Periodycal #20: Lunar New Year, love, and quiz prizes
Plus a call-out for more women in chemistry history
Hello and welcome to another edition of the Periodycal newsletter! It’s Valentine’s Day, so this month’s newsletter has some love chemistry for those of you who love chemistry (see what I did there?). There’s also a new graphic on Chinese Lunar New Year customs and the chemistry behind them and a chance to win a Periodic Graphics tote bag. Plus there’s the usual round-up of upcoming graphic tie-ins, so get scrolling and get stuck in!
Love Chemistry
Love isn’t in the air, it’s in your brain and your bloodstream, but I guess that sounds a little less romantic. This graphic highlights some of the key chemical players in feelings of love, infatuation, desire, attachment, and so on.
Is love just a game? Bit of a deep question for a chemistry newsletter, but today’s Google Doodle is, at least, a love-themed game with a chemical twist. Their game gets you to pick an element, then swipe left or right, online dating style, on other elements depending on whether you think they’ll bond. We’ll forgive them that some of their dating picks aren’t diatomic molecules as advertised and just enjoy the fact that everybody has a bit more chemistry today as a result.
Lunar New Year
In the past week, we’ve entered the year of the dragon - much to my dragon-obsessed four-year-old’s excitement. To celebrate, the latest edition of Periodic Graphics in C&EN looks at the chemistry behind some of the Chinese customs when it comes to celebrating Lunar New Year. This includes the wonderfully complicated chemistry of making dough and the occasionally toxic history of dyeing things red, before going out with a bang with a look at the compositions of gunpowder and flashpowder used in celebratory pyrotechnics.
Win a Periodic Graphics tote bag
If you like short online quizzes and prizes, you’ll be wanting to check out the relaunched Periodic Graphics quizzes on the C&EN site. Everyone who submits their quiz answers (to the latest quiz on the above Lunar New Year graphic) and signs up for C&EN’s weekly newsletter will be eligible to win a free Periodic Graphics tote bag. The team at C&EN will be giving them away each month, so keep your eye out for the latest edition!
Women in chemistry history
For the lengthily titled International Day of Women and Girls in Science, I shared some of the resources I’ve made in years past featuring literally hundreds of women in chemistry, all available on the site’s category page. With one eye on International Women’s Day next month, I’m looking to put together another edition of the Women in Chemistry History graphics. I’ve got a few names already, but if there’s someone who hasn’t been featured in a previous edition that you think should be featured in a future one, let me know in the comments!
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:
17 February: National Cabbage Day – The chemistry of red cabbage indicator
19 February: Svante Arrhenius’s birthday – Svante Arrhenius and the Arrhenius equation
26 February: Ahmed Zewail’s birthday – Ahmed Zewail and femtochemistry
27 February: National Strawberry Day – The chemistry of strawberries
28 February: Linus Pauling’s birthday – Linus Pauling and electronegativity
That’s all for this edition. If you loved it, share the love with someone you think might love it too!
If you have suggestions for newsletter features, graphics, or something else, drop them in the comments below – it’s always great to hear from you.
Thanks for reading,
Andy
Dr. W. Jean Horkans. I worked with Jean at IBM's TJ Watson Research Center in the 80's and early 90's. She's a dedicated researcher in the field of electrochemistry and was very supportive of young women in IBM's intern/pre-professional summer programs as well as new hires. I lost touch with her years ago, but I believe she still lives in the extended NY metro area.