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Responding to near-anarchy in the Republic of Haiti, the United States occupied the nation from 1915 to 1934. During this time, they installed puppet governments, ran the economy, military and police and for all intents and purposes were in absolute control of the country. Although this rule was relatively benign, it was unpopular with both the Haitians and the citizens of the United States and American troops and personnel were withdrawn in 1934. Haiti’s Troubled Background: Since gaining independence from France in a bloody rebellion in 1804, Haiti had gone through a succession of dictators. By the early twentieth century, the population was uneducated, poor and hungry. The only cash crop was coffee, grown on some sparse bushes in the mountains. In 1908, the country totally broke down. Regional warlords and militias known as cacos fought in the streets. Between 1908 and 1915 no less than seven men seized the presidency and most of them met some sort of gruesome end: one was hack...

Bacon is good (actually, it's great). Elements are good. What do you get when you put the two together? A pretty cool t-shirt, as seen over at Geekologie and for sale online at ThinkGeek. The t-shirt spells out Bacon as Ba Co N. Now, that's not the only way to spell out bacon using the elements. Who can tell me some other options?

February 27th could be considered aspirin's birthday. The process to make aspirin was patented in 1900 by Felix Hoffman on behalf of the German pharmaceutical company, Bayer. Hoffman's aspirin was a stable form of acetylsalicylic acid and named in three parts for this active ingredient. The 'A' was from acetyl, 'spir' was from the source of slaicin, the spirea plant, and 'in' was tacked on the end to give it a good pharmacological sounding name. Find out how to make your own aspirin and what else occurred on this day in science history.

Oxygen is one of those elements you simply can't live without. You find it in the air your breathe, the water you drink, and the food you eat. Here are some quick facts about this important element. You can find more detailed information about oxygen on the oxygen facts page. 1.Animals and plants require oxygen for respiration. 2.Oxygen gas is colorless, odorless, and tasteless. 3.Liquid and solid oxygen are pale blue. 4.Oxygen is a non-metal. 5.Oxygen gas normally is the divalent molecule O2. Ozone, O3, is another form of pure oxygen. 6.Oxygen supports combustion.

Alum is found in the 'spices' section of the grocery store. With a bit of time and effort, you can grow a big alum crystal. •coffee filter/paper towel Alum crystals are probably the easiest crystals to grow. The chemical is non-toxic and the crystals grow quickly and reliably. Difficulty: Easy Time Required: Days to Weeks Here's How: 1.Pour 1/2 cup of hot tap water into a clean jar. 2.Slowly stir in alum, a little at a time, until it stops dissolving. Don't add the whole amount - just enough to saturate the water. 3.Loosely cover the jar with a coffee filter or paper towel (to keep dust out) and allow the jar to sit undisturbed overnight. 4.The next day, pour the alum solution from the first jar into the clean jar. You will see small alum crystals at the bottom of the jar. These are 'seed' crystals that you will use to grow a big crystal. 5.Tie nylon fishing line around the largest, best-shaped crystal. Tie the other end to a flat ob...

It's fun and easy to use foods and flowers to make your own natural Easter egg dyes. The two main ways to use your own dyes are to add dyes to the eggs when boiling them or to dye the eggs after they have been hard-boiled. It's a lot faster to boil the dyes and eggs together, but you will use several pans if you want to make multiple colors. Dyeing the eggs after they have been cooked takes as many dishes and more time, but may be more practical (after all, most stoves only have four burners!). Try both fresh and frozen produce. Canned produce will produce much paler colors. Boiling the colors with vinegar will result in deeper colors. Some materials need to be boiled to impart their color (name followed by 'boiled' in the table). Some of the fruits, vegetables, and spices can be used cold. To use a cold material, cover the boiled eggs with water, add dyeing materials, a teaspoon or less of vinegar, and let the eggs remain in the refrigerator until the desired color ...

If you celebrate Easter, there are several projects you can do that will add a bit of educational chemistry-related fun to the holiday season. If you want to get an early start, it's fun to dye hollowed eggs before Easter or make a sugar crystal string Easter egg for an Easter decoration.

