Australia's Science Forum

We do this as a demo, so I only need to cook 3 or 4 eggs. I can't imagine removing the shells on 96 eggs! My sympathies.

Thanks lfn, yes do let me know what you find out on Friday. Also can you tell me where you got the 14MP one from, that seems like a good price for that resolution.

We've got some money approved for capital items (woohoo!) and I'm trying to decide on a digital eyepiece for microscopes. I've seen them between $200 and $1200 depending on how many megapixels they do (1.3, 3, 5, or 10), so what do other schools have? How many megapixels is good enough, especially f...

Having been to the recent safety course, Phillip Crisp's advice is that any chemical you have "decanted or transferred", including reagent bottles and droppers, has to have at minimum 1. the name, 2. a signal word if applicable (ie DANGER or WARNING), and 3. hazard statements or at the lea...

Merilyn nailed it. RiskAssess has revolutionised our prac ordering and RA procedures. So much easier now for everyone. Really looking forward to the labelling too.

Our school is currently advertising for a new part-time lab tech to start next year. The job is 2 days per week, and our policy as a Christian school is to employ Christian staff. We're on the south side of Canberra.

All details available on this page:
http://www.tcs.act.edu.au/employment

Merilyn, I contacted Serrata after making my post and got forwarded a chain of emails and documents from the US supplier, as well as further statements from the Queensland Department. I'm not 100% convinced that the supplier's responses constitute a definitive statement about asbestos in the talc, b...

The only places I've found Mohs hardness kits are Westlab (without diamond) and Serrata (with diamond). Has anyone asked Serrata about asbestos?

We have a few of those here. They're very smooth to push around. You won't fit microscopes standing up on the lower tiers though. We really like them but can only compare them to our very old junky ones. You'll need a rubber mallet to assemble them.

Just wondering when we will find out if we got our workshop preferences. There were some fun looking options on there!

Hi, What year group and what else do they use for the mousetrap racers? Sounds like fun. It's based on a Double Helix activity but CSIRO has messed their website around so I can't find it anymore. I found a similar activity at this link: http://www.macmillan.com.au/mea/downloadpdfs/9781420229745.pd...

I got an alert at the self checkout because I was buying a packet of plastic knives. Yes I am over 18, but seriously they're made of plastic... For the molar mass of butane I have to buy many individual cigarette lighters, and the Woolies lady gave me some very suspicious looks. They also flat out r...

I'm at the same school as Sita so if you're emailing it please send me a copy as well! I'll PM you with my details.

We bought this one from Haines this year: http://www.chemtalk.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=451/index.php/thermometer-non-contact-economy.html It hasn't had much use so far but seems fine as a novelty. Teachers have expressed interest in using it for solar ovens later in the year. As far as I know...

I know that teachers often ask us to do the impossible, but this is ridiculous!

Through private message, TirzahKat has pointed me towards Pasco, who sell sheets of conductive paper with and without grids as part of an electric field mapping kit. Ciderhouse Tech handles distribution in Australia and have quoted me around $100 for 50 sheets with grid, 23x30cm. I think I've found ...

Hi all, I've got a physics teacher asking me about getting A4-sized sheets of "Teledeltos", a conductive paper, for making a flexible circuit. Has anyone used this before? Any leads on a source or alternative?

Thanks in advance.

I've just prepared this one for a Year 12 Chemistry demo. I used the recipe in Barbara Dungey's "The Laboratory" book. 5g of diaminohexane in 100mL water, and 5mL sebacoyl chloride in 100mL of hexane. Seemed to work well. The diaminohexane solution lasts but the sebacoyl chloride is better...

Hmm, yes thinking about it the fertiliser one doesn't quite fit forensics, but I found the prac information in our forensics folder for Chemistry, and from what I recall the teacher did that prac during that topic. Oh well.

Well, here's some they might do: -Fingerprints. Needs iodine crystals and superglue, ink pads and brushes for talc and graphite powder. -Sulfate content of fertiliser. Just need some fertiliser. -Fibre/hair observation. Just collect some scrap fabric and animal hair. -The electrophoresis of DNA is t...