Monthly Archives: October 2017

The secret to turning gummy worms into Frankenworms is the baking soda and vinegar chemical reaction. — Frankenworms are gummy worm candies that seem to move with a zombie life of their own. Making the worms dance is a fun science experiment, perfect for Halloween. The project uses candy, baking soda, and vinegar, so it’s safe enough for young children. Frankenworms Materials There’s nothing magical about gummy […]

Dancing Frankenworms Gummy Worm Science Experiment

This entry was posted on October 23, 2017 by Anne Helmenstine (updated on May 17, 2021)

Hans von Euler-Chelpin — November 6 marks the passing of Swedish biochemist, Hans von Euler-Chelpin. He was awarded the 1929 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Arthur Harden for their investigations into the process of fermentation and yeast enzymes. Brewers use yeast to convert glucose (sugar) into carbon dioxide and ethyl alcohol. People have been […]

Today in Science History – November 6 – Hans von ...

This entry was posted on October 21, 2017 by Todd Helmenstine (updated on November 6, 2021)

Edward Tatum — November 5th is Léon Teisserenc de Bort’s birthday. He was a French meteorologist best known for the discovery of the layer in the atmosphere known as the stratosphere. Teisserenc de Bort was a pioneer of unmanned weather balloons carrying instruments to collect and record data such as temperature, pressure and […]

Today in Science History – November 5 – Léon Teisserenc ...

This entry was posted on October 19, 2017 by Todd Helmenstine (updated on May 17, 2021)

X10 Reactor Face — November 4 marks the anniversary of the day the X-10 graphite nuclear reactor went critical for the first time. The Manhattan Project atomic bomb program needed a source of plutonium-239 for its weapon design. The best place to get plutonium is from uranium. Natural uranium is mostly uranium-238 with a […]

Today in Science History – November 4 – X-10 Facility

This entry was posted on October 18, 2017 by Todd Helmenstine (updated on May 17, 2021)

Laika — November 3 marks the anniversary of the first animal in orbit. On November 3, 1957, the Soviet Union launched the second of their satellites: Sputnik 2. This satellite was originally designed to measure solar irradiance and cosmic rays but Soviet leadership wanted a grand spectacular event to impress the world. […]

Today in Science History – November 3 – Laika Goes ...

This entry was posted on October 17, 2017 by Todd Helmenstine (updated on November 3, 2021)

genso shuuki-hyou — Have you ever needed a Japanese periodic table? This genso no shuuki-hyou has each element's number, symbol, name in Japanese, and atomic mass.

Genso no Shuuki-hyou – Japanese Periodic Table of the Elements

This entry was posted on October 15, 2017 by Todd Helmenstine (updated on May 17, 2021)

genso shuuki-hyou — This list of elements in Japanese has each element's number, symbol, element name in English and Japanese, and an English pronunciation guide.

List of Elements in Japanese

This entry was posted on October 15, 2017 by Todd Helmenstine (updated on May 17, 2021)

Halloween Science Projects — October is the perfect month for spooky Halloween science projects and experiments. Here’s a collection of projects to make gooey slime, glow in the dark items, and creepy pumpkins. Halloween Science Projects Slime Ectoplasm Slime – Whether or not you believe spirits generate ectoplasm (like Slimer in the movie Ghostbusters), […]

Halloween Science Projects

This entry was posted on October 14, 2017 by Anne Helmenstine (updated on October 31, 2023)

Dopants in phosphors can produce a range of glow in the dark colors. (Joel Filipe) — In the olden days, back before we could buy glow powder on the internet, people made it themselves. Sometimes they took a scientific approach, mixing chemicals to see if anything cool happened. More often than not, glowing materials were discovered by accident. For example, the discovery that rotting corpses and […]

Make Glow in the Dark Powder From Oyster Shells (Calcium ...

This entry was posted on October 7, 2017 by Anne Helmenstine (updated on April 1, 2023)