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Fascinating chemistry lesson here.

Did you know…

Beeswax, made by honey bees to create comb walls, is prized for use in candlemaking because it does not smoke or drip. (Thanks Jane Greig)

Here’s a very interesting explanation of our ten-dimensional universe.

And now for something completely different.

From New Scientist:

My son-in-law discovered a strange property of the remote control that switches his car alarm on and off. By pressing it firmly to his chin, he can increase considerably the range at which it works. Not believing him, we experimented with other chins. It works, and in some cases the range is doubled depending on the type of car alarm. How does this effect occur?

Tetanus is often associated with rust, especially rusty nails, but this is somewhat misleading.

Rust itself does not cause tetanus or contain more C. tetani bacteria. Objects that accumulate rust are often found in the outdoors or places that generally contain more bacteria. Since C. tetani is an anaerobic bacterium, it will thrive in an environment that lacks oxygen. Therefore, stepping on an old forgotten nail in a stable could easily result in tetanus, partly because C. tetani is found in animal feces (which is rather abundant in a stable) and the puncture wound would effectively create an ideal breeding ground for the bacteria (because of the lack of oxygen). Such an old nail would likely be rusty, but a lack of rust would provide no protection.

On the other hand, someone scratching themselves against a rusty fire escape ladder in an urban setting would have a much lesser chance of getting tetanus since fire escape ladders do not often come into intimate contact with soil, dirt or organic waste and the wound itself (a scratch) does not create an oxygen-poor environment.