Dr Jo Buckley presents the next Hit of Myth challenge! Have you noticed that fresh cut flowers don’t seem to stay fresh for very long? So can you prolong the life of flowers using chemistry? The Chemistry Cut flowers begin to degrade almost instantly. Air and bacteria can block the small pores of the vascular system
Guest post from our two CREST summer students who are working on getting to the bottom of the garlic/stainless steel question. Have you ever rubbed your hand against a stainless steel tap after using garlic and then wondered ‘Why am I actually doing this’? Does this nonsense actually work? Humans are, and always have been
Rubbing garlicy hands on stainless steel is said to get rid of garlic smells. Indeed, you can even buy stainless steel ‘soap’ for just that purpose. But does it actually work? Chemistry tells us that it certainly is plausible, and anecdotal evidence from kitchens around the world support the claim, but to date there is
Nobody likes stinky garlic hands. So what’s the best way to get rid of the stench? Rubbing your hands with stainless steel is said to remove the smell. There’s plenty of sensible chemistry that explains how this might work. But before we answer ‘how’ it works maybe we should figure out if there is any truth in the
Dr Jo Buckley tells us the chemistry behind the way stainless steel could remove garlic smells. The medical properties of garlic were recognised over 5000 years ago. It’s provides a triple-whammy of effectiveness. It’s an antimicrobial – studies have found it effective at reducing bacterial infections. It’s an antiviral – helping to fight viruses and parasites