Would you recognize the drug Rohypnol (roofies) if you saw it? Rohypnol is sometimes called the "date rape drug" because a person who takes the drug may be incapacitated and also unable to recall events which occurred under the influence of the drug. While Rohypnol used to be manufactured as a white pill, which could be crushed and dissolved in a liquid such that it was invisible, the drug is now supplied as a green tablet that contains a blue dye. The dye is intended to be visible if an attempt is made to dissolve the drug in a drink, though obviously the color wouldn't be noticeable in a blue or dark-colored beverage. I've added some quick facts about Rohypnol to my drug facts index so you can learn more about this drug and also see what it looks like.

You can grow this emerald crystal geode by substituting ammonium phosphate for alum (and green food coloring) in this easy geode project.

Violet flames are very easy to make. All you do is sprinkle salt substitute on your fire. Salt substitute contains potassium chloride and potassium bitartrate. If you are familiar with the emission spectra from flame tests, you'll recognize that potassium salts burn violet or purple. To me, the color seems more of a blue-violet, but you can get a more reddish purple if you mix a little strontium from the red fire tutorial in with the salt substitute. Keep in mind, violet is not one of the colors your eyes see really well. The subtle glow of these flames can be completely overwhelmed by the colors from trace impurities. This means two things: (1) Use as pure a fuel as you can. I used Heet™ fuel treatment, which is methanol. If you sprinkle the salt substitute on your wood-burning campfire, the flames will change color but the color won't necessarily be violet. (2) Use salt substitute and not lite salt. Lite salt is a mixture of normal table salt (sodium chloride) with pota...

February 24th marks the passing of Henry Cavendish. Cavendish was a British natural philosopher that made meticulous studies of gases. He made extensive studies of the 'airs' he collected including the discovery of hydrogen. He collected hydrogen by collecting the gas given off by the reaction of metals and strong acids and called it 'inflammable air'. Inflammable air was almost entirely made up of phlogiston, the substance in a body that causes them to burn. He found if he combined three parts inflammable air with seven parts of common air and dropped fire into the mixture, it would make a very loud noise and produce water. He also noted that all of the inflammable air and nearly a fifth of the common air was used up in this experiment. Further investigation found if he mixed two parts of inflammable air with one part dephlogisticated air (oxygen) would produce water. We know this reaction today as: 2 H2 (g) + O2 (g) → H2O (l)

Here is a picture of the visible spectrum. Can you find the color magenta? Why can't you find magenta in the visible spectrum? This is because magenta cannot be emitted as a wavelength of light. Yet magenta exists; you can see it on this color wheel. Magenta is the complementary color to green, or the color of the afterimage you would see after you stare at a green light. All of the colors of light have complementary colors that exist in the visible spectrum, except for green's complement, magenta. Most of the time your brain averages the wavelengths of light you see in order to come up with a color. For example, if you mix red light and green light, you'll see yellow light. However, if you mix violet light and red light, you see magenta rather than the average wavelength, which would be green. Your brain has come up with a way to bring the ends of the visible spectrum together in a way that makes sense. Pretty cool, don't you think?

Calcium isn't found free in nature, but it can be purified into a soft silvery-white metal. Calcium is the 5th most abundant element in the Earth's crust, present at a level of about 3% in the oceans and soil. The element is essential for animal and plant nutrition. Calcium participates in many biochemical reactions, including building skeletal systems and moderating muscle action. Calcium is a metal. It readily oxidizes in air. Because it makes up such a large part of the skeleton, about one-third of the mass of human body  comes from calcium, after water has been removed. Calcium Atomic Number: 20 Symbol: Ca Atomic Weight: 40.078 Discovery: Sir Humphrey Davy Davy 1808 (England) Electron Configuration: [Ar] 4s 2 Word Origin: Latin calx , calcis : lime Properties: The melting point of calcium is 839 +/- 2°C, boiling point is 1484°C, specific gravity is 1.55 (20°C), with a valence of 2. Calcium is a silvery white, soft alkaline earth metal. Although...

