Crossposted at Dailykos.com
Here is the second stab at mass spectrometry. The first one just got too wankish for anyone to want to read, so I threw it out and started over. Instead of spending a whole lot of time explaining how it works, I’ll just do a brief description the hows. I [...]
Continue reading about Pique the Geek: Forensic Analyses: Mass Spectrometry v2
Crossposted at Dailykos.com
Last time, we got to 1933 and the calling in of all gold coins, certificates, and bullion. Things have changed a bunch since then.
Copper and silver continued to be minted. Except for the disruption of World War II, copper has been in cents since the beginning of the Nation. Let [...]
Continue reading about A Primer on US Coins, Part 4: Modern Coins
Crossposted at Dailykos.com
Go ahead, admit it. You have watched CSI, or, better, the shows on what used to be called Court TV (now “Tru”, what is up with that?) about how science and technology can solve crime. And it can, when used properly.
Unfortunately, most jury members are low information people when it comes [...]
Continue reading about Pique the Geek: Forensic Analyses: Chromatography
Crossposted at Dailykos.com
I decided to post this today even though the debate is coming up because of a new development in gold. I have been working on this off and on for several days (one does not just sit and type this kind of detail), but today the Mint announced that is has suspended [...]
Continue reading about The US Mint Ran out of Gold Today (part 4 of a series)
Crossposted at Dailykos.com
Last time we were beginning to enter the “modern” era of US coinage. We shall complete that transition this time, and put us into the early modern era, which I define as until 1933. Next time we shall try to get to the present. Even though coin design is similar [...]
Continue reading about A Primer on United States Coins, Part 3
Crossposted at Dailykos.com
There was a post the other day on Kos about a promising new source for hydrocarbon fuels from biomass. On further examination, biomass was only part of the feed, the rest being sugars and starches. The poster and a couple of others took offense when I pointed out that cellulose is [...]
Continue reading about Pique the Geek: Sugar, Starch, and Cellulose