FunFacts

Hello! Let me share interesting chemistry or science-related facts with you. Ü

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To some of my students who asked me about the

Chemistry of Love (from http://people.howstuffworks.com/love6.htm)

by Lee Ann Obringer

The Chemistry of Love

There are a lot of chemicals racing around your brain and body when you’re in love. Researchers are gradually learning more and more about the roles they play both when we are falling in love and when we’re in long-term relationships. Of course, estrogen and testosterone play a role in the sex drive area. Without them, we might never venture into the “real love” arena. That initial giddiness that comes when we’re first falling in love includes a racing heart, flushed skin and sweaty palms. Researchers say this is due to the dopamine, norepinephrine and phenylethylamine we’re releasing. Dopamine is thought to be the “pleasure chemical,” producing a feeling of bliss. Norepinephrine is similar to adrenaline and produces the racing heart and excitement. According to Helen Fisher, anthropologist and well-known love researcher from Rutgers University, together these two chemicals produce elation, intense energy, sleeplessness, craving, loss of appetite and focused attention. She also says, “The human body releases the cocktail of love rapture only when certain conditions are met and … men more readily produce it than women, because of their more visual nature.” Researchers are using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to watch people’s brains when they look at a photograph of their object of affection. According to Helen Fisher, a well-known love researcher and an anthropologist at Rutgers University, what they see in those scans during that “crazed, can’t-think-of-anything-but stage of romance” — the attraction stage — is the biological drive to focus on one person. The scans showed increased blood flow in areas of the brain with high concentrations of receptors for dopamine — associated with states of euphoria, craving and addiction. High levels of dopamine are also associated with norepinephrine, which heightens attention, short-term memory, hyperactivity, sleeplessness and goal-oriented behavior. In other words, couples in this stage of love focus intently on the relationship and often on little else. Another possible explanation for the intense focus and idealizing view that occurs in the attraction stage comes from researchers at University College London. They discovered that people in love have lower levels of serotonin and also that neural circuits associated with the way we assess others are suppressed. These lower serotonin levels are the same as those found in people with obsessive-compulsive disorders, possibly explaining why those in love “obsess” about their partner.

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Hi. I got this from an email.

A professor at CCNY for a physiological psych class told his class
> about
> bananas. He said the expression ‘going bananas’ is from the effects of
> bananas on the brain. Read on:
>
>
> This is interesting.
> After reading this, you’ll never look at a banana in the same way
> again.
>
>
> Bananas contain three natural sugars – sucrose, fructose and glucose
> combined with fibre. A banana gives an instant, sustained and
> substantial
> boost of energy.
>
> Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a
> strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one
> fruit
> with the world’s leading athletes.
>
> But energy isn’t the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can
> also
> help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and
> conditions,
> making it a must to add to our daily diet.
>
> Depression: According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND amongst
> people
> suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana.
> This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the
> body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your
> mood
> and generally make you feel happier.
>
> PMS: Forget the pills – eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains
> regulates
> blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.
>
> Anaemia: High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of
> haemoglobin
> in the blood and so helps in cases of anaemia.
>
> Blood Pressure: This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in
> potassium
> yet low in salt, making it perfect to beat blood pressure. So much so,
> the
> US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to
> make official claims for the fruit’s ability to reduce the risk of
> blood
> pressure and stroke.
>
> Brain Power: 200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school (England)
> were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at
> breakfast,
> break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has
> shown
> that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils
> more
> alert.
>
> Constipation: High in fibre, including bananas in the diet can help
> restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without
> resorting to laxatives.
>
> Hangovers: One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a
> banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach
> and,
> with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels,
> while
> the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.
>
> Heartburn: Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you
> suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.
>
> Morning Sickness: Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood
> sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.
>
> Mosquito bites: Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing
> the
> affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it
> amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.
>
> Nerves: Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous
> system.
>
> Overweight and at work? Studies at the Institute of Psychology in
> Austria
> found pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate
> and
> chips. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most
> obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report
> concluded
> that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our
> blood
> sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to
> keep levels steady.
>
> Ulcers: The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal
> disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only
> raw
> fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It
> also
> neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining
> of
> the stomach.
>
> Temperature control: Many other cultures see bananas as a ‘cooling’
> fruit
> that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant
> mothers. In Thailand , for example, pregnant women eat bananas to
> ensure
> their baby is born with a cool temperature.
>
> Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): Bananas can help SAD sufferers
> because
> they contain the natural mood enhancer tryptophan.
>
> Smoking &Tobacco Use: Bananas can also help people trying to give up
> smoking. The B6, B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and
> magnesium
> found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine
> withdrawal.
>
> Stress: Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the
> heartbeat,
> sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body’s water balance. When
> we
> are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium
> levels. These can be rebalanced with the help of a high-potassium
> banana
> snack.
>
> Strokes: According to research in The New England Journal of Medicine,
> eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by
> strokes by as much as 40%!
>
> Warts: Those keen on natural alternatives swear that if you want to
> kill
> off a wart, take a piece of banana skin and place it on the wart, with
> the
> yellow side out. Carefully hold the skin in place with a plaster or
> surgical tape!
>
> So, a banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare
> it
> to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate,
> three
> times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the
> other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of
> the best value foods around So maybe its time to change that well-known
> phrase so that we say, ‘A banana a day keeps the doctor away!’
>
> PASS IT ON TO YOUR FRIENDS
> PS: Bananas must be the reason monkeys are so happy all the time! I
> will
> add one here; want a quick shine on our shoes?? Take the INSIDE of the
> banana skin, and rub directly on the shoe…polish with dry cloth.
> Amazing
>fruit !!!
> Never, put your banana in the refrigerator! !!

