Even in the depths of winter, wildfires have been raging in some U.S. states. There were over 66,000 wildfires across the U.S. last year, and this month’s edition of Periodic Graphics in C&EN magazine takes a look at the products of these large-scale combustion reactions, as well as the effects that these products can have on our health. Click through to the C&EN site to view the full graphic!
As we head into 2018, it’s time to take a look back at some of the biggest chemistry news stories over the past year. This year’s chemistry news featured poisonous frogs, battery fires, element creation, and more!
Over the past few weeks, concern has been growing regarding the contamination of eggs for sale in a number of EU countries with the chemical Fipronil. Currently seven different countries have discovered contaminated eggs, and it has led to large number of eggs being withdrawn from sale. So, what is Fipronil, how has it gotten into eggs, and should consumers be worried?
Brushing past a plant in the undergrowth whilst out walking might sound fairly innocuous. In the case of Giant Hogweed, however, it’s anything but. This plant’s sap can cause burns and blistering after contact, and there’ve been an increasing number of articles warning of the danger it poses over the past few months. Here, we take a look at the chemical compounds behind the sap’s unpleasant effects.
Usually, you’d want to stay as far away as possible from a smell described variously as like ‘dead rat’, ‘mouldy bath mat’, or ‘cabbages and death’. However, the residents of Cambridge, UK, have been flocking to the Cambridge University Botanic Gardens over the past two days to sample this unpleasant sounding aroma for themselves. The explanation lies in the source of the smell: the rare occurrence of a Titan Arum plant flowering.
