#RSCWiki2014

Skipping work* and heading in to London led to a wonderful day in Burlington House. A Wikipedia editing workshop was organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry and Wikimedia UK (a charity that supports and promotes Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects).

*Looks back at original email application to attend* (paraphrased)

I want to learning more about editing and creating pages on Wikipedia would allow me to contribute more often than I do now. I have made a few small additions to pages, but feel I have been held back sometimes because of ignorance of the coding/formatting language (Just looked it up - "Wiki markup").

Editing wikipedia could give me the chance to have more interactions with the community of knowledgeable chemists around the world.

I would also like to learn more about linking, searching and applying chemical information on the internet. This would obvs be helpful to me in my career. Totes amazeballs,

Marvin

 Stuff I need for the day: (from my notebook)

• Laptop
• Camera (photos below!)
• Fob for work account (access to ChemDraw)
• Notebook (Moleskine, unlined, pocket sized)
• Chargers
• Water

So after a fairly enjoyable trip in to foggy London (along with some commuters), I stopped for a coffee (I was a bit early). A couple were talking loudly about theology (existentialism was definitely a word they used) behind me. At that point I knew it was time to bathe in the scientific waters of the Royal Society of Chemistry. The walk up:

#UnionJack #Fortnum&Mason #BlackCab #RedPhoneBox

 I came to the door and pushed (or pressed, I can't remember).

Picked up my name badge and headed in to start up my computer and get Wikipedia editing. One of the first things I learn is WP is a better abbreviation for Wikipedia than "Wiki" according to Charles Matthews, one of the Wikipedians teaching us. Interesting. We will build the house of the future.

If those vertices were carbon atoms, the structure would be unstable.

 After setting up Userpages, everyone listened to talks from Wikipedians and from representatives from the RSC. Charles Matthews went through one article in particular in order to explain topics around conflicts of interest. The article doesn't matter, just that it contained some advertising copy. He walked us through how to edit so that the final article was more neutral and clear. The afternoon was set aside for free editing of any page (or pages) you liked. I chose the page on actaplanin, because it was tagged previously as a chemistry page which needed an image. I also looked up the 1984 research on this antibiotic carried out by Eli Lilly, and a patent. Using my newly acquired Wikipedia skillz, I updated the page. I think I did an OK job for a beginner! Still lots to add and clarify, when I have time. The part I found most difficult was knowing when to stop. I've started a list of articles to edit, but it's growing rapidly. Maybe the way to go about this is to recruit more people.

"Arty" shot of Nelson's column

 *I'm a good fish and actually booked the day off 4-6weeks previously.

Experimental pancakes

Aim: Delicious pancakes for Pancake Tuesday

Reference: www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3374/perfect-pancakes

Date: Monday 3^rd March 2014

Procedure: Plain white flour (300g, “essential Waitrose”) and salt (<1g, NaCl) was weighed out using the balance. This was passed through a sieve into a 2L circular bowl. A small depression was made in the centre of the flour. Eggs (three, medium-size hen eggs(free-range)) were cracked open and poured into the centre of the flour. Sunflower oil (22ml (1 ½ tablespoons)) was added next, followed by milk (100ml, semi-skimmed cow’s milk, 1.7% w/v fat content, ~5°C). The mixture was stirred vigorously using a whisk until all solid flour had become incorporated and a viscous paste formed.

Milk (100ml) was added to the paste and stirring continued for 2min. Milk was then added until a total of 450ml had been added, stirring continuously (may use a dropping funnel clamped above, if desired). The viscous liquid – the batter – was placed in the fridge overnight at 4°C ± 1°.

The next day, the batter was poured on to a hot pan and heated until delicious. 

Recommendations: Lemon juice (10ml. From Eureka lemon. Contains water, limonene, citric acid...) was added to the “pancake”, followed by sucrose (10g). Order of addition found to be a controversial issue.

Use fork or spoon to place in mouth. Masticate, swallow and digest. Smile. It’s Pancake Tuesday!

Suggestions for future experiments: To be updated

 

 

A trip to the dentist

Back in work today after a trip to the dentist. Still feeling the affects of this pretty little molecule:

Lidocaine

My voltage-gated Na channels in my neurons are starting to fire again, my lip and face are getting their feeling back and my liver is doing its thing, grinding this puppy into glycine deriviatives and adding oxygen atoms!

