Monthly Archives: January 2018

ZETA Headlines — On January 24, 1958, the press were given a tour of Britain’s Project ZETA to announce its results towards achieving man-made nuclear fusion. ZETA stood for Zero Energy Thermonuclear Assembly. This experimental device was one of the largest attempts to generate energy from fusion. The idea was to heat deuterium […]

Today in Science History – January 24 – Project ZETA ...

This entry was posted on January 23, 2018 by Todd Helmenstine (updated on April 30, 2023)

Aurora Borealis — On January 23, 1978, Sweden became the first country to ban the use of aerosol sprays which use chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) as their propellants. The ban came after research done by Frank Rowland and Mario Molina demonstrated CFCs interacted with ultraviolet light in the upper atmosphere to break the bonds of […]

Today in Science History – January 23 – CFCs and ...

This entry was posted on January 22, 2018 by Todd Helmenstine (updated on January 26, 2022)

Lev Davidovich Landau — January 22 is Lev Davidovich Landau’s birthday. Landau was the main leader of Soviet theoretical physics and a central figure in the development of quantum electrodynamics. In the few years before World War II, he studied extensively in other European scientific centers and met with many of the pioneering physicists […]

Today in Science History – January 22 – Lev Landau ...

This entry was posted on January 21, 2018 by Todd Helmenstine (updated on January 22, 2023)

Neptune — January 21 marks the passing of John Couch Adams. John Couch Adams was the astronomer famous for almost being the first to discover the planet Neptune. In 1845, astronomers were interested in the orbit of the planet Uranus. It had recently completed a complete revolution around the Sun since it was […]

Today in Science History – January 21 – John Couch ...

This entry was posted on January 20, 2018 by Todd Helmenstine (updated on May 10, 2021)

Alexandre-Emile Béguyer de Chancourtois — January 20 is the birthday of Alexandre-Emile Béguyer de Chancourtois. Béguyer de Chancourtois was a French geologist who was the first to organize the elements on a chart by increasing atomic weights. In 1860, chemists had a conference in Germany that produced a list of precise measurements of atomic weights […]

Today in Science History – January 20 – Alexandre-Emile Béguyer ...

This entry was posted on January 19, 2018 by Todd Helmenstine (updated on February 9, 2022)

Carl Gräbe — January 20 marks the passing of Carl Gräbe. Gräbe was a German organic chemist who discovered a method to synthesize the distinctive red alizarin dye with Carl Liebermann. Alizarin red has been a color found in textiles dating back to the Pharaohs of Egypt. This color was produced from the […]

Today in Science History – January 19 – Carl Gräbe ...

This entry was posted on January 18, 2018 by Todd Helmenstine (updated on January 21, 2023)

Definitions of chemistry terms may be confusing. (chuttersnap) — Learn the difference between two important chemistry terms. Sometimes these words are (incorrectly) used interchangeably. Other times, they are the terms students have a hard time keeping straight. These are differences relating to chemistry and the physical sciences, although you’ll encounter some of these terms in daily life, too. What […]

Commonly Confused Chemistry Terms

This entry was posted on January 18, 2018 by Anne Helmenstine (updated on February 28, 2023)

Fish can't live with Magic Rocks because the metal salts from the crystals get into the water and poison them. — One surprisingly common question I get is whether it’s okay to put fish in a Magic Rocks aquarium. The short answer is no, definitely not! For those who don’t know, Magic Rocks are a science project in which you take a packet of special rocks, pour a “magic” solution over […]

Magic Rocks and Fish in an Aquarium

This entry was posted on January 18, 2018 by Anne Helmenstine (updated on May 10, 2021)

Edward Frankland — January 18 is Edward Frankland’s birthday. Frankland was an English chemist who pioneered the idea of valency. He theorized an element could combine with a limited selection of other elements and established the field of structural chemistry. Frankland had a large part in cleaning up the Thames river and improving […]

Today in Science History – January 18 – Edward Frankland ...

This entry was posted on January 17, 2018 by Todd Helmenstine (updated on February 21, 2023)