Let’s go back in time a moment and look at the beginning of science. I imagine it started with an obstinant child looking for an easier way to do chores so they could go play. Or even a businessman looking for a way to increase the ease of an aspect of his business. The earliest …
Winter is a time for removing snow, and one fail safe go to is ice. Every winter the road crews bring out the ice trucks to help make driving conditions safer. Homeowners, as well, may salt their drives and sidewalks to prevent injury and accidents on their properties. Sure, we could dust the road and …
How does a pH indicator work? Every one of us has come across a pH based experiment. My first one was the cabbage pH colour change when I was at a nerdy friend’s birthday party in 3rd grade. Most of us, though, are directed to dip the pH indicator strip into a liquid to see …
Fortunately for us, many medieval-era documents, books, and manuscripts have survived the ten or twelve centuries since the Middle Ages. Not only do these artifacts provide scholars and historians with vital information about life, laws, culture, and society of the Middle Ages, but they provide scientists and chemists with tangible evidence to tell us how …
A recent article in Lab Manager had a brief, half page article about lab safety. In it, it mentions the importance of having regular meetings to discuss policies and protocols, holding each other accountable, and scheduling maintenance. Here at Insanitek we take a slightly different approach . Policies are trained, discussed regularly, and posted on …
In every business marketing is a priority. Every. Business. That includes your science gig. It doesn’t matter if you’re selling an environmental clean up service, engineering a product, building a specialised software programme, or any other applied science. Marketing is about communication, and you need it to not only explain to people what you do, …
Hundreds of papers. That’s how many papers I had to write through my academic career. There were at least 5 per class, and each one required reading, summarising, synthesising, and citing countless pieces of work. 5 classes per semester, 2 semesters per year, and 9 years of education. After the first semester I was desperate …
Bismuth crystals. They are majestic and beautiful looking structures, and since bismuth melts at 520°F, it can even be made at home — if you have stainless steel pot you don’t mind sacrificing for science. All you need for this is a stove, a stainless steel pot, and a stainless steel spatula. Take a look …
Humans love beautiful things. There is just something about the concept of beauty that draws our eyes, captures our minds and hearts. The public perception of sciences doesn’t usually include the beauty we scientists see in our work. This past month I was able to participate in two science fairs. The feedback that the public …
It was 1966, and an idealistic group of doctors thought there was a better way to both teach and learn medicine. These were the founding fathers of McMasters Medical School and Problem-Based Learning (PBL) . The goals of the McMaster’s programme were to focus on the individual rather than rote memorization and regurgitation of facts. …