Ci Newsletter #18: Dandelion tyres & cheesemaking chemistry

May 31, 2022

Welcome to another edition of the Ci newsletter, this time featuring dandelion tyres, cheese and milk chemistry, 3D-printed ion block resources, and more!

I have to kick off with apologies for the disruption to the usual schedule, with the last newsletter coming a month ago. Some of you may know that my day job is at an exam board here in the UK, and oh boy has it been busy. Thankfully, things are now a little less frantic, so I'm hoping to get back to regular newsletters (and posting to the various Ci social media channels, which have also been a bit neglected over the past month). Hopefully you haven't missed your regular doses of chemistry graphics too much!

Tyres from dandelions

Click to view full graphic on the Ci site

Most of us probably just consider dandelions to be a stubborn weed infesting our gardens. But they could have a role to play in the manufacture of more sustainable tyres, as this graphic highlights. And if you've ever wondered what the names for dandelion in various languages mean, here's a great summary image.

The science of cheese-making

The latest edition of Periodic Graphics in C&EN looks at cheese, and the science involved in the various stages of the numerous types. Despite the huge variety of cheese available, with a few exceptions, most of them go through the same steps outlined in the graphic during manufacture.

After making this graphic, it's clear there's more cheese science to dig into (I didn't have space to go deep into the flavour chemistry) so expect more cheese graphics in the future!

World Milk Day

Click links below to view each of the graphics

Sticking with the dairy theme, tomorrow (June 1) is World Milk Day. As well as this older graphic looking at why milk is white and its structure, this more recent graphic compares the environmental impact of dairy milk to various plant milks.

3D-printed ion blocks

Dr Grant Pusey @puseyscience

I designed these awesome little 3D printed chemistry ion blocks for my science class a couple years ago. I had some fun with the etsy store and now all the 3D models are now available on Thingiverse for anybody who would like to print their own - Enjoy! thingiverse.com/thing:5396887

I don't have a 3D printer, nor am I still teaching chemistry. However, if I did, and I was, I'd definitely be printing out a set of these!

Science root words

Dr Fabio Di Salvo @fabdisalvo

I have now made 26 Science root word cards, which can be downloaded here: fabiodisalvo.com/2022/05/22/sci… If you use these in your lessons, I would love to know how your students find them. More cards to come as I think of more words :)

Another nicely done resource grabbed from Twitter, this time highlighting the meanings of root words for scientific terms. Not specifically chemistry related (maybe I need to make a chemistry-specific poster) but still a handy resource.

Chemistry news & features

Cockroach Sex Has Taken a Strange Turn — www.nytimes.com In response to pesticides, many cockroach females have lost their taste for sweet stuff, which changes how they make the next generation of insects.

These green books are poisonous—and one may be on a shelf near you — www.nationalgeographic.com

A toxic green pigment was once used to colour everything from fake flowers to book covers. Now a museum conservator is working to track down the noxious volumes.

That's all for this issue – I'm hoping to get back to making these a bit more regular, so it shouldn't be a month until the next one! As always, do let me know if you've got any thoughts or suggestions for future issues.

Thanks for reading,

Andy