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March 7th is the English astronomer, Sir John Frederick William Herschel's birthday. He was one of the better known English scientists of the time and made several contributions to astronomy. One contribution he was credited for was the discovery of life on the Moon. Starting on August 25, 1835, six articles were published by the New York Sun newspaper describing Herschel's observation of Moon creatures such as unicorns, bipedal beavers and bat-winged humanoids. The Great Moon Hoax was written by Richard A. Locke to increase circulation for the New York Sun. It wasn't exposed as a hoax for two weeks and no retraction was ever made. Herschel was initially amused by the stories, but grew tired of trying to explain to people he had nothing to do with it or denying the observations to people who believed the hoax. Find out what else occurred on this day in science history.

Have you ever wanted to color your urine or wondered what causes urine to become colored? If so, you're in luck, because I have the answer! Here's a little applied color chemistry for your entertainment and experimentation pleasure: Violet - I'm going out on a limb here, but I suspect you could get violet or purple urine if you combined beets with methylene blue. Blue - Methylene blue will turn your urine blue or greenish-blue. It can also color the whites of your eyes blue. The coloration of both urine and eyes is reversible. At one time, methylene blue was considered to be an effective treatment against malaria. As far as urine colorants go, this one is considered to be reasonably safe to eat, though you should be aware some people are allergic to methylene blue. Food coloring may turn your urine blue. A rare, inherited disease known as porphyria can cause blue urine. King George III's blue urine may have been attributable to porphyria.

In addition to making a human battery using sodium metal, you can perform a chemistry demonstration showing the vigorous chemical reaction between sodium and water. However, it is important to use a small amount of sodium metal (a piece smaller than the size of a pencil eraser). If you use too much sodium, there is a tendency for the heat produced by the reaction to melt the remaining sodium metal, which suddenly increases the surface area available to react with water. The result may be an explosion of hot sodium metal shrapnel and lye solution.

The usual method of connecting the half-cells of a galvanic cell is to use a salt bridge as a source of mobile ions, like in this diagram. However, you can use your fingers in place of the salt bridge. Make a 'V' with two fingers of your hand. Simply dip one finger in the beaker of copper metal in 1M copper sulfate solution and another finger in the beaker of zinc metal in 1M zinc sulfate solution. You just made a battery out of yourself! Your human battery will have about the same voltage as the standard cell potential. Rinse your fingers when you are done and congratulate yourself on being such an excellent source of ions. Advanced Human Battery Do you want more voltage? Switch out the zinc for a more reactive metal and get your friends in on the action. You can make a sodium-copper battery by having one lucky volunteer touch a small piece of sodium metal. Have the next person join hands with the person touching the sodium. Make a chain of human hands with as many peop...

If you've ever seen a mummy in a museum, you might have thought the ancients went a little overboard with henna and other red dyes. While people have colored their hair practically forever, it's more likely what you're seeing is the change in haircolor that occurs after a person dies. The color of hair comes from the mixture of two melanin pigments: eumelanin (yellow-brown-black) and pheomelanin (red). Pheomelanin is more stable, so over time the eumelanin oxidizes while most of the pheomelanin remains. This is reason most Egypian mummies appear to have reddish hair. The change occurs more slowly under dry oxidizing conditions, such as burials in ice or sand, than under wet reducing conditions, such as burials in wooden coffins or damp caves. Therefore, you would expect to see a more faster or more dramatic haircolor change in a body from the jungle, for example, than a corpse from the desert.

Over 75% of women and a growing percentage of men color their hair. Do you know how haircoloring works? In the Beginning The first safe commercial haircolor was created in 1909 by French chemist Eugene Schuller, using the chemical paraphenylenediamine. How does haircolor work? It's the result of a series of chemical reactions between the molecules in hair, pigments, as well as peroxide and ammonia, if present. What is Hair? Hair is mainly keratin, the same protein found in skin and fingernails. The natural color of hair depends on the ratio and quantities of two other proteins, eumelanin and phaeomelanin. Eumelanin is responsible for brown to black hair shades while phaeomelanin is responsible for golden blond, ginger, and red colors. The absence of either type of melanin produces white/gray hair. Natural Colorants People have been coloring their hair for thousands of years using plants and minerals. Some of these natural agents contain pigments (e.g., henna, bla...

Freezing Point Depression and Colligative Properties You can make your own ice cream without using a freezer or ice cream maker . Materials 1/2 cup milk 1/2 cup whipping cream (heavy cream) 1/4 cup sugar 1/4 teaspoon vanilla or vanilla flavoring (vanillin) 1/2 to 3/4 cup sodium chloride (NaCl) as table salt or rock salt 2 cups ice 1-quart ZiplocTM bag 1-gallon ZiplocTM bag themometer measuring cups and spoons cups and spoons for eating your treat!