Vincent Summers, Author at Quirky Science

14Nov 2012 by Vincent Summers 1 Comment

Navigation: Where Am I?

History

[caption id="attachment_3227" align="alignright" width="380"] Navigation in the 1700's.[/caption] When people started traveling, it was imperative to be able to answer the question: where am I? This is not such a problem with land navigation because there are lots of landmarks to guide the traveler. Early, the Portuguese sailors used sets of directions they called rutters. A rutter might say, “Sail directly west from Sagres until you see a small Island. If you arrive there after October 30, wait until April 1 to proceed north or you will never make it…”. The Portuguese kept their rutters out of foreign hands. The invention of latitude and longitude to map the earth made the rutters obsolete. But how do you know the latitude and longitude of your present position? Latitude is One Thing…

11Nov 2012 by Vincent Summers 5 Comments

Why Some Boiled Eggs Don’t Peel Right

Food

[caption id="attachment_3204" align="alignright" width="440"] Eggs: Microsoft Clipart[/caption] What's the matter with boiled eggs? It looks like one egg should be as good as another, right? So what makes them different? You put a pot of water on to boil. When it finally reaches a boil, you add some ordinary chicken eggs to make egg custard, deviled eggs, egg salad, or just individual "hen fruits" to munch on with a free sprinkling of sea salt and a little cracked pepper. But... Problem Peeling Boiled Eggs? You experience a problem when you go to peel them. Why don't your boiled eggs peel right? In fact, sometimes they do, and sometimes they don't. Why not every time? Anatomy of an Egg Within the eggshell lies more than just a white and a yolk.…

09Nov 2012 by Vincent Summers 1 Comment

How Cream Turns to Butter

Food

[caption id="attachment_3195" align="alignright" width="440"] Old-Fashioned Butter Churn[/caption] You've seen it as a youngster. A demonstration in which cream is turned into butter by whipping, perhaps by an electric mixer, perhaps using a hand mixer. How is it possible? Cream is a suspension of fat globules spread throughout a water-based or aqueous solution—a solution that contains water-soluble substances. Preventing the tiny fat globules from joining together—coalescing—is a kind of membrane surrounding each one, called a milk fat globule membrane (MFGM). Butter? MFGM Composition and Structure This membrane is composed of proteins, enzymes, and lipids.¹ Actually, there are two layers that develop around each fat core—a phospholipid layer (developed at the time of formation) encased within a plasma membrane layer (formed at the time of secretion).² The combination is often referred to…

09Nov 2012 by Vincent Summers 3 Comments

Beginner Level Russian Crossword

Language

[caption id="attachment_3187" align="alignright" width="480"] The Czar's Palace: Kremlin, Moscow, Russia[/caption] Would you care to play a simple beginner's level Russian crossword puzzle? If the solution is also provided? RUSSIA! It's an amazing, multicultural part of this diverse world. Although I cannot afford to visit Russia, I find its people, its history, and its language fascinating. Part of me would like to visit Russia, part of me wouldn't. It doesn't matter. The cost is prohibitive for me. All Things Russian Some time ago, while seeking beginning level Russian video and audio files, I discovered Natalia Worthington and her lovely Spoonful of Russian website. Since I benefited from her efforts, I thought I would contribute to it in some small way. Using Microsoft Word, I generated a beginner's level crossword puzzle. I…

07Nov 2012 by Vincent Summers 2 Comments

Why Urine is Yellow

Chemistry

[caption id="attachment_3172" align="alignright" width="366"] A urine sample.[/caption] Admit it. You've always wondered why. Why is urine yellow? What chemical or chemicals are involved? Consider the primary red blood cell component, “heme.” Heme & Porphyrin Dorland’s Medical Dictionary for Health Consumers, 2007, informs us heme is “an iron compound of protoporphyrin which constitutes the pigment portion or protein-free part of the hemoglobin molecule.” Heme is the colorful portion (red) of our blood. Notice, in particular, the partial word in the definition, porphyrin. Recycling & Trash Red blood cells become old and need to be replaced. What happens to the old red blood cells? They are, first, consumed by macrophages in the blood. For the person who has his or her body intact, much of this occurs within the spleen. It also…