Did you think there was a canola plant? I never gave it much thought. I mentioned in my biodiesel tutorial that oils which contain tocopherol (Vitamin E) have a longer shelf life than oils that do not contain this natural preservative. I noted that rapeseed oil contains tocopherol... what I didn't say was that canola oil is made from rapeseed. So why don't we just call it rapeseed oil? Blame Canada! I'm joking, but seriously, the word 'canola' was coined in 1978 from 'Canadian oil, low acid'. Canola oil comes from select rapeseed cultivars that produce low erucic acid rapeseed oil and low glucosinolate meal. These cultivars were developed in Canada in the 1970s by Keith Downey and Baldur Stefansson.

February 21 st is Carl Henrik Dam's birthday. Dam was a Danish biochemist who discovered vitamin K. He was feeding chickens a cholesterol-free diet to find out if they needed cholesterol or not. He discovered the chickens could synthesize some of cholesterol, but several fell ill due to severe internal hemorrhaging. Further testing showed he could prevent this if he added green leaves or liver to their diet. Something in these foods helped the chicken's blood to coagulate, but did not match up with any of the other known vitamins. He called his new coagulation nutrient vitamin K from the German Koagulations-Vitamin. Dam would earn half the 1943 Nobel Prize in Medicine for this discovery. Find out what else occurred on this day in science history .

Monoammonium phosphate is one of the chemicals included in commercial crystal growing kits because it is safe and practically foolproof for producing a mass of crystals quickly. The pure chemical yields clear crystals, but you can add food coloring to get any color you desire. Difficulty: Easy Time Required: one day Here's How: Stir six tablespoons of monoammonium phosphate into 1/2 cup of very hot water in a clear container. I use water heated from an electric drip coffee maker and a drinking glass (which I wash before using it again for beverages). Add food coloring, if desired. Stir until the powder is completely dissolved. Set the container in a location where it won't be disturbed. Within a day, you'll have a bed of long, thin crystals blanketing the bottom of the glass or else a few large single crystals. Which type of crystals you get depend on the rate at which the solution cools. For large single crystals, try to cool the solution slowly from very hot down to ...

Also called Ekushey Day, Martyrs’ Day or Language Movement Day, this day commemorates the students who were killed by Pakistani police on Feb. 21, 1952 while they were campaigning for the recognition of Bangla as one of the state languages of Pakistan. After this event, the movement gained momentum and Bangla was recognized as one of the state languages of Pakistan at a session of parliament on May 9, 1954. After the establishment of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh in 1971, this day became a national holiday. At one minute past midnight on Feb. 21, the president of Bangladesh arrives at the Shaheed Minar, the

International Mother Language Day was proclaimed by UNESCO's General Conference in November 1999. The International Day has been observed every year since February 2000 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. Languages are the most powerful instruments of preserving and developing our tangible and intangible heritage.

2nd Wave January 26, 1952 The Basic Principles Committee of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan announces its recommendation that Urdu should be the only state language. In a public meting at Paltan Maidan, Dhaka, Prime Minister Nazimuddin declares that Urdu alone will be the state language of Pakistan. Both the developments spark off the second wave of language agitation in East Bengal. January 28, 1952 The students of Dhaka University in a protest meeting call the Prime Minister and the Provincial Ministers as stooges of West Pakistan. January 30, 1952 In a secret meeting called by the Awami League, which is attended by a number of communist front as well as other organizations, it is agreed that the language agitation can not be successfully carried by the students alone. To mobilize full political and student support, it is decided that the leadership of the movement should be assumed by the Awami League under Bhashani.

1st Wave September 15, 1947 Tamuddun Majlis (Cultural Society, an organization by scholars, writers and journalists oriented towards Islamic ideology) in a booklet titled State Language of Pakistan : Bengali or Urdu? demands Bengali as one of the state language of Pakistan. The Secretary of the Majlis, at that time a Professor of Physics in Dhaka University, [Abul Kashem] was the first person to convene a literary meeting to discuss the State Language issue in the Fazlul Huq Muslim Hall, a student residence of Dhaka University. Supporters and sympathizers soon afterwards formed a political party, the Khilafate-Rabbani Party with Abul Hasim as the Chairman. (-- Talukder Maniruzzaman) November 1947 In Karachi, the representatives of East Bengal attending the Pakistan Educational Conference, called by the Minister of Education Fazlur Rahman, a Bengali, oppose Urdu as the only national language. February 23, 1948 Direndra Nath Dutta, a Bengali opposition member, moves a resol...

