Education

Video: From waste to watercolors—Colorado artist turns food scraps into paint

By Lisa McDonald / November 2, 2022

With a little bit of science knowledge, artists can learn to make paints and glazes at home quite easily and for far less cost. A Colorado artist is working to educate others on how she creates environmentally friendly watercolor paints from foraged plants and food waste.

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Video: Sweeten your knowledge of materials science this Halloween by making your own candy glass

By Lisa McDonald / October 26, 2022

Looking to weave some science learning into your Halloween activities? Making candy glasses like cotton candy and lollipops can provide insights into common glass processing methods and material properties. Learn how to make your own candy glass through the Ceramic and Glass Industry Foundation’s new Glass Science Kit!

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Video: Shallow-water mining is not the answer to deep-sea mining

By Lisa McDonald / October 19, 2022

Because of the environmental and economic concerns associated with mining mineral deposits on the deep seabed, some companies and countries are considering shallow-water mining instead. A recent open-access paper raises concerns about viewing shallow-water mining as an eco-alternative to deep-sea mining.

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Video: James Madison’s glass flute graces the stage at Lizzo concert

By Lisa McDonald / October 5, 2022

With more than 100 million items in the Library of Congress collections, it can be difficult for Library staff to showcase all the wonderful items in storage and educate the public on their importance. Last week, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden realized the perfect opportunity to highlight one very special item—a glass flute gifted to U.S. president James Madison—through a collaboration with pop megastar and classically trained flutist Lizzo.

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Kicking cancer to the curb: A review of ceramics and glasses for cancer diagnosis and therapy

By Lisa McDonald / October 4, 2022

To enable effective cancer detection and treatment, ceramic and glass biomaterials have been heavily investigated. A recent review paper provides an overview of the main ceramics and glasses being explored for this purpose.

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Video: Approval of industrial seafloor mining trial elicits scrutiny from marine scientists and journalists

By Lisa McDonald / September 14, 2022

On Sept. 7, 2022, Canadian mining startup The Metals Company announced the International Seabed Authority greenlit their plan to conduct an industrial seafloor mining trial to extract polymetallic nodules. While marine scientists are concerned about the environmental effects of deep-sea mining in general, an investigative report by The New York Times questions the choice of The Metals Company to conduct this trial.

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OSTP public access policy memo stirs the scholarly publishing world

By Lisa McDonald / September 13, 2022

On Aug. 25, 2022, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy released new policy guidance recommending that publications and their supporting data resulting from federally funded research be made immediately free and accessible to the public without an embargo period starting Jan. 1, 2026. To better contextualize this decision and the response by scholarly publishers, this CTT provides a brief history of the evolution of scholarly publishing and the push for open access.

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Ensuring safe production of metal goods: A review of alumina spinel castables for steel ladles

By Lisa McDonald / September 9, 2022

Alumina spinel castables play an important role in the steel industry as lining for the ladle sidewalls and bottom. A new review paper published in International Journal of Applied Ceramic Technology provides a detailed overview of these castables, including how various parameters affect their properties and performance.

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Video: Tactile graphics enable universal visualization of data

By Lisa McDonald / September 7, 2022

The inclusion of students with visual impairments in chemistry courses requires explicit and systematic effort. Researchers led by Baylor University explored creating lithophanes featuring data found in the chemical sciences to make scientific data accessible to everyone regardless of eyesight level.

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Video: Titanium dioxide ban illustrates the differing approaches to chemicals regulation in the EU and US

By Lisa McDonald / July 27, 2022

As the European Union prepares to ban the use of titanium dioxide as a food additive starting August 7, the United States Food and Drug Administration has no plans to change regulation of this substance. This situation illustrates the larger picture of how the EU and U.S. differ in their approach to chemicals regulation.

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