Science!
Organic Chemistry
Organic chemistry can be fun and easy to learn.
PrimaryOdors
We know how many primary colors there are, how many primary touch sensations, and have a pretty good idea about primary tastes. We know how frequencies of sound are detected and that our sense of hearing processes by pitch and timbre. But what about smell? I've gathered the empirical data and found some clues about the perceptual elements that aromas are made of.
Element Spectra
Different gases electrified in glass tubes produce distinctive colors of light. So do metals when sparked, or their salts in a flame. I've obtained as many pure elements as I could, in order to visually observe and photograph their spectra. The result is a reliable measurement of spectral line intensities in the visible region, and in a few cases the near infrared.
AVIAn
What does a sunflower look like to a honeybee? Or banana spots to a fruit fly? Do our pets see any of the colors in and around our homes? Can a painting of blue sky fool a pigeon? Are bats really blind? And what's up with the mantis shrimp anyway? I've collected data about many species of animal, both vertebrate and invertebrate, to understand how they might perceive color in their world and in ours.
Infrared Photography
The infrared region is a vast expanse. If a digital camera is made without an IR-block filter, it can be used to take pictures in near infrared, up to 1 micron wavelength, where leaves shine like silver, clouds loom brightly against a dark sky, and many of our plastic and fabric items appear much paler than we see them as. Out around ten times these wavelengths, we can take pictures that reveal temperature, since everything around us is glowing in thermal infrared at all times.
Ultraviolet Photography
Nature is full of organisms signalling each other in ultraviolet. Insects respond eagerly to these wavelengths, and most vertebrates see ultraviolet as a fourth primary color. Even some butterflies get to experience this tetrachromacy. We mammals, including primates, are colorblind by comparison; in a tetrachromatic world, our trichromacy means we miss out on some really fascinating - and beautiful - sights. Luckily, specially designed cameras can reveal what our eyes fail to perceive.
The Genetic Code
Sixty-four codons? Twenty amino acids? Start and stop codons? Too complex! No one could possibly remember them all. Here's a shortcut to make it possible.
Never allow politics to take precedence over scientific veracity.