Just a few hundred atoms in size, this ultra-tiny submarine measures distances in nanometers and uses light to drive it forward – despite its diminutive dimensions, it has a remarkable top speed of one inch per second, making the sub “the fastest-moving molecules ever seen in solution.”

While the entertainment value and wow-factors exist as well, there are also many potential serious and world-changing applications being explored, from organic nanobots to medical delivery systems.

“Each of the single-molecule, 244-atom submersibles built in the Rice University lab of chemist James Tour has a motor powered by ultraviolet light. With each full revolution, the motor’s tail-like propeller moves the sub forward 18 nanometers.”

Tour’s group has worked a lot with molecular micro-machines; his lab introduced the world to nanocars, single-molecule cars with four wheels, axles and independent suspensions that could be “driven” across surfaces. Assembling at this scale, the material inputs are small but the distances and forces in play relatively huge, opening up a world of tiny possibilities.

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Those instant hand warmers that heat up after a simple chemical reaction can be a lifesaver when you find yourself stuck outside in the cold for extended periods. But even the single-use disposable ones can cost $3 to $5 each. Instructables user junits15 posted a way to make your own in minutes with materials you probably already have at home.

The DIY instant hand warmer starts off with a large zipper plastic bag filled with a small amount of calcium chloride pellets. These are also known as ice melter pellets and can be found in most hardware stores in the colder months. Then fill a snack-size plastic zipper bag with water and put it inside the larger bag.

When the larger bag is sealed, you drop the whole assembly into a pocket or bag and wait for your hands to freeze. Then just pull it out and squeeze until the water comes out of the smaller bag and comes into contact with the calcium chloride pellets. The resulting chemical reaction warms up the bag and keeps it warm for 20 minutes to an hour. Get the full instructions here on Instructables.

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You’ll hear a lot of noise from people who say that today’s parents are too protective of their kids, and maybe that’s true – but it’s probably just because the parents of yesteryear didn’t seem to ever give a thought to their kids’ welfare. That is, if these “toys” from the first part of the 20th century are accurate depictions of how concerned parents were with safety. These three vintage toys were all produced by the Gilbert Company, the very same “toy” maker who gave the world the astonishingly dangerous Atomic Energy Lab.

Metal Casting Set

The Metal Casting Set gave boys (it was a hundred years ago – girls weren’t really expected to be interested in toys that didn’t involve cooking or cleaning) the ability to melt down lead and play with actual molten metal. The kit came with a melting pot, molds to make little metal figures, and lots of metal for small children to melt in their own homes.

Despite the obvious and almost unbelievable level of danger represented with this toy, it might have been kind of fun to live in an era when this sort of things was allowed to exist. The company produced over 50 molds that you could buy as accessories to the casting set, letting you produce an entire metal figuring army complete with weapons and ships.

Gilbert Chemistry Outfit

Endorsed by Superman himself, the Gilbert chemistry sets went through several iterations through the years. But they all had one pretty important thing in common: they included ridiculously dangerous materials. Things like hydrochloric acid, potassium nitrate, and formaldehyde were not only sold with a children’s toy; they were considered to be chemicals everyone had “about the house.”

Doing chemistry experiments at home might actually have led to a generation of great scientific minds. But having a set of chemicals like this in your home today would pretty much guarantee you’d be arrested and put on the NSA’s watch list.

Glassblowing Set

This is far and away our favorite. Sit a kid down with some glass, a tube, and an open flame and just let him go ahead and make something awesome. Setting aside the potential for permanent scarring, blinding, and just overall long-lasting suffering, it would genuinely have been fun to have a set like this as a kid.

The glassblowing set, and indeed all of the Gilbert science kits, taught the fundamentals of science along with letting kids do quite dangerous experiments on their own. Maybe it was this blind trust that instilled a sense of responsibility in past generations of kids. Or maybe those scarred-for-life kids grew up to make laws that prevented other kids from playing with molten lead, hydrochloric acid, and melted glass.

(via: Jitterbuzz)

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As advanced as our electronics have gotten lately, the batteries we power them with haven’t really improved much. Colorado State University chemistry professor Amy Prieto has created a much smarter kind of battery. The Prieto battery, which is still in the development stages, could hold twice the power of traditional batteries and recharge in five minutes.

Besides being rather inefficient and requiring frequent replacement, the traditional battery is manufactured with some particularly nasty toxins. These toxins require special treatment and disposal of batteries, although most people still just toss them into the trash with other household waste. The Prieto battery is completely eco-friendly, using nothing more toxic than citric acid in its manufacturing process.

As seen in the video above, the Prieto battery uses a three-dimensional power structure rather than the two-dimensional structure used in traditional batteries. This makes it possible for the battery to hold more power and to hold it for far longer than any other battery – both of which could be huge benefits for drivers of electric vehicles and anyone who uses battery-powered gadgets like smartphones or electric bikes.

The post Powerful Change: High-Tech Battery Recharges in Mere Minutes first appeared on Gajitz.

Nearly all of us have, at one time or another, sniffed an aroma and been instantly transported – mentally, at least – to another time and place. Scent is very strongly linked to memory, and smells can bring vivid recollections to mind. But although they may be linked forever to memories in our minds, scents themselves are rather ephemeral. Sensory historians (apparently that is a real thing) want to start preserving the scents of our times and recreating those of the past, giving us a truly multi-sensory experience of the world as it used to be.

Back in the 1970s a technique was invented a Swiss fragrance chemist to preserve scents. He called it “headspace,” and recently some perfumers have begun using the technology to recreate unusual smells like books or fur coats. While those may have been flights of artistic fancy, there is definitely something to be said for preserving the smells of today’s world for future humans. Libraries, certain flowers, and even shopping malls could very well be distant memories in a few generations. Wouldn’t it be amazing to know what different historical figures smelled when they walked down the streets in their respective times?

Some researchers and historians are already striving to recreate the aromas of yesteryear using a combination of chemical clues and written descriptions. Napoleon’s cologne is among the historical scents that have already been recreated. But the historians warn that while we might be able to smell the past, thereby expanding our sensory understanding of history, we can never appreciate the context of the original smells. We can only experience them from our own modern perspective. But with other sensory clues in place at the same time, accurate smells could help us to step into the past more accurately than we ever have before.

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