Periodycal #18: Celebrating scientists with disabilities, and candy corn chemistry
Also CRISPR meets beer brewing and coffee-strengthened concrete
Welcome to a slightly belated November edition of the Periodycal newsletter! This month sees the launch of a new project highlighting the work of scientists with disabilities, a new trick-or-treat inspired graphic on candy corn, and more revamped graphics from yesteryear. That’s along with the usual round-ups of chemistry news stories and/or features I’ve found interesting over the past month, and upcoming events or national days which I happen to have tie-in graphics for.
Spotlight on scientists with disabilities
Disabled scientists are underrepresented across the sciences, and while representation will not solve all the challenges they face, it can provide role models that let disabled students see themselves in a scientific career. To that end, over the past year, I’ve been working with Enable Science, a platform for disabled scientists. The result is a series of infographics, funded by the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Inclusion and Diversity Fund, showcasing the achievements of twelve disabled scientists.
The graphics highlight the scientists’ disabilities and the challenges they have to tackle, but also their brilliant achievements in spite of these challenges. All twelve posters are available to download on the dedicated page; we hope that schools will use them to demonstrate that it is possible to undertake a scientific career and be disabled and inspire more children to study and work in science.
Accompanying the release of the posters, there’s also a brilliant article in Chemistry World by Enable Science founder Chantelle Minchin, highlighting some of the challenges disabled scientists face and the importance of representation.
Candy corn chemistry
Candy corn is very much an American Halloween phenomenon, so much so that I hadn’t even tried it myself before this year (coincidentally, shortly after I’d put this graphic together). This latest edition of Periodic Graphics in C&EN takes a look at this seasonal candy, including how it’s made and some of the chemical colorants that give it its distinctive appearance.
Recently updated graphics
The unending project to bring some older graphics in line with my current graphic style continues! Over the past month, the following graphics have all received a facelift:
Upcoming chemistry tie-ins
Here’s a quick run-down of upcoming events or days and links to some relevant chemistry graphics from the archives:
11 November: Remembrance Sunday — The chemistry of poppies
14 November: World Diabetes Day — World Diabetes Day: Glucose, insulin, & diabetes
19 November: World Toilet Day — The chemistry of the smell of toilets
21 November: World Gingerbread Day — Gingerbread chemistry
23 November: National Espresso Day — The chemical compounds behind the aroma of coffee
Chemistry news and features
Here’s the regular selection of chemistry news and features I’ve found interesting over the past few weeks:
Re-entering satellites shed metals into the atmosphere — It’s probably a lesser considered source of atmospheric pollution, but recent research has shown that satellites re-entering Earth’s atmosphere shed metals including copper, niobium and hafnium.
Using CRISPR to make non-hazy beer — Genetically modified yeasts can remove the haziness from beer, imitate fruity flavours, and prevent off-tastes.
Stronger concrete? Just add coffee — This article is actually a few months old, but details the fascinating discovery that converting waste coffee grounds into biochar and then adding it to concrete instead of some of the usual sand could make it up to 30% stronger.
That’s all for this edition! Got suggestions for future graphics or newsletter features? Let me know in the comments.
Thanks for reading,
Andy