Philosophy
A two-hour special was aired yesterday on NOVA hosted by David Pogue.
Program Description
Where do nature’s building blocks, called the elements, come from? They’re the hidden ingredients of everything in our world, from the carbon in our bodies to the metals in our smartphones. To unlock their secrets, David Pogue, the lively host of NOVA’s popular "Making Stuff" series and technology correspondent of The New York Times, spins viewers through the world of weird, extreme chemistry: the strongest acids, the deadliest poisons, the universe’s most abundant elements, and the rarest of the rare—substances cooked up in atom smashers that flicker into existence for only fractions of a second.
Why are some elements like platinum or gold inert while others like phosphorus or potassium violently explosive? Why are some vital to every breath we take while others are lethal toxins that killed off their discoverers such as Marie Curie? As he digs for answers, Pogue reveals the story of the elements to be a rich stew simmering with passion, madness, and obsessive scientific rivalry. Punctuated by surprising and often alarming experiments, this program takes NOVA on a roller-coaster ride through nature’s hidden lab and the compelling stories of discovery that revealed its secrets.
Frankly, this program was all flash [literally] and worthless drama with an over abundance of one liner comedic[?] jokes. Lots of big trucks hauling dirt, industrial refining machinery, salted popcorn, and one glowing error. It was claimed that the noble elements are non-reactive. Not true for one. As far back as 1963 a chemical, xenon tetraflouride, was formed. [I also noticed that sodium metal was not stored properly. And there was a political slam towards China in regards to rare earth elements.]
See the website
- Chemistry: A Volatile History - Discovering The Elements
When the ancient Greeks inquired into the building blocks of the universe, they posited the existence of four fundamental elements out of which everything else is composed: earth, fire, air and water (and in some cases, ether). Crude as this taxonomy...
- Ununseptium...element #117
"Scientists Confirm The Existence Of Element 117" by Alex Knapp May 3rd, 2014 Forbes The official Periodic Table of the Elements is one step closer to adding element 117 to its ranks. That’s thanks to an international team of scientists that was...
- "yttrium" [pronounced It-ree-em] And Johan Gadolin
Johan Gadolin June 5th 1760 to August 15th, 1852 Johan Gadolin was a "Finnish chemist who discovered the element yttrium (1794). This was the first of a family of 15 rare earth elements called the lanthanides. He studied in Uppsala, Sweden, and taught...
- It's Official...element #112 Is Copernicium
"Chemical element 112 named 'Copernicium'" February 24th, 2010 PHYSORG.com IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry) accepted the name proposed by the international discovering team around Sigurd Hofmann at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum....
- Boron Vs Carbon
Boron: B Atomic Number: 5 Atomic Mass: 10.811 amu Melting Point: 2300.0 °C [2573.15 K, 4172.0 °F] Boiling Point: 2550.0 °C [2823.15 K, 4622.0 °F] Number of Protons/Electrons: 5 Number of Neutrons: 6 Classification: Metalloid Crystal Structure: Rhombohedral...
Philosophy
"Hunting the Elements"...lots of flash and a glowing error
A two-hour special was aired yesterday on NOVA hosted by David Pogue.
Program Description
Where do nature’s building blocks, called the elements, come from? They’re the hidden ingredients of everything in our world, from the carbon in our bodies to the metals in our smartphones. To unlock their secrets, David Pogue, the lively host of NOVA’s popular "Making Stuff" series and technology correspondent of The New York Times, spins viewers through the world of weird, extreme chemistry: the strongest acids, the deadliest poisons, the universe’s most abundant elements, and the rarest of the rare—substances cooked up in atom smashers that flicker into existence for only fractions of a second.
Why are some elements like platinum or gold inert while others like phosphorus or potassium violently explosive? Why are some vital to every breath we take while others are lethal toxins that killed off their discoverers such as Marie Curie? As he digs for answers, Pogue reveals the story of the elements to be a rich stew simmering with passion, madness, and obsessive scientific rivalry. Punctuated by surprising and often alarming experiments, this program takes NOVA on a roller-coaster ride through nature’s hidden lab and the compelling stories of discovery that revealed its secrets.
Frankly, this program was all flash [literally] and worthless drama with an over abundance of one liner comedic[?] jokes. Lots of big trucks hauling dirt, industrial refining machinery, salted popcorn, and one glowing error. It was claimed that the noble elements are non-reactive. Not true for one. As far back as 1963 a chemical, xenon tetraflouride, was formed. [I also noticed that sodium metal was not stored properly. And there was a political slam towards China in regards to rare earth elements.]
See the website
- Chemistry: A Volatile History - Discovering The Elements
When the ancient Greeks inquired into the building blocks of the universe, they posited the existence of four fundamental elements out of which everything else is composed: earth, fire, air and water (and in some cases, ether). Crude as this taxonomy...
- Ununseptium...element #117
"Scientists Confirm The Existence Of Element 117" by Alex Knapp May 3rd, 2014 Forbes The official Periodic Table of the Elements is one step closer to adding element 117 to its ranks. That’s thanks to an international team of scientists that was...
- "yttrium" [pronounced It-ree-em] And Johan Gadolin
Johan Gadolin June 5th 1760 to August 15th, 1852 Johan Gadolin was a "Finnish chemist who discovered the element yttrium (1794). This was the first of a family of 15 rare earth elements called the lanthanides. He studied in Uppsala, Sweden, and taught...
- It's Official...element #112 Is Copernicium
"Chemical element 112 named 'Copernicium'" February 24th, 2010 PHYSORG.com IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry) accepted the name proposed by the international discovering team around Sigurd Hofmann at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum....
- Boron Vs Carbon
Boron: B Atomic Number: 5 Atomic Mass: 10.811 amu Melting Point: 2300.0 °C [2573.15 K, 4172.0 °F] Boiling Point: 2550.0 °C [2823.15 K, 4622.0 °F] Number of Protons/Electrons: 5 Number of Neutrons: 6 Classification: Metalloid Crystal Structure: Rhombohedral...