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Why is “c” the notation for the speed of light?

The speed of light has the value 299, 792, 458 m/s. The constant c stands for celeritas which is the Latin for “swiftness”.

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20 Things You Didn’t Know About… Lab Accidents

LSD, gunpowder, Viagra, and the Incredible Hulk all have something in common.

By Sean Markey

DISCOVER Vol. 27 No. 11 | November 2006

1 There went our best chance: In the ninth century, a team of Chinese alchemists trying to synthesize an “elixir of immortality” from saltpeter, sulfur, realgar, and dried honey instead invented gunpowder.

2 German scientist Hennig Brand stored 50 buckets of urine in his cellar for months in 1675, hoping that it would turn into gold. Instead, an obscure mix of alchemy and chemistry yielded a waxy, glowing goo that spontaneously burst into flame—the element now known as phosphorus.

3 Soldiers supplied the raw material in vast, sloshing quantities until the 1750s, when Swedish chemist Carl Scheele developed an industrial method of producing phosphorus. He discovered eight other elements, including chlorine, oxygen, and nitrogen, and compounds like ammonia, glycerin, and prussic acid.

4 Scheele was found dead in his lab at age 43, perhaps owing to his propensity for tasting his own toxic chemicals.

5 Kevlar, superglue, cellophane, Post-it notes, photographs, and the phonograph: They all emerged from laboratory blunders.

 

6 The Flash, created in 1940 for All-American Publications, was the first comic book hero to develop superpowers after a lab accident, attaining “super speed” after inhaling “hard water” vapors.

7 Other beneficiaries of the Freak Lab Mishap include Plastic Man (struck by a falling drum full of acid), the Hulk (irradiated by an experimental bomb), and of course, Spider-Man (bitten by a radioactive spider).

8 In real life, perhaps a bigger risk comes from lab-contracted diseases. The world’s last documented case of smallpox killed photographer Janet Parker in 1978 after the virus escaped from a lab at the University of Birmingham in England.

9 But sometimes humans strike back: Alexander Fleming, famous for his serendipitous discovery of penicillin, also chanced upon an antibiotic enzyme in nasal mucus when he sneezed onto a bacterial sample and noticed that his snot kept the microbes in check.

10 The lab-accident rate in schools and colleges is 100 to 1,000 times greater than at firms like Dow or DuPont.

11 In 1938 DuPont chemist Roy Plunkett opened a dud canister of tetrafluoroethylene gas and discovered an amazing, nearly friction-free white powder. He named it Teflon.

12 Perhaps he should have chucked it out instead: In 2005 the Environmental Protection Agency identified a Teflon ingredient, perfluorooctanoic acid, as a “likely carcinogen.” It is now in the bloodstream of 95 percent of Americans.

13 After a 1992 drug trial in the Welsh mining town of Merthyr Tydfil, male subjects reported that sildenafil citrate hadn’t done much for their angina, but it did have an unusual side effect on another part of their anatomy. Today the drug is sold as Viagra.

 

14 In 1943 Swiss chemist Albert Hoffman inadvertently absorbed a small quantity of lysergic acid through his fingertips and experienced “dizziness . . . visual distortions . . . [a] desire to laugh.” The age of LSD had begun.

15 Hoffman’s long, strange trip continues. He turned 100 this past January.

16 Why he’s not the father of the electric chair: While trying to electrocute a turkey, Benjamin Franklin sent a whopping jolt from two Leyden jars into his own body. “The flash was very great and the crack as loud as a Pistol,” he wrote, describing the incident as an “Experiment in Electricity that I desire never to repeat.”

17 In 1965 astronomers Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson scrubbed their Bell Labs radio antenna to rid it of pigeon droppings, which they suspected were causing the instrument’s annoying steady hiss.

18 That noise turned out to be the microwave echo of the Big Bang.

19 The world has scores of superpowerful particle accelerators. Last year, a fireball created at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider in Upton, New York, had the characteristics of a black hole. Physicists are reasonably sure that no such black holes could escape and consume Earth.

20 Reasonably.