Water is one of the most important things every human being needs to survive. However, not everyone has access to clean drinking water. Plus, with global warming and climate change, an increasing amount of countries are experiencing extreme droughts. So, if people need water so much, why can’t we just make it? Humans have made artificial meat, and even artificial versions of ourselves! And with chemistry knowledge in hand, we could easily combine hydrogen and oxygen and— boom!— clean sparkling water. However, the process is not as simple (and safe) as it sounds. First off, mixing two hydrogen atoms and an oxygen atom will not create water— there would need to be a sudden burst of energy to get their orbits to link. You will need a flame (or some sparks) to make water. This is super easy, considering that hydrogen is extremely flammable and fires burn brighter with oxygen. Hold up— did I tell you this would also cause an explosion? In May 1937, a blimp (a type of airship), that was filled with hydrogen to keep it afloat, approached New Jersey to land after a long journey. Static electricity caused the hydrogen to spark— and the plentiful oxygen did not help the situation. The hydrogen exploded, creating a ball of fire that swallowed up the blimp and destroyed it in less than a minute (and also creating a lot of water in the process). It is okay to make water with this method in small quantities, but not in large amounts. Thankfully, there are much safer (but less exciting) ways to make water. Like cooling water vapor so they condense and turn into water droplets. An Australian inventor created the Whisson windmill to make water. A pair of American inventors used the same concept to make AquaMagic, a special camper. They either put refrigerant on windmill blades or refrigerate coils that cool air and cause water vapor to condense so water droplets can be formed and collected for use. Or, if you have the government on your side, you may want to try cloud seeding. Cloud seeding is the process of firing silver iodide into storm clouds so that they rain. China has used this to good effect, but in Britain, it caused terrible floods that claimed the lives of more than thirty people. One area even experienced 250 times the amount of normal rainfall! Not the most foolproof plan. Maybe we don’t have to make new water at all… but just make small inventions that purify dirty water anytime and anywhere? There is a special straw called Lifestraw that filters water so you can drink it. The membrane micro filters inside have microscopic pores that only clean water can pass through, blocking out most parasites and dirt. Humankind has thrived for centuries due to their ingenuity and creativity. Hopefully , we can invent many things that can solve global water problems so everybody can access clean water. Sources: https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/geophysics/manufacture-water2.htm https://www.lifestraw.com/pages/how-our-products-work#technology
Girls Who Code: Spotlight on Coding Club, Reviewed by Lucinda, 13
To be completely honest, when I first picked up this book, I thought it was childish. The cover of the book was way too colourful for my liking, and the first few pages were written more for younger elementary students than middle school ones. However, you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, because Spotlight on Coding Club turned out to be a fun book on friendship, maturity, dealing with anxiety and, of course, lots of coding. What I really liked about this book (and the whole series) is that it made coding cool. According to this series, coding isn’t just a pastime for young white males addicted to computer games, but a fun hobby for girls of all ages, races and personalities. For example, coding is used by the coding club to create a voting system, design a website, program a robot to play music, and make dresses glow in the dark. (Although please be warned that coding isn’t as simple as the books make it to be. I do HTML, and I still don’t know how to add pages.) Another great thing about the book is the friendships between the five girls. One is white, one is black, one is Muslim, one is Chinese and one is Latino. But these friendships aren’t perfect; the girls keep secrets from each other, and sometimes get into arguments. But that’s okay, because real friendships aren’t perfect. This book also talks about family. Erin is worried about her divorced father, who has gone on a very dangerous training mission, and has remained uncontactable since February. Throughout the book, she keeps gazing at the gray dot beside her father’s name in the web chat app, and her worry for him is apparent. Erin also gets into disagreements with her mother. She doesn’t want to get another therapist for her anxiety, and hides her panic attacks from her mother. What was really memorable about the book was Erin’s anxiety. In the blurb, they almost mentioned it as some kind of disorder: “…Erin has a secret: She has anxiety.” But in the book, I learnt that anxiety isn’t something childish to be embarrassed about. Tania, Leila’s sister, said it best: “Erin, anxiety has nothing to do with age. Adults can have anxiety, too. And it doesn’t mean they can’t handle things, or that they’re immature. It’s not necessarily something you grow out of. It’s just something you learn to manage.” For me, being an autistic girl who has meltdowns and anxiety too, reading about Erin’s panic attacks and holding onto Brave Bonnie Broomstick as a security blanket was comforting. It means I’m not the only great-coder-slash-budding-actress-who-has-anxiety out there. This book is modern, in that texting features prominently. There are group texts, short forms, and emojis. A very interesting part is when Maya has a crush on Hannah, a beautiful girl with dark skin, causing her to blush whenever she sees Hannah. Same-sex relationships between two non-white girls of different races do not appear often in middle-grade fiction. Some kids may also be surprised when Erin does not appear shocked, but however encourages Maya to ask Hannah out on a date. Hopefully it wouldn’t be the only middle-grade book that has LGBTQA+ characters. To end off, if you want a book full of friendship fun, growing up and coding with the backdrop of a talent show, Spotlight on Coding Club is definitely for you! Girls Who Code: Spotlight on Coding Club by Michelle Schusterman. Penguin, 2018. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process! Have you read this book? Or do you plan on reading it? Let us know in the comments below!
