Gifts for scientists and doctoral students

Summer means sun, beach, ice cream and balmy summer nights when the stars twinkle in the sky. With a bit of luck, we might even see a shooting star...

Life finds a way...... to take revenge on the bad guys. Computer genius Dennis Nedry almost managed to smuggle 15 embryos out of Jurassic Park and ...

The best thing about the Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM), the benign deity of the Pastafarians, is the fact that – unlike some other deities – it do...

This product is only available in German.

This lamp brings together what belongs together: the iconic geometric lamp shape of the lava lamp, known to most kids from the 70s and 90s, and the...

The average nerd prefers his coffee black. No milk, no sugar, no frills. But from time to time, a latte macchiato, crema or some other fancy form o...

It's the small things that make us happy... For chemists it's the good old periodic table. You probably already know it by heart, but it ...

The kitchen can be a dangerous place - you handle acid, sharp blades and high heat and trigger chemical reactions. There should be a lot more warni...

In 1989, Phil Katz thought that you could really make money with compression. He was not entirely wrong, because the invention of the ZIP format ma...

The cake is a Pi(e)! Mathematicians get it… The symbols on this plate may look complicated, but they are actually a pun. When read out loud, they f...

Without a proper measuring jug, we're destined to fail in the kitchen. Sure, cooking is still possible with roughly estimated amounts of ingredient...

According to the internet, "Trust me – I'm an engineer" is a phrase that will automatically give the person who has uttered it the ability to fix a...

Gaze lovingly at the main active substance of your favourite beverage. It might give you an extra dose of concentration and attention ;). Whether y...

Finally there's a chance for pirates and Pastafaris to build their own shrine with the holy Flying Spaghetti Monster. In contrast to other non-prov...

Experts are still debating whether the fearsome T-Rex was an active predator or rather a scavenger. We know better. Of course, it simply ate everyt...

Contrary to our stereotype, we nerds don't just gamble 24/7 (even if we would like to!)… although it is true we can get absolutely absorbed in our ...

Isn't it amazing what the human brain is capable of? Not only has it secured our place at the top of the food chain, it can also adapt extremely qu...

Many theories seem flawless on paper. Only when they have to be applied in the real world do unforeseen problems or surprising realisations arise. ...

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room: dihydrogen monoxide (DHMO). This chemical substance is a silent killer and causes grievous bodily harm a...

If you're bored in everyday life and looking for a bit of adventure, it's a good idea to incorporate a little thrill here and there into the most m...

Be it from George Orwell's novel 1984, Soviet propaganda or the Radiohead song, most people are acquainted with the (false) equation 2+2=5. Apart f...

No matter how much you want them, some things are just not meant to be: fire and water, good and evil, or roots and negative numbers. There is no r...

Forget everything your chemistry teacher told you*: "Don't drink from the test tubes"; "Be careful with fluids"; "Don...

Many myths exist about how engineers manage to find solutions for problems that mere mortals could never hope to solve: pagan blood sacrifices, com...

Most of us don't recall that much from biology class back in school, but if words like "osmosis" or "mitochondria" make your eyes light up, the Sci...

A dinosaur skull is quite an impressive thing to own, right? Sadly, these things are extremely rare, extremely expensive and extremely illegal to o...

Pluto isn't just chronically lonely - far away from the sun, the Earth, and the other celestial bodies of our solar system - the poor orb has even ...

Do you know this too? As soon as you get into the kitchen to cook, dozens of chemical questions start running through your head. What is the atomic...

The moon has fascinated people since time immemorial and for good reason. After all, it influences the tides of the oceans and even our bodies. In ...

As normal people, we will probably never get to see our earth or its smaller companion, the moon, in all their glory, except in photos or videos. B...

Every mission, whether in space or on Earth, must be well prepared. Don’t forget vital items such as your drinking bottle!When you have finally dec...

At first glance, Batman and chemistry don't have much in common – except maybe that both are more popular with nerds than with the average populati...

A glass of red wine is known to be good for your heart. Actually, there is an interesting connection between alcohol and the heart: the right drink...

To answer the question about life, the universe and everything else, you don't need a huge computer or millions of years of time. Chemistry can pro...