Chemist Screws Up:

Happy ‪#‎CincoDeMayo‬! Here’s some avocado science to mark the occasion: http://wp.me/p4aPLT-p9

Graphene Safely Interacts With Neurons in the Brain

Researchers have shown that graphene can be used to make electrodes that can be implanted in the brain, which could potentially be used to restore sensory functions for amputee or paralysed patients, or for individuals with motor disorders such as Parkinson’s disease.

The research is in ACS Nano. (full access paywall)

It’s Schlier-tastic!!

These are my invisible wonders!  Gas flows and fluid interactions.  Nothing but hot air, metho and acetone, yup, humble old nail polish remover.

The images were captured using a colour indicating z-system schlieren optical array, an open shutter and a flash duration of 125 microseconds.

it he @ultrainfinitepit

We had to use an old-school GC much like this in one of our teaching labs. It felt like traveling back to another age.

Old school UV-visible spectrometry

There’s something oddly satisfying about watching the needle move

Louise Langgaard | See more work

if you give me a task with no deadline i will literally never do it but if you give me a deadline i will get it done exactly 1 hour before the deadline even if the deadline is in six years

Artist Sachiko Kodama is known for her mesmerizing ferrofluid sculptures. Ferrofluids are a colloidal liquid consisting of nanoscale ferromagnetic particles and a carrier fluid such as water or oil. They can react strongly to magnetic fields, forming spikes, brain-like whorls, and even labyrinths. (Photo credits: Sachiko Kodama; via freshphotons)

Black Bread Mold

The above images show the sporangium (fruiting bodies) of the bread mold, Rhizopus Stolonifer, growing on the surface of bread.

MORE INCREDIBLE MICROGRAPHS OF BREAD MOLD

Spores circulate freely in the air. On a favorable medium, they germinate a network of hyphae (threads). Their function is to absorb food for growth & for spore production. Rhizopus produces stolons, or aerial hyphae, which on contact with the medium grow rhizoids or ‘rootlets’. They anchor the fungus & absorb some water. Spores develop in saclike bodies, or sporangia (globular structure). They are carried at the ends of specialized hyphae called sporangiophores.

Rhizopus sp. are generally saprophytic, feeding on decaying animal and plant matter. However they can also be parasitic, feeding on living plants, animals and even humans.

Images above © Science Source