geekosystem

The alyssum flowers pictured above aren't just pretty -- they're good for the planet, too. A recent study from the University of Warwick suggests that the common flowers and their relatives could help restore chemically poisoned land to a more livable state by leeching toxins from the ground. As an added bonus, researchers think they could one day harvest those same toxic chemicals  -- now broken down to tiny nanoparticles -- for use in new technologies.

Researchers at Tel Aviv University's school of chemistry have developed a sensor that can detect if your drink has been spiked by the most common date rape drugs. The sensor can be used as a straw or a stirrer that will light up to indicate if someone has slipped something into your drink.

The sensor absorbs a drop of the beverage, and brings it into contact with a chemical formula created by lead researchers Fernando Patolsky and Michael Ioffe. So far, the exact make up of the chemical formula hasn't been released. But, the researchers say it is extremely effective at detecting the drugs. Ioffe told the AFP:

"The drug itself is reacting with this chemical formulation and the previously clear formula becomes dirty and when the light shines it you can detect it. You don't have to do anything but dip it in your drink."

Sign of the times: A children's chemistry kit sold by a company called Elenco boasts "60 fun activities with no chemicals" on the box. Amazon description: "There is no fear of working with dangerous chemicals or poisons. The topics covered in the kit deal with chemical reactions, acids and bases, chromatography, crystal growing, surface tension, solutions and colloids, expansion of gases, magnetism, optics, growing plants and more. Simple experiments are performed using the contents of the kit and common household items." (Presumably, such potentially hazardous substances as vinegar and baking soda must be obtained from one's own home.) MAKE's Sean Michael Ragan nails it: "I post this not so much in the spirit of “shame on such-and-so” for creating this astounding oxymoron of a product, but rather to lament the general state of affairs we have come to thanks to litigiousness, chemophobia, and flagging scientific literacy." (MAKE via Neatorama)