What kind of ghosts haunt chemistry labs

Eventually, one of my students asked about what a large asteroid impact would do to our Moon. I jokingly responded that instead of having on Full Moon, we would have two halves. Most of the students groaned, but I could tell that one of my brighter students was deep in thought. Eventually she asked, "But if the Moon was destroyed, how would we have nighttime? As the son of two teachers, I learned at an early age that humor -- or at least attempts at humor -- are a staple of good science teaching.

In fact, for years my dad told this joke to his students, "How do you tell a boy chromosome from a girl chromosome? What better way to celebrate the beginning of a new school year and the 20th anniversary of Edutopia than by sharing a list of 20 bad science jokes!

Teacher: Can you name the three kinds of blood vessels? Student: Yes. Arteries, veins and caterpillars. Q: What is the only known thing to travel faster than the speed of light? A: A Chuck Norris roundhouse kick. Q: Did you hear about the homeopath who forgot to take his medicine? A: He died of an overdose. Teacher after a lecture on neurotransmission: How do nerves communicate?

Student: Cellular phones. A neutron walked into a bar and asked, "How much for a drink? Two atoms were walking down the hallway when one of them said, "I think I lost an electron! Q: How many Heisenbergs does it take to change a light bulg? A: If you know the number, you don't know where the light bulb is. At this point, you are probably wondering if I have any more jokes? Perhaps one about sodium?

To that, I answer, "Na. However, I know every one of you has a collection of science jokes that make your students groan. Share yours in the comment section. Have a great year and remember: If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate! What is with the cat picture? Lolcats are pictures of cats with funny captions.

The captions are written in kitty pidgin. Choose the membership that is right for you. Discount will be applied automatically at checkout. Your account has been created successfully, and a confirmation email is on the way. Most Popular in Safety Accidental mix of bleach and acid kills Buffalo Wild Wings employee What is an allergy sensitizer, and how does a chemical become one? Test tubes go missing. Equipment gets glitchy. The fume hoods roar more loudly than normal.

Chemists usually find reasonable explanations for laboratory peculiarities. But sometimes even the most skeptical scientists conclude their labs are haunted. One is a young woman dressed in clothing from the s who walks along one hallway. Another is a chemistry professor who will speak or nod at Purkiss.

The basement is home to a third specter, who bears the likeness of a former graduate student. Purkiss recalls first seeing him when she was working on a nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy experiment.

I found myself standing in the dark and getting a really creepy feeling when I realized that he had walked through the door itself. Contact us to opt out anytime. Andrew R. Davis, a chemist at the Library of Congress, tells Newscripts he got an eerie error message when he was a graduate student performing an NMR experiment at 1 AM.

Cass was the first priest to teach chemistry at St. But many times I heard footfalls so clearly on the stairs that I quickly cleared my working area His footsteps have never been heard again. Please send comments, suggestions, and lab ghost stories to newscripts acs. Contact the reporter. Submit a Letter to the Editor for publication. Engage with us on Twitter.

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