Mar 18, 2010

Real chemistry at the periodic table party

Posted in Science at 7:57 am by David Bradley -- Click to comment

 

UPDATE: Please let us know – which element are you?

Teaching chemistry has changed so much since my day. This classic Youtube clip highlights the way the elements might interact at a periodic table party. Carbon is popular with the hydrogens, the noble gases are the emo wallflowers, but it’s the fight that breaks out between potassium water that even had my teenage son laughing. Check out the chemistry, or lack thereof, between hydrogen and neon……

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Feb 10, 2010

Correct your chemical spelling mistakes

Posted in Chemistry at 10:11 am by David Bradley -- 24 Comments; add yours

 

Chemist Adam Azman contacted me more than two years ago to ask if I knew of a free or open source chemistry spellchecker custom dictionary for Word or OpenOffice. Searches had revealed only paid-for dictionaries. We both agreed that a free chemical spellchecker would be very useful to all scientists working with chemicals, so Adam set about creating from scratch an open access chemistry dictionary.

The spellchecker files were originally hosted on Chemspy.com …

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Feb 9, 2010

Nerdy passwords, secure and memorable

Posted in Geek at 1:45 pm by David Bradley -- 3 Comments; add yours

 

WARNING: Do not simply use the formula of a common chemical without obfuscating it in some way. It could be dictionary cracked very easily if you do.

Coming up with a secure password that cannot be bruteforce or dictionary attacked but that is easy to remember is quite troubling. So, here’s the nerdiest approach yet.

Think of a compound, any compound, but preferably one with which you are familiar. If you’re in science, …

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