13+ hour, 18+ min ago  (405+ words) In "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe" (Douglas Adams), a cow introduces itself to the diners with the words "I am the main Dish of the Day. May I interest you in parts of my body?" Milkweed butterflies…...

2+ week, 13+ hour ago  (171+ words) If you are worried about, or hoping for, a post with an LGBT topic: No, this is about flamingos. And the chemistry behind their color. Flamingoes get their color from their food, but then also convert some of the relevant…...

3+ week, 13+ hour ago  (316+ words) It is easy to understand why showers are very rarely installed on planes, and why even the toilets do not flush properly (with the occasional exception, such as the 400 million USD plane gifted to Mr. Trump by Qatar, which supposedly…...

4+ week, 13+ hour ago  (188+ words) Like humans, birds can be affected by intense UV radiation. It can cause cancer, damage skin and feathers, and suppress the immune system. Staying in the shade is not always an option, particularly for birds in the tropics or at…...

1+ mon, 5+ day ago  (262+ words) Birds probably do more to keep their feathers in good shape than a German small business owner does to keep his beloved Mercedes-Benz polished. But the materials both groups use are quite similar. Both use water as the primary cleansing…...

1+ mon, 1+ week ago  (295+ words) Birds " particularly long-distance migrants " need to store a substantial amount of energy. They store this energy as fat. To be a bit more precise, they store energy mainly as triacylglycerols, which incidentally has exactly the same meaning as the word…...

1+ mon, 2+ week ago  (382+ words) If you are looking for an illustration of a bird skeleton, look elsewhere. This post is about the chemical composition of bird bones, the difference in chemical composition from mammal bones, and the rationale behind those differences. In both birds…...

1+ mon, 3+ week ago  (345+ words) Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, an example of a PFAS. Note the alkyl chain with the attached multiple fluorine atoms These substances are widely used in non-stick cookware, waterproof fabrics, firefighting foams, and many industrial applications. They are highly persistent in the environment…...

2+ mon, 2+ day ago  (237+ words) I know. The title sounds a bit like the defense of a mass murderer " he only did his deeds to reduce the global population in a fight against climate change caused by human activities. But fortunately for chemists like me,…...

2+ mon, 2+ week ago  (471+ words) Birds " and in particular, their feathers " are excellent bioindicators for the presence of chemicals in the environment. Why? Birds are pretty much everywhere and are part of almost all food chains. So, unwillingly and unpaid, they collect environmental samples in…...