Neurotransmitters and neurohormones can really cause quite a bit of emotional chaos!
We all know that disinfection helps to combat germs, bacteria and viruses. However, viruses are a more complicated group, as not all disinfectants are effective against them. Many viruses, including the coronavirus, can, however, be destroyed by alcohol. But how does alcohol work?
Just like internal combustion engines, electric powertrains also require energy. In electric cars, also known as BEVs (Battery Electric Vehicles), the energy required is stored in accumulators (batteries), which in most cases are lithium-ion batteries.
Summer and the holiday season are finally here. Many people are making the most of the warm weather to go for a swim and sunbathe – whether on holiday by the sea or at a local lake. Even on cloudy days, you shouldn’t skip the sun cream to protect your skin from excessive sun exposure. And this is where chemistry comes into play, as the chemical substances in sun cream ensure that we can enjoy the sun without fear of skin damage. But how does sun cream actually ‘work’? We’ve taken a closer look at this.
“There aren’t any chemicals in German beer, is there? It’s brewed in accordance with the Purity Law of 1516,” some of you might think. Nevertheless, beer – whether alcoholic or non-alcoholic – is the product of various chemical reactions.
In other words, without chemistry, there’d be no beer! Let’s take a look at the chemical process of brewing beer.
They invade the forest in their thousands and burrow beneath the bark of defenceless trees. Beetles such as the timber bark beetle and other tree pests can destroy the trees’ vital protective layer in the blink of an eye. Violent storms, prolonged droughts and heatwaves, as well as monocultures in many areas, have taken a heavy toll on trees in recent years and are placing them under increasing stress. For tree pests, these developments are a godsend. Pheromones help the trees to recover.
All living organisms require nitrogen compounds in order to grow and reproduce. Although almost four-fifths of the air we breathe consists of gaseous nitrogen, very few organisms are able to utilise this nitrogen from the air. These include nodule-forming bacteria. They live in the root systems of legumes (e.g. lupins) and can convert around 50–150 kg of atmospheric nitrogen per hectare into nitrogen compounds. When we eat meat or vegetables, we consume the nitrogen compounds from animals and plants. But how does the nitrogen get into the plant if it is not a legume?
Football is, at least in Germany, one of the most popular sports. Millions of people follow the matches of their favourite team or the national team on television or in the stadiums. And many of these fans turn into self-appointed experts during the course of a match, claiming to know better than those who are paid to do so when it comes to team line-ups, tactics and, of course, the referee’s decisions.
Let’s take a closer look at the piece of kit without which nothing works in football: the ball.
To absorb means ‘to take in’. Absorbents therefore take something in – in the case of Little Erlenmeyer’s nappy, mainly water.
Super-absorbents take in a huge amount of water, and the result is that the nappy stays dry. It’s not rocket science, but fascinating chemistry.
In mid-2018, the GDCh welcomed a new addition – not a real member, but a human-like piece of laboratory equipment with expressive facial features, born of the imagination of many of those involved. The ‘Erlenmeyerchen’ was developed by the ‘Chemie ist...’ working group within the GDCh. For more on the origins of the ‘Erlenmeyerchen’, see Nachr. Chem. 2021, 69 (19), 96. All illustrations are by Maike Hettinger.