Monday, March 30, 2015

putting out kitchen fires with sound waves!

In the 5 impossible things before breakfast category:

Two undergrads built a device that can put out an alcohol fire with sound waves!

Turns out low frequency sounds in the 30-60MHz level - the sound waves will disrupt the oxygen and separate the oxygen from the fuel long enough to extinguish the fire. They still need to scale it up and try it on other burning materials but, who knows, someday perhaps all stove hoods will have speakers installed....

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/mar/27/students-fire-extinguisher-sound-waves

Video:
http://www.wptv.com/news/local-news/water-cooler/viet-tran-seth-robertson-george-mason-students-use-sound-waves-to-extinguish-fire

Friday, March 27, 2015

Lobster - why does it change colour in cooking?


From Chemistry World:
Chemical clarification for lobster colour change on cooking
27 March 2015
William Bergius











The chemical responsible for the colour change was known, astaxanthin, but the actual mechanism was not determined until now.