This is one of the most beautiful and largest crystals you can grow overnight. All you need is hot water and potassium alum, also known as potash alum. Potassium alum may be sold as a 'deodorant crystal' or in solution for use as an astringent. I got the powder for growing this crystal from a Smithsonian crystal-growing kit (labeled as potassium alum). Prepare the Solution All you need to do to prepare the crystal solution is to mix as much potassium alum as will dissolve into 1 cup of very hot water. You can add food coloring to tint the crystals. The natural color of the crystals would be clear or white. Grow Crystals I poured the solution into a clean bowl, trying to avoid getting any undissolved material into the new container. Allow the crystals to grow overnight. If your solution is very darkly colored, you won't be able to see whether or not you have crystal growth. You can use a spoon or fork to scrape crystals from the bottom. To get a large single crystal like t...

There aren't any 'air' molecules, but you already knew this, right? Nearly all of the Earth's atmosphere is made up of only five gases: nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor, argon, and carbon dioxide. Several other additional elements and compounds are present. Although this CRC table does not list water vapor, air can contain as much as 5% water vapor, more commonly ranging from 1-3%. The 1-5% range places water vapor as the third most common gas (which alters the other percentages accordingly). This is composition of air in percent by volume, at sea level at 15°C and 101325 Pa. Nitrogen -- N 2 -- 78.084% Oxygen -- O 2 -- 20.9476% Argon -- Ar -- 0.934% Carbon Dioxide -- CO 2 -- 0.0314% Neon -- Ne -- 0.001818% Methane -- CH 4 -- 0.0002% Helium -- He -- 0.000524% Krypton -- Kr -- 0.000114% Hydrogen -- H 2 -- 0.00005% Xenon -- Xe -- 0.0000087% Ozone -- O 3 -- 0.000007% Nitrogen Dioxide -- NO 2 -- 0.000002% Iodine -- I 2 -- 0.000001% Carbon Monoxide -- CO --...

In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance which sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans , who used the term "opus caementicium" to describe masonry which resembled concrete and was made from crushed rock with burnt lime as binder. The volcanic ash and pulverized brick additives which were added to the burnt lime to obtain a hydraulic binder were later referred to as cementum, cimentum, cäment and cement. Cements used in construction are characterized as hydraulic or non-hydraulic . The most important use of cement is the production of mortar and concrete —the bonding of natural or artificial aggregates to form a strong building material which is durable in the face of normal environmental effects. Concrete should not be confused with cement because the term cement refers only to the dry powder substance used to bind the aggregate materials of concrete. Upon t...

If you've ever poured hydrogen peroxide solution onto a cut and didn't experience the expected fizz, it's likely your bottle of hydrogen peroxide has become a bottle of plain water. The 3% hydrogen peroxide solution you can buy for use as a disinfectant typically has a shelf life of at least a year if the bottle is unopened, but only lasts 30-45 days once the seal has been broken. As soon as you expose the peroxide solution to air, it starts to react to form water. Also, if you contaminate the bottle (e.g., by dipping a swab or finger into the bottle), you can expect the effectiveness of the remaining liquid to be compromised.So, if you have a bottle of hydrogen peroxide that has been sitting in your medicine cabinet for a few years, it would be a good idea to replace it. If you've opened the bottle at any point, its activity is long-gone. If you feel like testing the solution. Solvay Chemicals describes a test you can perform to assess the remaining activi

As you probably know, men either love or hate Valentines Day. Think about how much pressure they must feel to meet our expectations! At the end of the day, is it really about the cost of something? I'm a woman and I think not. I just posted Valentines Day - how to make her happy without breaking the bank for the men. I told them a bit about my experience with what women really want. To be fair and balanced (as I always try to be when working with couples) I want to share with you some advice about your man - and Valentines Day: * Lower the bar - society and the media has put so much emphasis on the gift giving and money spending aspect of Valentines Day that many of our poor men are just plain stressed out by it all. Remind yourself of what the holiday is really about. Any acts of thoughtfulness deserve big points. * Do something for him - the focus is more often on what men should be doing for women. How about surprise your guy with something thoughtful. The more ...