Lots of chemistry going on down at your local dentist. My jaw is now packed with an amalgam of mercury, silver, tin, copper and who knows what other metals (I'm hoping for ruthenium, one of my favourite metals! Unlikely) The dentist, using caution, described it as a "silver" filling. Having just yesterday finished reading "Bad Science" by Ben Goldacre, I can understand why the general public are a bit more scared of mercury fillings (Oooh just thought of a science-based joke : What do you call holes in your teeth after you've been to the dentist? Hg wells! Needs improvement, but I do like the different levels - the science fiction, the non-obvious acronym for mercury, Wells died just around the time lidocaine was discovered (first marketed in 1949, Wells died in 1946). My work is done for the day after that.)

When I arrived at work there was an email from the British Dental Journal (published by Nature) and I browsed through the list of article titles. Fluoride in water was one of the links. Sugar also comes up. Interesting, because I had not really thought about the effect of sugar on teeth when dietary sugar was being discussed in the media (at least, in the UK media) recently. Maybe I should try cut down on the ol' sugar. I do have a bit of a sweet tooth. Quote from the sugar article :

The Newcastle University study, commissioned by the WHO and published last month in the Journal of Dental Research, recognises the benefit of this threshold by showing that when less than 10% of total calories in the diet is made up of free sugars there are much lower levels of tooth decay. The new research findings go even further, suggesting that halving this threshold for sugars to less than 5% of calories – around five teaspoons a day - would bring further benefits, minimising the risk of dental cavities throughout life.

Chemophobia II

Chemical weapons are scary. I'm afraid of chemical weapons. But are chemical weapons more scary than other weapons?

The question, "Why are chemical weapons more scary than other weapons?" was posed by Mark Loach in his radio programme, "Chemophobia" (see yesterday's post), but he didn't seem to answer it fully. He gave the example of the horrific deaths in Syria from chemical warfare, and asked why this was worse than the greater number of deaths from conventional weapons. Of course, the terms "biological weapons" or "physical weapons" (or even just "weapons") are frightening too. Mark seems to suggest that "chemical weapons" is a worse prospect in the eyes of the general public.

Chemical weapons are devices that contain chemicals specially formulated to cause death or injury to humans. The properties of the chemical in the devices are the "weapon" rather than any physically destructive force of the device. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW, Nobel Peace Prize winners 2013 "for its extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons") administers the Chemical Warfare Control treaty, "an arms control treaty which outlaws the production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons and their precursors." (Wikipedia)

 Chemical weapons maybe are viewed as agents that cause irreversible damage, injuries that cannot be fixed and horrific deaths. It's clearly right for their use and manufacture to be banned. How should we reconcile banning these agents and not all weapons of all kinds? Biological weapons and "conventional" weapons perhaps can cause death and injury, of course, but maybe their effects are not seen as quite as bad, because there is an "antidote" or broken bones can be fixed, physical injuries can be healed, or chemicals (or drugs) can be used to cure a person. Chemical weapons can be non-lethal, but can leave someone "contaminated" or incurable.

Anyway, I feel like I'm getting out of my depth pretty quickly here. So I'll leave it there for now. If anybody would like to add anything or question me, leave me a message or a tweet.

Peace.


*Edit 22/12/2013* Periodic videos (Brady Haran) posted a...video on 2nd Sept 2013 on the topic of chemical weapons. Link. "Discussing chemical weapons, including Sarin and Mustard Gas.
Featuring professors Rob Stockman and Martyn Poliakoff from the University of Nottingham.
" As usual the video is entertaining and informative, more than I could explain here!

*Edit 2 22/12/2013* Further footage on the chemical weapons video linked above. link. Fritz Haber, binary weapons, "...it's a little unfair to attack chemistry for chemical weapons...", "In the end, the use of military force to solve political problems is something which I hope is becoming more and more unacceptable across the world"

Chemophobia I

The topic of chemophobia (the fear of chemicals) has come up in the chemistry blogosphere quite often in recent times. Here, for example, is Janet D. Stemwedel at Scientific American, asking what's the problem with chemophobia and why should chemists care and what response we should have.