103 Elements and Their Interesting Facts (Part 2) by Lucinda Chu
As we welcome a new year, I hope one of your new year resolutions would be “to learn more about the periodic table.” Groaning in frustration? Don’t worry, this blog post would introduce twenty-four more elements to you— each with an interesting fact. (You can read Part 1 here). 7. Nitrogen Chemistry is usually not funny, but Nitrogen will keep you laughing all day! Nitrogen is used as laughing gas at the dentist, to distract your mind from the painful dental procedures and help you relax! At least it’s better than my father’s jokes… Source: https://www.coolkidfacts.com/nitrogen-facts/ 8. Oxygen Nature’s Chosen One loves colors. Solid and liquid oxygen usually appear light blue, but it can also appear in red, orange, pink, and black! Source: https://www.thoughtco.com/fun-oxygen-facts-for-kids-3975945 9. Fluorine This highly explosive element is carbon’s arch-nemesis. Fluorine is one of the few elements that can attack diamond. Anybody want to watch Carbonman Vs. Fluorineman? Source: https://www.thoughtco.com/interesting-fluorine-element-facts-603361 10. Neon News flash: Neon, the New Helium? If you always find your helium balloons keep flying away from you, you may want to consider gaseous neon as your new balloon guy. If you fill a balloon with neon, it will rise in the air, but it would do it at a much slower rate than a helium-filled one. The balloon-stealing sky wouldn’t be happy though… Source: http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/chemistry/neon.html 11. Sodium Sir Humphry Davy was a chemistry genius for a reason. It takes most chemists years (or decades) to find a new element. After discovering potassium, he discovered sodium within a few days. Talk about smart! Source: https://www.ducksters.com/science/chemistry/sodium.php 12. Magnesium Like carbon’s diamond, magnesium is almost invincible. What would you do if you saw a magnesium fire? Spray nitrogen or carbon dioxide? Won’t work! Pour water to put it out? That will only make it worse! Magnesium fires are hard to put out, because they can burn through nitrogen carbon dioxide and water. Source: https://www.ducksters.com/science/chemistry/magnesium.php 13. Aluminium Ever wonder why you don’t see the thirteenth element in biology? Because of the number 13’s bad luck! Aluminium has no function in biology. Source: https://www.ducksters.com/science/chemistry/aluminum.php 14. Silicon Diamond has a side-kick, and it’s called Silicon Carbide(SiC). SiC is nearly as hard as diamond. Source: https://www.ducksters.com/science/chemistry/silicon.php 15. Phosphorus Ah, phosphorus, the element that makes chemistry feel like the hardest spelling test ever. There are two super-villains called White Phosphorus and Black Phosphorus. White phosphorus is the “destroy everything within reach” type that can cause severe burns if you touch it. Black Phosphorus is the “evil impostor” type that looks like graphite powder and conducts electricity even though it is not a metal. Watch out for the Colorful Phosphorus Brothers! Source: https://www.ducksters.com/science/chemistry/phosphorus.php61 16. Sulfur Sulfur is taking over the moon! Or rather, one of Jupiter’s moons, Io. It appears yellow due to the large amount of sulfur on its surface. This sulfur comes from its many active volcanoes. Source: https://www.ducksters.com/science/chemistry/sulfur.php 17. Chlorine Ugh. The smelly stuff in the swimming pool. Apparently it’s deadly too! Chlorine gas was used by the Germans in World War I to poison Allied soldiers. Source: https://www.ducksters.com/science/chemistry/chlorine.php 18. Argon Amazingly, argon is a lot like humans. It’s a homework slacker, chill-out