Valentine's Day events in Atlanta Celebrate Valentine's Day in Atlanta with the one you love. There are plenty of romantic things to do for the holiday, whether you're planning dining out at a restaurant, seeing a movie, attending a concert or other event, finding a cheap activity, or splurging on a travel getaway. We have gift ideas as well, for every price point, whether cheap, free or expensive. So grab a date and let AccessAtlanta and ajc.com be your cupid. DINING • Find a romantic restaurant • Our reviewer's top five romantic restaurants • AJC's picks for romantic restaurants • Valentine's Day recipes • Table Talk: What's your idea of romantic dining? EVENTS • Find a romantic event • AJC's picks for Valentine's Day events • Free Valentine's Day events • Valentine's Day dances • Valentine's Day concerts • Valentine's Day theater events GIFTS • Gift-giving 101 for guys • Gifts under $30 ...

Sweep your loved one off their feet by whispering those 3 magic words in one of these romantic languages! Ngo oi ney (Cantonese) Jeg elsker dig (Danish) Ik hou van jou (Dutch) I love you (English) Minä rakastan sinua (Finnish) Je t'aime (French) Ich liebe Dich (German) S'agapo (Greek) Aloha au ia'oe (Hawaiian) Ti amo/Ti voglio bene (Italian) Aishiteru (Japanese) Sarang Ham-nida (Korean) Bahibak (Lebanese) Myliu tave (Lithuanian) Saya kasih awak (Malay) Wo ai ni (Mandarin) Kocham cie (Polish) Eu te amo (Portuguese) Ya tyebya lyublyu (Russian) Lubim ta (Slovak) Yo te amo (Spanish) te quiero (Spanish) Jag älskar dig (Swedish) Khao raak thoe (Thai) Seni seviyorum (Turkish)

Lonely Planet's Best in Travel 2009 guidebook offers a list of 10 places to steal a kiss. Some places on the list are renowned for romance or a sexy vibe — like New York, Rio de Janeiro, and Paris. Others earned a place on the list for a specific kiss-related reason, such as Hershey, Pa., home of Hershey's Kisses chocolate candy; Blarney Castle in Ireland, where visitors kiss the Blarney Stone to be rewarded with the gift of gab; Venice, where lovers might kiss on a gondola passing beneath the Bridge of Sighs; and Casablanca, Morocco, the setting for the famed movie in which Ingrid Bergman implored Humphrey Bogart to kiss her "as if it were the last time." Kissimmee, Fla., and Kissing, Germany, deserve a spot on the list by virtue of their smoochy names alone. Also on the list: Kiribati, a nation of island atolls just west of the international dateline in the South Pacific. If you happen to be there on New Year's Eve with your special someone, you co...

Every February 14th we celebrate St. Valentine's Day by sending flowers, cards and gifts to loved ones. But who is St. Valentine and why do we celebrate the holiday named for him? Legend has it that Valentine was a priest in Rome, under the reign of Emperor Claudius II . Claudius ordered young, single Roman soldiers not to become engaged or get married. He believed that wives and families served as distractions to his soldiers and would not fight as well as unmarried men. Valentine defied the decree and secretly performed marriage rituals for young couples. Valentine was eventually arrested, imprisoned and ordered to be put to death. While in prison in Rome, legend has it that Valentine wrote a letter to his sweetheart, which he signed "From your Valentine," an expression still in use today. Valentine was beheaded on February 14th . The actual holiday of Valentine's Day derives its origins from the ancient Roman feast of Lupercalia -- a spring fertili...