02Nov 2012 by Vincent Summers 1 Comment

Potato Varieties: Nutritional Differences

Food

[caption id="attachment_3153" align="alignright" width="440"] Photo by Scott Bauer - USDA Agricultural Research Service[/caption] Potato varieties just may be the spice of life. The humble potato is a tuberous vegetable. Some give it a bad reputation. Many consider it to be a massive source of calories and little nutritional value. This is wrong. Most potato shortcomings result, not from the potato, but from the way in which it is prepared. As an example, consider the potato chip: thin potato wedges fried in oil and practically dipped in salt. Or what about the baking potato? Is it served with great gobs of sour cream or, perhaps butter or cheese? Even potato salad is hard to rationalize as salad. Chunks of potato goodness set in a veritable sea of high-fat dressing? Bad for…

25Oct 2012 by Vincent Summers 14 Comments

What Really Causes Washboard Road?

Physics

What is a washboard road? And what causes one? No doubt you’ve ridden gravel roads that made feel like you were driving across a washboard. You felt like you were being shaken to pieces. Then you noticed the road's parallel ridges and grooves. Each groove was two or three inches from the next one. You slowed your speed to reduce the vibration and thought, “What causes washboard road surfaces, anyway?” Many previous to you have asked this same question. Washboard roads are miserable to travel. Car control suffers from lack of road contact. Accidents result. One Common Explanation for Washboard Road Some suggest1 it is a vehicle’s suspension system that causes seeming random forces to change into a harmonic, feedback pattern that results in compactions (or valleys) and upward displacements…

12Sep 2012 by Vincent Summers 1 Comment

Executed Innocent? Poison Dismemberment Murder

Forensics

[caption id="attachment_3119" align="alignright" width="293"] Hawley Harvey Crippen[/caption] A poison dismemberment murder? In England in the year 1910, Michigan, USA-born homeopathist Hawley Harvey Crippen was tried and convicted. The he waas hanged for the apparent Jack the Ripper style poison dismemberment of his wife. She was the aspiring singer, Cora Crippen (stage name, Belle Elmore). Crippen family descendants have wondered, for decades, about the history and validity of the conviction. Bothersome Detail Leads to Re-investigation The case bothered forensic investigator and murder by poison expert, John H. Trestrail III. If he was guilty, why had Hawley Crippen dismembered her body? Mr. Trestrail’s findings were broadcast by the Public Broadcasting System. It was in an episode of Secrets of the Dead in the episode entitled “Executed in Error.” The broadcast is well…

29Aug 2012 by Vincent Summers 2 Comments

The Y Chromosome: In Danger?

Biology, Medicine

[caption id="attachment_3050" align="alignright" width="480"] Y Chromosome - Image: NIST[/caption] The Y Chromosome. Some feel it is endangered. Why? Male and female have been differentiated in non-biological ways throughout human history. Privileges and responsibilities—royalty and headship—are traced through the male. Although distorted by humans, this follows Bible headship, described at 1 Corinthians 11:3. As we will see, the biological distinction of male and female lies with the y chromosome. This chromosome might appear in danger. What danger? What does it imply? Humans and Heredity [caption id="attachment_15979" align="alignright" width="344"] Unraveling the DNA of an X-Chromosome.[/caption] Every human organism, though largely similar, displays varying family and individual traits. The information “portfolio” lies in certain macromolecules called DNA. These macromolecules are contained in tiny structures—genes—which are themselves contained in 23 pairs of heredity bearing…

11Jun 2012 by Vincent Summers 6 Comments

Mad Hatters, Felt, and Mercury

Chemistry, History

[caption id="attachment_2497" align="alignright" width="440"] Harry S. Truman Felt Fedora Hat - Image: National Park Service[/caption] Associated with the hat making business, how do felt and mercury produce mad hatters? Felt hats have been produced from small animal pelts since about the 14th century. During the 19th century, fur was removed from the skin using camel urine. Some hatters used their own urine, instead. The active ingredient in urine was nitrogen-rich urea. Why Urine? Those who used their own urine and were being treated for syphillis produced superior felt! This was due to the mercurous chloride (HgCl) they'd taken as medicine. Urine was replaced by orange-colored mercuric nitrate Hg(NO₃)₂. [caption id="attachment_19437" align="alignright" width="240"] Tertiary syphilis. A horrible disease, generally avoidable.[/caption] Mad Hatters The vats of solution and the drying process generated…