The Jedi Mind Trick

While it's not quite mind control of epic Jedi proportions, there's a new development in the civil war in Syria. Apparently there are reports that the Syrian government used a chemical weapon called BZ against rebels in the city of Homs. Like many chemical and conventional weapons being used these days, BZ was discovered during the Cold War and attempts to weaponize it were made by both the United States and Soviet Union. You can read the story about the Syrian use of BZ here and check out the chemistry of BZ here. The chemistry information is definitely worth a glance if for no other reason than it's a complex molecule and it looks cool.

Chemistry, Aquaman, and the US Military

Welcome back men! This article will make a little bit more sense when we start talking about gases and the rules they play by, but it's still pretty cool anyway. Actually, most stuff that comes out of DARPA is pretty cool. Read it here.

War Healer

Your parents can explain who this is and why it's funny.

It might sound like an article that belongs on the bio blog, but chemist Joachim Kohn is the director of the AFIRM project out of Rutgers. He and his team are at the forefront of using biomolecules to re-engineer damaged tissue, specifically as a result of combat injuries. In what might be the understatement of the year, Dr. Kohn says of his work, "I didn’t endanger my life in anyway, and I didn’t put myself on the line to save anyone. I was just sitting in my laboratory, waving my hands around, sometimes having good ideas."
Check out the article here.