What’s the Matter?
Thursday, October 2nd, 2008Most of the matter you see every day comes in one of three phases (forms) - Solid, Liquid or Gas. There is also a fourth phase of matter called Plasma (a high energy electrically charged mixture of ions and electrons). Although plasma is the most abundant phase of matter in the universe (it’s what stars [...]
Life Span of a Twinkie
Monday, September 22nd, 2008Yesterday I was having a conversation with my brother about the pros and cons of food additives when he blurted out an oft-repeated but patently false assertion that “Hostess Twinkies have a shelf life of more than a hundred years”. I was astounded that an executive in the pharmaceutical industry as well as many [...]
The Great Butter vs. Margarine “Rot-off”
Friday, June 20th, 2008
On 5/13/08 Science Junkies embarked on it’s first ever original clinical study!
We were inspired by two sources;
1. An experiment that illustrated what happens to Cool Whip (as opposed to natural whipped cream) when it is left out at room temperature for 12 days. To see that experiment CLICK HERE
-And-
2. [...]
It’s Hip to be Square
Friday, May 16th, 2008A round watermelon can take up a lot of room in a refrigerator and the usually round fruit is awkward to store. In Japan, where space in urban population centers is at a premium, a simple yet effective solution has been found.
For quite a few years now, clever Japanese farmers grow the square fruit [...]
It’s a Gas!
Monday, May 5th, 2008
Pooting, Tooting, Farting, Breaking Wind, Cutting the Cheese, whatever you want to call it, the average person produces about half a liter of intestinal gas per day which is expelled in the form of flatulence about 14 times daily.
The following web links get into the science behind this smelly but vital bodily function:
Kidzworld: The Science of [...]
How is your tongue like an inkjet printer?
Friday, April 11th, 2008Most inkjet printers use only four basic ink colors - Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. The printer combines these colors to represent each image pixel in various colors, shades, and intensities. The image is dithered, meaning the printer uses a pattern of several of its dots to simulate the color of each pixel in the [...]
Horrifying 12-Day Cool Whip Experiment
Thursday, April 10th, 2008This experiment answers that age old question; “What happens to Cool Whip if I leave it out on the counter for 12 days?”
I particularly liked the “drawing-a-smiley-face-on-it study”.
To see the study and accompanying photos CLICK HERE
So, do you want to see what happens to butter and margarine if you leave them out for a really really [...]
Ice Cream of the Future
Friday, March 28th, 2008There’s an ongoing joke at our house and it goes something like this:
Hey! does anyone want ice cream?
Sure! What kind?
Why, the ice cream of the future, of course!
For some reason, it strikes us as perversely funny that the founders of Dippin’ Dots should look into the future and see us all strapping on our jet-packs to go [...]
Meet Dexter
Friday, March 14th, 2008Science Junkies now has an official mascot! His name is Dexter and he is our Mad Scientist in residence. Dexter’s (and Science Junkie’s) motto is “Science is Sweet!”
Dexter first turned up on a birthday cake created for us by Susie G’s for our recent Science Party. We had also wanted some cool science-themed cookies for [...]
Party Science
Saturday, March 8th, 2008
We just had a great science-themed birthday party for our 10-year-old science junkie. See the details and how-tos on the party page. The Mad Scientist on our cake is the Science Junkies mascot, Dexter.
In the above picture Dexter has a horror movie moment and we get a glimpse into his innermost thoughts.
Every bit of this cake’s [...]
