Squeeze the juice from a quarter of a lime into a glass. Top up with Sprite (or any lemon and lime flavoured fizzy drink). Add a scoop of lime sorbet to float on the top. Thanks to Real Mom Kitchen for the recipe and picture! (In the US sherbet means sorbet – apparently!)
Read moreSoda…
January 3, 2012
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There is a group of compounds based around the element sodium whose common names all include the word soda. Sodium bicarbonate – baking soda Sodium carbonate – washing soda Sodium hydroxide – caustic soda There are lots of other sodium compounds such as sodium chloride that don’t get soda in their name – although glass made [...]
Read moreLime…
January 2, 2012
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There is a group of compounds containing the metal element calcium that include the word “lime” in their common name. They can be neatly demonstrated through the limestone cycle. Limestone (marble, chalk) has the chemical name calcium carbonate. When it is heated it decomposes (like all carbonates) releasing carbon dioxide and leaving calcium oxide behind. Calcium oxide is [...]
Read moreFishing…
December 30, 2011
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I am not a great fan of New Year resolutions (why wait for New Year?) but I would like to resolve to do some fishing on the Cherwell in 2012. We have an excellent stretch of the river adjoining our fields and the North Oxford Angling Society, which runs our stretch of water, is very [...]
Read moreShooting…
December 29, 2011
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I went shooting in South Wales on Tuesday. I shared a peg with my father shooting driven pheasant, occasional woodcock and, on a couple of drives, mallard duck. We were sharing a shotgun that fires cartridges filled with shot. The diagram shows how they are constructed. When the primer is struck, it ignites the gunpowder [...]
Read moreHunting…
December 28, 2011
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Bubo bubo is the Linnaean classification for the eagle owl – Europe’s largest owl. Linnaean classification is the system used for naming organisms that was established by Carl Linnaeus in his 1735 work “Systema Naturae”. Initially all living things were grouped into three kingdoms; Animals, Plants and Minerals. We now have different sets of kingdoms; Animals, Plants, Fungi, Bacteria & Protista. [...]
Read moreWiff-Waff…
December 23, 2011
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My colleagues and I work very hard in Blackhole. Even when the table tennis serving machine malfunctioned everyone remained thoroughly professional.
Read moreMyrrh…
December 23, 2011
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Myrrh is, like Frankincense, derived from the sap of a tree; this time from trees of the genus Commiphora, particularly the species Commiphora abyssinica. As you can see from the picture, it is formidably well armed. When a cut is made through the bark and into the sapwood beneath, waxy gum oozes out that can [...]
Read moreFrankincense…
December 22, 2011
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Two recent stories from the BBC about Frankincense sparked my interest. Frankincense is the hardened resin from the trunk of the tree Boswellia sacra. The bark is cut and the resin forms on the outside or drips onto the ground. This aromatic resin is used in incense and perfume. It can vary in quality depending [...]
Read moreGold Part Two…
December 22, 2011
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Despite not answering the questions that appeared in my post on gold from yesterday(!), Dent left a series of questions that I thought needed a post of their own, as they all relate to the origin of the gold atom itself. Dent wrote… Will the earth naturally produce more gold for us to extract? How long will [...]
Read moreGold Part One…
December 21, 2011
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Pure gold is yellow, which makes it quite unlike other metals, but in every other way it is a typical metal. Like other metals it is… malleable – in other words it can be bent in to shapes without cracking ductile – it can be drawn out into wires or rolled out into foil shiny – [...]
Read more12 Particles Of Matter And 4 Forces Of Nature…
December 19, 2011
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Seeing Professor Brian Cox on A Night With The Stars last night reminded me that I had not finished writing this post about the fundamental particles of matter. The idea came from a video that quotes Prof Cox in the chorus referring to the twelve particles of matter and the four forces of nature. Many of you know that the four [...]
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