The Kitchen Pantry Scientist

Have you ever wondered why it’s so hard to get ketchup flowing out of a bottle, or why no-drip paint doesn’t drip? Ketchup, no drip paint, liquid soaps and shampoos are all part of a really amazing category of fluids known as “shearing liquids.” These fluids are pretty thick when they’re sitting still, but they [...] Related posts:Physics Fountain We played around with dish soap this weekend to watch... Shocking Science and Magic Potion Doctor Frankenstein would […]

We played around with dish soap this weekend to watch the Kaye effect, which I learned about from my physicist friend Dr. SkySkull. It’s an experiment in liquid dynamics, and I’ll post a protocol (recipe) for how to do it in the next day or two.   Related posts:Homemade Petri Plates Video Does soap really [...] Related posts:Homemade Petri Plates Video Does soap really get rid of germs? On Wed. morning,... Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

If you’ve done an experiment where you drip water onto a penny, or made Tie Dye Milk, you know what surface tension looks like here on Earth. How does it look in space? Here’s an amazing video demonstrating how the surface tension of water looks in zero gravity on the international space station. Fascinating! Related [...] Related posts:Mars Curiosity Landing Video I love that filmmaker Brad Canning thanks NASA, NASA’s Jet... Related posts brought to you by Yet Another […]

Plants are wonderful chemical reorganizers.  Using the sun’s energy and a process called photosynthesis, they can turn water and carbon dioxide into sugar (glucose) and oxygen. Thanks to plants and other autotrophs like algae, Earth has an oxygen-containing atmosphere that can sustain animal and human life. To watch plants make oxygen, all you need is a [...] Related posts:Tadpole Experiment The kids and I have been keeping an eye on... Epic Fail: Sneeze Experiment One of the first […]

Here are some of our favorite environmental science experiments. Click on the experiment name for directions and photos. I’ll post a new photosynthesis experiment on Monday! Window Sprouts: Plant a bean in a plastic baggie with a damp paper towel to see how plants need only water and air to sprout roots and leaves.  Here’s a short [...] Related posts:Earth Day Science On April 21st (the day before Earth Day), the Science... Katniss Camp: Survival Science This week, the kids and […]