Where to find my work
The Chronicle Flask
by katlday
1y ago
I am no longer updating this blog, but all my previous posts remain, and underneath this entry you’ll find a list of some of my all-time favourites. You can find out a bit more about me on the About page, or in this Career Ladder article on C&EN. Below is a non-exhaustive list of my non-fiction writing: Crash Course Organic Chemistry episodes 22, 26, 28, 29, 36, 37, 38, 41, 43, 44, 45 and 47. My personal favourite is episode 41: Conjugation & UV-Vis Spectroscopy Chemistry World – Nonsensical nomenclature: are we giving chemicals bad names? The Skeptic: Dodgy diagrams in ads matter, if ..read more
Visit website
Post 150: Choice Chronicles of the Chronicle Flask
The Chronicle Flask
by katlday
2y ago
From citric to hydrofluoric, acids are an ever-popular topic I began this blog in 2013, and since then I’ve written at least one post a month. This will be the 150th. I put love and care into all my posts and, in turn, this blog has been good to me. Although no one’s ever paid me to write it, it has brought me work over the years – many people have asked me to write for them having read things here. But life is busier now than it’s ever been, and it’s time to wind things down. You’ll continue to find my non-fiction here and there, I’ll still be regularly updating my fiction blog, and if you ..read more
Visit website
The Chronicles of the Chronicle Flask: 2021
The Chronicle Flask
by katlday
2y ago
In January I wrote about a nasal spray that could prevent COVID-19 infections It’s Christmas 2021, everyone. Can you believe it? It feels like it’s been 2020 for about five years now, doesn’t it? Anyway, regular followers will know that each year in December I write a ‘Chronicles’ post summing up everything I’ve written about over the year. But before I get into my time machine and set the dial for January 2021 (the sacrifices I make in the name of science communication, honestly), a quick reminder to check out the #272Sci tag on Twitter for tiny science updates and, for Christmas, #272SciXm ..read more
Visit website
Freezing fungal farts: what is hair ice and why does it form?
The Chronicle Flask
by katlday
2y ago
Hair ice, in which ice crystals grow in thread-like structures, can be found at northerly latitudes in broadleaf forests [image source] I’ve written about water before and in particular, if you’ve been paying very close attention, you might remember that November 12th marks the anniversary of the day, in 1783, that Antoine Lavoisier formally declared water to be a compound rather than an element. Which means that November is always an excellent time to talk about water. But this time, I’m going to focus on its solid state: ice. A few days ago I stumbled across some beautiful images of hair i ..read more
Visit website
Rock bottom: can rocks in your dog’s water bowl protect your lawn?
The Chronicle Flask
by katlday
2y ago
Take a look at the Twitter hashtag #272sci One quick thing before I dive into this month’s post: if you’re a Twitter user, check out my series of very tiny science tweets under the hashtag #272sci. The aim is to explain a science thing in one tweet – without using a thread – and it’s 272 because that’s the number of characters I have to use after including the hashtag and a space. So far I’ve covered leaf colours, frothy milk, caffeine and poisonous millipedes. There will be more to come! Now, speaking of Twitter, a couple of weeks ago Prof Mark Lorch tweeted about Dog Rocks. Dog… what? I he ..read more
Visit website
Chemical jigsaw puzzles: how do chemists identify molecules?
The Chronicle Flask
by katlday
2y ago
A quick thing before I get into this month’s chemistry ramble: I’m guessing that you, lovely reader, enjoys reading about science stuff. Especially stuff written by an amazing crowd of hard-working science communicators, one of whom is yours truly. So, please consider spreading the word about this awesome book: Great Explanations. Or even better, pledge! There are some fabulous rewards at the different pledge levels. Either way, thank you x Okay, back to it! Recently, a bit of an argument blew up on Twitter regarding what is, and isn’t, in covid vaccinations. The particular substance du jour b ..read more
Visit website
Neem: nice, nasty or… not sure?
The Chronicle Flask
by katlday
2y ago
A few days ago it was sunny and slightly breezy outside (yes, it’s August, but I live in the UK – this isn’t as common as you might imagine) and I thought, I should make the most of this and do something about my orchids. Now, anyone that reads this blog regularly will know that my Dad is a horticulturist. I, however, am not. My fascination with bright colours, interesting smells and complicated naming conventions went down the chemistry route. But I am, oddly, quite good with Phalaenopsis, aka, moth orchids. I don’t really know why, or how, but I seem to have come to some sort of agreement wi ..read more
Visit website
Faking Lateral Flow Tests: the problem with pH
The Chronicle Flask
by katlday
2y ago
Fruit juices can be used to generate a fake positive on COVID-19 LFTs On Thursday last week, I got a message from Prof Mark Lorch — my sometime collaborator on supercharacter-based ramblings. “Have you seen the reports of kids fooling the Covid lateral flow tests and getting false +ve results by adding orange juice to the devices?” he wondered. At this point, I had not – but I quickly got up to speed. Mark had previously made an excellent video explaining how lateral flow test (LFT) devices work, so it was just a case of working out, firstly, whether the false positives were reproducible, an ..read more
Visit website
The Skeptic, Chemistry World, and Crash Course: where to find me!
The Chronicle Flask
by katlday
2y ago
Thanks to Andy Brunning for the fab profile pic – do check out Compound Interest‘s Women In Chemistry series! It’s been a busy month! Actually, a busy few months, and it occurred to me that some people that follow this blog might have missed some of my other projects. Recently, I’ve written for The Skeptic, Chemistry World, and Crash Course Organic Chemistry. That’s great, I hear you say, where do we find all this amazing content? Allow me to supply a convenient list! THE SKEPTIC Dodgy diagrams in ads matter, if we want people to understand the value of chemistry A little while ago an a ..read more
Visit website
Brilliant Bee Chemistry!
The Chronicle Flask
by katlday
3y ago
20th May is World Bee Day, the aim of which is to raise awareness of the importance of bees and beekeeping. So, hey, let’s do that! I’m helped this month by my horticulturist* dad who, while working in a public garden recently, discovered this honeybee swarm in a honeysuckle. (Me: “what sort of tree is that?” Dad: “a winter flowering Honeysuckle lonicera. It’s a shrub, not a tree!” Yes, despite his tireless efforts I’m still pretty clueless about plants.) Now, Dad knows what he’s doing in such situations. He immediately called the professionals. One does not mess around with (or ignore) a swar ..read more
Visit website

Follow The Chronicle Flask on FeedSpot

Continue with Google
Continue with Apple
OR