Tag: Pique the Geek

Hello, all!  Sorry not to post at the regular time last night, but I was enjoying my final hours with the family this trip and did not intend to disturb them by blogging.  Please forgive me, but they are extremely important to me.  I am sure that you will understand.

Part of our activities last evening was to watch the new Star Trek motion picture.  It recently came out on DVD, and the former Mrs. Translator and the two boys remaining at home rented it for us to watch.  It was nice to be able to pause it and hit the good Christmas leftovers from time to time as well.

The Geek took hiatus last week to attend, and be part of, the marriage between Eldest Son and his very wonderful bride.  It was a very traditional Methodist service, and it went off perfectly insofar as no one fainted, no one objected (there was not a “If anyone objects…” clause in this particular service, so no one did.

The Geek also took today off and did not write a scientific column for several reasons.  First, I stayed up too late last night reading the news and weather.  Second, I could never come up with a good topic for tonight.  I will do better for next week, I promise.  Third, The Geek has just been feeling a tiny bit under the weather, but not horribly ill or anything.

Botox is in the news all of the time because of its use as wrinkle reducer, but it has many more uses than that, and a very long history.  The proper name is botulinum toxin, and is a neurotoxin produced by the common soil bacterium Clostridium botulinum.  This bacterium is an obligate anaerobe, meaning that it is poisoned by oxygen.

As a matter of fact, many bacteria of this genus are obligate anaerobes, and more than one are causes of human and animal disease.  In addition, they are also spore formers, which is the mechanism that they use to survive times when they are exposed to oxygen.

Atomic theory had been pretty well established well before the turn of the previous century, but no one knew much about the nature of atoms other than that the atoms of different elements had different masses (later advances revealed that they have different numbers of protons), and were composed of a positive nucleus and negative electrons, with positive and negative charges being equal in number so that the net electrical charge was zero.

Electrons were definitely established by J. J. Thomson in 1897, and he postulated that atoms were more of less continuous lumps of matter matter with positive charge in which lumps of negative charge (electrons) were embedded, although they had some freedom of movement.

Atomic theory had been pretty well established well before the turn of the previous century, but no one knew much about the nature of atoms other than that the atoms of different elements had different masses (later advances revealed that they have different numbers of protons), and were composed of a positive nucleus and negative electrons, with positive and negative charges being equal in number so that the net electrical charge was zero.

Electrons were definitely established by J. J. Thomson in 1897, and he postulated that atoms were more of less continuous lumps of matter matter with positive charge in which lumps of negative charge (electrons) were embedded, although they had some freedom of movement.

Atomic theory had been pretty well established well before the turn of the previous century, but no one knew much about the nature of atoms other than that the atoms of different elements had different masses (later advances revealed that they have different numbers of protons), and were composed of a positive nucleus and negative electrons, with positive and negative charges being equal in number so that the net electrical charge was zero.

Electrons were definitely established by J. J. Thomson in 1897, and he postulated that atoms were more of less continuous lumps of matter matter with positive charge in which lumps of negative charge (electrons) were embedded, although they had some freedom of movement.

One of standard measurements that we take for granted these days is the charge of a single electron.  This is a vivid example of how scientific knowledge has exploded during the past century.  In 1870, there was no concept of an electron, and atoms were just very crudely becoming accepted.

After the turn of the previous century, it was generally accepted that there were atoms, and that electrons were likely a part of them, but no one knew much about them.  We still have not all of the answers, but Robert Milliken elucidated the intrinsic charge of the electron in xxxx.

As a professional scientist, I am accustomed to observing some phenomenon that is interesting to me, wondering about its significance, looking at background data (if any exist, and yes, “data” is the plural form of “datum”), and then trying to figure out the principles behind.

That works well, for the most part, in systems that can be controlled and only one variable at a time changed.  That is the essence of the scientific method as it generally practiced.  I dispensed with the classical steps, which are observation, formulation of a hypothesis, experimentally testing the hypothesis, refining or rejecting the hypothesis, and then doing more and better experimental tests to test the hypothesis further.  If one is very lucky, the refined hypothesis becomes a theory, and if no exception after crushing peer review, becomes a principle or a law.

United States coins have traditionally been forged and minted with gold, silver, and copper.  Very small amounts of other metals have also been added to improve the wearing properties of the coins.

Gold, silver, and copper, in their pure states, are actually too soft to make good coins, in that they wear must too fast.  The chemistry of good alloys is a fascinating part of numismatics, the study of coins.

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is often used as a flavor enhancer in many savory dishes.  What most people know is that it often added to foods.  What most people do not know is that is present in many foods naturally, either in free form or as glutamic acid in proteins, since glutamic acid is a very common naturally occurring amino acid.

There is considerable controversy surrounding MSG, mostly due to the so-called Chinese Restaurant Syndrome (CRS).  Symptoms commonly reported include numbness and tingling of the extremities, facial flushing, and several others.  Tonight we shall take a fairly in-depth view of MSG.