Archive for the 'Science' Category

How To Make Your Own Laundry Detergent

Thursday, June 21st, 2007

I’ve been experimenting with making lots of cleaning supplies at home, but this one is by far the craziest - and the most successful. Basically, I made a giant bucket of slime that works incredibly well as laundry detergent at a cost of about three cents a load. For comparison
’s sake, a jumbo container of Tide at Amazon.com costs $28.99 for 96 load

read more | digg story

Warning:Phenylketonurics-contains phenylalanine

Wednesday, September 13th, 2006

Have you ever noticed the phrase “Warning: Phenylketonurics-contains Phenylalanine on a pack of gum or a can/bottle of soda and wondered what it means?

Phenylketonurics is a term used for people who have the disorder called Phenylketonuria where they have a deficiency of an enzyme which is required for proper digestion of an amino acid called phenylalanine .
well..great!..thanks!, that explains a lot!

It is similar to information being placed on a product which contain peanuts or milk to inform people that are allergic to peanuts or are lactose intolerant.

Phenylalanine is found in most foods that contain protein like meat for example. The reason why packets of gum and soft drinks contain the warning is because they contain a sweetner known as aspartame, which contains the amino acid Phenylalanine.
So, Phenylketonurics have to follow a low protein diet inorder to avoid Phenylalanine.

If Phenylketonurics intake a good amount of Phenylalanine, the amino acid will not digest properly and will build up in the blood in the form of an acid called Phenylpyruvic acid. If a lot of Phenylpyruvic acid builds up in the system, it can damage brain cells and cause a variety of other side effects such as progressive mental retardation.

You can get more information about this disorder at:
http://www.ess.sunysb.edu/tracy/whatis.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenylketonuria

Liquid Nitrogen

Thursday, August 24th, 2006

I was driving to work today and saw a big tanker with Liquid Nitrogen written on it and smoke was seeping out from inside it. I don’t know much about liquid nitrogen, so I decided to find out online and here’s a summary of what I found:

Liquid Nitrogen can be used to cool things down to a temperature of (-196° C/ -323° F). It has many uses ranging from producing frozen foods like Ice Cream to removing lesions and skin problems.