By JENELLE CLEARY Scanning the classifieds is done but once a year for me - Valentine's Day. It has become a habit that involves streaming up and down columns of mushy ads trying to find out if my name is there. Then checking the variations to my name and then the nicknames that my name may equate to. Quite tragic yes, but surely I'm not the only one with my head floating in the clouds among one too many helium love heart balloons! Yes, that day is upon us again where Hallmark up their sales of red envelopes and we all check our e-mail and snail mail for the hope of one message of undying love. We leave our desk at lunchtime hoping for some miraculous bunch of roses to appear instantaneously and think about making a restaurant reservation "for two" just in case. Valentine's Day has turned into one of emotional torture. And every year it seems the same! Well, Val Day 2001 doesn't have to be one that leaves you in bed at 7.30 exhausted from check...

By Jay Williams Valentine's Day is a traditionally romantic day on which lovers express their desire for one another by giving one another chocolates, flowers, cards - generally anything meaningful. Lovers from all around the world celebrate Valentine's Day, Dïa del Amor y la Amistad, Valentinsdag, Dia dos Namorados, giri-choko, which all translates to a lot of chocolate and a lot of love. The day is closely associated with love, cupid, roses and the mutual exchange of love notes in the form of "valentines." Originally it was a religious celebration, but today it's more of a marketing exercise, not unlike Easter, when people spend big bucks on showing their affection - sometimes to the whole world! A century ago, hand written love notes and some flowers would suffice, enough to charm the object of your desire, or your "valentine". But handwritten notes have largely given way to mass-produced greeting cards, and in some cases newspaper mess...

Hazardous Chemicals in Cosmetics and Personal Care Productd Some of the ingredients in cosmetics and personal care products are chemicals that may be hazardous to your health. Take a look at some of the ingredients to watch for and the health concerns raised by these chemicals. Antibacterials (e.g., Triclosan) are found in many products, such as hand soaps, deodorants, toothpastes and body washes. Health Hazards: Some antibacterial agents are absorbed through the skin. Triclosan has been shown to be secreted in breast milk. These chemicals may be toxic or carcinogenic. One study has found antibacterials may interfere with the functioning of testosterone in cells. Antibacterials can kill the 'good' protective bacteria as well as pathogens, actually increasing susceptibility to infection. The products may increase the rate of development of resistant strains of bacteria. butyl acetate Butyl acetate is found in nail strengtheners and nail polishes. Health Hazar...

February 9th is the birthday of the United States Weather Bureau. Professor Lapham of Milwaukee was instrumental in raising awareness for a need for the government to pay attention to weather. He frequently forwarded clippings of newspaper articles outlining the deaths of sailors due to severe Great Lake storms. Congress passed the legislation and President Ulysses S. Grant established the Bureau in 1870. The official name for this agency was "The Division of Telegrams and Reports for the Benefit of Commerce". The agency granted the Secretary of War to maintain meteorological observations and data and to warn citizens of approaching storms. The task was assigned to the War Department because it was believed military discipline would allow the "greatest promptness, regularity, and accuracy" needed to maintain the service. Every day, personnel from the Signal Service Corps would report weather information to Washington DC. The Weather Bureau would evolve over tim...

If you've ever poured hydrogen peroxide solution onto a cut and didn't experience the expected fizz, it's likely your bottle of hydrogen peroxide has become a bottle of plain water. The 3% hydrogen peroxide solution you can buy for use as a disinfectant typically has a shelf life of at least a year if the bottle is unopened, but only lasts 30-45 days once the seal has been broken. As soon as you expose the peroxide solution to air, it starts to react to form water. Also, if you contaminate the bottle (e.g., by dipping a swab or finger into the bottle), you can expect the effectiveness of the remaining liquid to be compromised. So, if you have a bottle of hydrogen peroxide that has been sitting in your medicine cabinet for a few years, it would be a good idea to replace it. If you've opened the bottle at any point, its activity is long-gone. If you feel like testing the solution. Solvay Chemicals describes a test you can perform to assess the remaining activity.

Want to use a design that’s subtler than a big red heart? Try the understated “Happy Valentine’s Day” templates for an easy-on-the eyes look and calls-to-action that pop.