ChemBark has written on the topic several times and has also addressed the question "…is it[chemophobia] really a problem? Who cares if the public dislikes chemicals? So long as chemists know better, we will continue doing good science. Why should we be distracted by general ignorance?".
Answer. Quote: "For a democracy...to function efficiently, the electorate must be educated and informed. The steady decline of chemistry’s public image is a massive problem, because it erodes support for our field."

Plenty of other blogs touching on chemophobia here, here and here, and here.

The most high profile discussion of chemophobia is now up on the BBC website. Mark Loach has a 15minute radio programme (Hmmm not sure if readers outside the UK will be able to listen to that. Just read the article if you can't - it's pretty much word for word) and an article which go into areas such as the definition of chemophobia, the usefulness of "bang, crack, fizzzz" chemistry demonstrations in sparking an interest in chemistry amongst young people (see my previous post on crack bang wallop demonstration I attended in Cambridge), and why physics or biology, for example, do not elicit similar fears in the general public. One of his most interesting metaphors was that a "sodium + water = bang!" demonstration he saw carried out by his grandad, was only "fuel" for his interest in chemistry. It was not the "spark", which for him came later in life. This fuel alone is not sufficient to ignite an interest in chemistry, he argues. We should concentrate more on the "little girl at the back of the room with her hands over her ears" and not just on the "boys at the front cheering and applauding" (paraphrased).

Cassiterite

Was competing in a challenge walk this weekend, and a set of general knowledge questions included naming the main ore of tin (I had no idea!). A quick Google (shhh! Anyway, we didn't win) revealed the answer as cassiterite. In various table quizzes I seem to remember these "what's the main ore of X" as common enough, but I still never have the correct answer. My question is, does anybody? Who is expert in metal ores? Are they social enough to communicate with others in a table quiz or online? Who makes this interesting?

Acanthite - Silver
Chromite - Chromium
Hematite - Iron (obvs!)
Ilmenite - Titanium
Magnetite - Iron
Cinnabar - Mercury (HgS)
Pentlandite - Nickel
Sphalerite - Zinc
etc.

"We'll start by making some gunpowder"

A quote from the lecture on Thursday evening, entitled "The Science of Fireworks and Explosives", which I attended with a few people from work. Prof. Chris Bishop was the master of ceremonies, and he did indeed make some gunpowder, firing a Brown Bess gun at the end of the lecture (loaded only with wadding)!



The lecture was advertised as a "family lecture", with "loud bangs, bright flashes, and some smoke". The fumehood used during the lecture just about dealt with the smoke, but did start giving out (beeping) towards the end of the lecture, when the accumulated smoke from the displays started to get too much. Even though it was aimed mostly at young people, I was engrossed by the displays, explanations and Bishop's red lab coat! The chemistry was explained in broad terms (sulphur=fuel, charcoal=fuel, saltpetre=oxygen), but there was interesting tidbits of information for those with a more in depth chemistry knowledge : Did you know a good ratio for gunpowder is 75:15:10 Saltpetre:Charcoal:Sulphur? It was explained that gunpowder produces quite a "soft" explosion (more of a "push", hence its use in fireworks, for example). But what if you want a proper bang/crack? The talk then moved on to metals, both in flash powder (metal fuel) and fireworks (colours). The predictable metal-salts-in-a-Bunsen-burner section was spiced up a bit by the use of methanol solutions of salts like SrCl (red), NaCl (orange), CaCl (orange) and CuCl (aquamarine). The MeOH spilled on to the floor at one stage, starting a small fire! Some of the parents looked a bit worried, but Chris's able assistant walked to the side of the stage to receive a fire blanket. (Waving it over the fire, rather than placing it carefully!)

Another picture from the lecture. This is of lycopodium powder being blown through a Bunsen flame.

 Then the main topic : fireworks. Types (four classes : 1. Indoor 2. Garden 3. Display 4. Professional), effects (white glitter, strobes, orange popping, screechers)

Finally nitrocellulose, dynamite, HMX tubing, nitrogen triiodide (very loud!)

This child exploded into just CO2 and water shortly after this photo