DIY: glow stick spatter

In honor of these velvety, somewhat mysterious, warm and dark summer nights experienced by those of you closer to the equator than Alaska, here is some do-it-yourself glow stick magic to try.

Here's a glow stick lantern resembling fireflies in a jar.
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The instructions at BuzzFeed DIY are

1. Cut open a glow stick and shake the contents into a jar. Add diamond glitter.
2. Seal the top with a lid.
3. Shake.

Note that this image with and without instructions can be found at many sites on the web; two others are Curbly, "How to: Make Glowing Firefly Jars," and Emma Rae's Halloween, "The Glow of Halloween."  The identity of the original poster is a mystery.

For tips on how to handle glow sticks and their glowy contents, here's a video by Anne Helmenstine:
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If you want more official information on how safe it is to open up a glow stick, take a look at this MSDS (a PDF), found at Glowsticks Ireland.

ActiveDark has some cool ideas for glow crafts.  Here's an image of glow sticks in balloons.
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Ah, summer.

-- Marge

Home science

Today I started looking for information on contamination (because it's flu season and people near me have been touched), but ended up finding out about home science, especially chemistry.  Chemistry can be fun (and not just the "better living through chemistry" kind).  It's complex work that requires caution, skill, knowledge and being in tune with what you're doing.  A healthy respect for the reagents is also needed.

Below are three videos looking a difference aspects of chemistry.  This first one is a safety video that's somewhat incomplete.  Note that last bit of info about pathways.  Also there is an MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) available for every chemical that can be purchased.  Yes, household products are chemicals too.

This second video is about where to get lab chemicals.  Note that the speaker, Robert Bruce Thompson (aka TheHomeScientist), mentions early in the film that buying chemicals can attract the attention of law enforcement.  Also I didn't know that home science is somewhat a movement; looks like there's a lot of homeschooling and inventing going on (I'm studiously avoiding any other possible uses).

In this third video are some tips from ChemicalMyst, mostly about lab equipment, which can be expensive.  I think I'd pass on the glass distillation chamber (been burned too many times on other projects).

And for simple fun here's SteveSpanglerScience with color-changing milk:

What I see is -- soap, being a surfactant, changes the surface tension.  What do you see?

-- Marge