Valentine's Day is around the corner, and like many holidays it's an occasion for businesses to make more sales via email marketing. We know you're always looking for ways to build your list and deliver relevant, valuable messages, so we thought we'd play Cupid and help you and your customers get together Just in time for the upcoming holiday, we've rolled out new HTML email templates and matching web form ones, themed for February 14th.

There are a lot of reasons why you might want to make your own shampoo from scratch. The big two probably are wanting to avoid the chemicals in commercial shampoos and just simply wanting to make shampoo yourself. Back in ye olden days, shampoo was soap, except with additional moisturizers so that it didn't strip the natural oils from your scalp and hair. Although a shampoo can be solid, it is easier to use if there is enough water to make a gel or liquid. Shampoos tend to be acidic because if the pH gets too high (alkaline) the sulfur bridges in the hair keratin can break, damaging your hair. This recipe for making your own gentle shampoo is chemically a liquid soap, except vegetable-based (many soaps use animal fat) and with alcohol and glycerine added during the process. Make it in a well-ventilated room or outdoors and be sure to read all of the safety precautions on the ingredients. Shampoo Ingredients 2 lb 10 oz olive oil 1 lb 7 oz of solid-type vegetable shortening...

February 8th is Dmitri Mendeleev's birthday. Most people associate Mendeleev the first accepted periodic table of the elements. His table ordered the elements by increasing atomic weight where columns of elements had similar chemical properties and is the immediate forerunner of the modern periodic table. Mendeleev was also the man responsible for making Russia "metric". As Director of Russia's Bureau of Weights and Measures, he was instrumental in bringing the metric system to Russia. In his personal life, he was famous for his "grooming". Mendeleev was widely known for his long hair and wild beard. He would only cut his hair or trim his beard once a year. He had one minor scandal where he was labeled a bigamist for a legal technicality for not waiting the required seven years after a divorce before marrying his second wife. Find more about Mendeleev and what else occurred on this day in science history.

You breathe oxygen, yet air is mostly nitrogen. You need nitrogen to live and encounter it in the foods you eat and in many common chemicals. Here are some quick facts about this element. You can find detailed information about nitrogen on the nitrogen facts page. Nitrogen is odorless, tasteless, and colorles Nitrogen gas (N2) makes up 78.1% of the volume of the Earth's air. Nitrogen is a nonmetal. Nitrogen gas is relatively inert, but soil bacteria can 'fix' nitrogen into a form that plants and animals can use to make amino acids and proteins. The French chemist Antoine Laurent Lavoisier named nitrogen azote, meaning without life. Nitrogen was sometimes referred to as 'burnt' or 'dephlogisticated' air, since air that no longer contains oxygen is almost all nitrogen. The other gases in air are present in much lower concentrations. Nitrogen compounds are found in foods, fertilizers, poisons, and explosives. Your body is 3% nitrogen by weight. Ni...

Here's a look at some types of dates that might be perfect if your sweetie is a scientist or is interested in science. Dinner and movie is still a good plan, especially with the right movie, but I here are some additional dating ideas. Science Date Ideas Sharing an ice cream cone is always romantic. For science-types, try making the ice cream using liquid nitrogen! Nicolas George

Question: Is There Really a Chemistry of Love? Answer: I don't think there are any magic love potions that you can use to make someone fall in love, but chemistry does play an important role in how a relationship progresses. First, there's attraction. Nonverbal communication plays a big part in initial attraction and some of this communication may involve pheromones, a form of chemical communication. Did you know that raw lust is characterized by high levels of testosterone? The sweaty palms and pounding heart of infatuation are caused by higher than normal levels of norepinepherine. Meanwhile, the 'high' of being in love is due to a rush of phenylethylamine and dopamine. All is not lost once the honeymoon is over. Lasting love confers chemical benefits in the form of stabilized production of serotonin and oxytocin. Can infidelity be blamed on chemistry? Perhaps in part. Researchers have found that suppression of vasopressin can cause males (voles, anyway) to abandon...