Thursday, June 24, 2010

Screaming Jelly Babies (Gummi Bears)

On the first friday of every month, the museum where I work opens its doors in the evening.  We are part of the "First Friday" night in Philadelphia.  Last month we had free beer samples from a local brewery and a visiting scholar talking about the history of beer and brewing.

On July 2, we will have chemistry experiments every hour including the Screaming Jelly Baby, as it is known in Britain.  Jelly Babies and Gummi Bears are almost pure sugar and oxidize so fast you can get a screaming sound from a test tube with the right temperature and oxidizing agent:



In Iraq, I would hear serious conversations about MEDEVAC missions, emergency leaves, and other "work" issues in an aviation unit in Iraq.  Today I heard two of my co-workers talking very seriously about how and where we would be setting up the Screaming Jelly Baby experiment.

 Life is different back here in the world.

No comments:

Post a Comment

"Blindness" by Jose Saramago--terrifying look at society falling apart

  Blindness  reached out and grabbed me from the first page.  A very ordinary scene of cars waiting for a traffic introduces the horror to c...