guy and couch potato who ain’t care about nothing. Literally. The name argon comes from the Greek word “argos” meaning “lazy” or “inactive.” (It’s also best friends with aluminium, because it has nothing to do with biology too!) Source: https://www.ducksters.com/science/chemistry/argon.php 19. Potassium Where do you think we can find potassium in our food? Potatoes ? (Because it’s called “potassium”)Correct! It can also be found in bananas, avocados, nuts, parsley, and chocolate. (Mmm…) Source: https://www.ducksters.com/science/chemistry/potassium.php 20. Calcium Calcium and lime are soulmates. Calcium is named after the Greek name for lime, “calx”, which is calcium oxide. Source: https://www.ducksters.com/science/chemistry/calcium.php 21. Scandium Looks like you’re not the only one who failed in Geography! Although scandium was discovered by a Swedish chemist who named it after his homeland Scandinavia (Sweden is part of Scandinavia), it is usually found in Norway (home of the vikings that is another part of Scandinavia), and Madagascar (all the way in Africa!). Say hi to the lemurs for me, Scann! Source: https://www.ducksters.com/science/chemistry/scandium.php 22. Titanium Like scandium, titanium is another globe-trotter. Or rather, outer-space-trotter! Titanium is found in meteorites, on the Moon, and in some types of stars, but it is also found in the Earth’s crust (though not as a pure element. It is used to make anything from high-end golf clubs and tennis rackets to plated towns at a museum in Spain. Source: https://www.ducksters.com/science/chemistry/titanium.php 23. Vanadium Always complaining that the names of elements are way to complicated? Well, it could have been a lot worse! Vanadium wasn’t originally supposed to be called vanadium. Proposed names for Element 23 included rionium, panchromium and erythronium. Personally, I’m relieved that vanadium is easier to spell! Source: https://www.ducksters.com/science/chemistry/vanadium.php, http://www.softschools.com/facts/periodic_table/vanadium_facts/200/ 24. Chronium Roses are red, while violets are blue. Rubies are red, while chronium is black/gray/blue/violet/orange/green/yellow/purple/other colors/red too! In fact, rubies get their red color from small traces of chromium! Source: https://www.ducksters.com/science/chemistry/chromium.php, https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Inorganic_Chemistry/Supplemental_Modules_(Inorganic_Chemistry)/Descriptive_Chemistry/Elements_Organized_by_Block/3_d-Block_Elements/Group_06%3A_Transition_Metals/Chemistry_of_Chromium 25. Manganese In the periodic table, we have friends like H2O (water), and enemies like mercury or lead. However, manganese (no, it’s not the language of manga!) is considered a frenemy– although we need it to survive, such as for liver and kidney functioning, our bodies cannot store it! Source: https://www.ducksters.com/science/chemistry/manganese.php 26. Iron It is common knowledge not to eat things like iron bolts or screws. However, do you know that you’re actually eating it almost every day– even without you knowing? Food sources of iron, which is good for your body, include red meat, beans, fish, and green leafy vegetables. (Note: these food sources DO NOT include the iron magnets in your science lab!) Source: https://www.ducksters.com/science/chemistry/iron.php 27. Cobalt Hey, fantasy lovers! If you hate chemistry (which probably everybody does except for me), then this fact is for you! The name cobalt comes from the German word kobold, meaning “goblin ore.” How magical! Source: http://www.softschools.com/facts/periodic_table/cobalt_facts/203/ 28. Nickel Warning: Bombshell ahead! Why are nickel and copper mortal enemies? Here’s the
