinese military university

Given that Lockwood Smith has removed parliamentary travel perks for sitting MPs, it's probably not politic for me to say that one of the great things about my job as a university lecturer is the opportunity it affords for overseas travel.
OpinionSeptember 17

Earth still has not settled down

Those of you who are expecting an exposition on the chemistry of earthquakes are going to be sorely disappointed.
OpinionAugust 18

For want of a few surfactants

On April 20, an explosion occurred on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, in the Gulf of Mexico.
OpinionJuly 22

Pill's invention far-reaching

How many people throughout history can truly be said to have fundamentally altered human society, not as a result of dictatorial or messianic coercion, but as the result of an invention?
Pill's invention far-reaching
Pill's invention far-reaching
OpinionMarch 5

Yes, it's even hotter than a Dunedin summer

"Hot" is not a word one would usually associate with a Dunedin summer.