Chemistry

Here’s Why Most Recipes Tell You to Bake at 350 Degrees

If you have done any baking at all, chances are you already have the first line of the recipe memorized: preheat oven to 350 degrees. Yes, it’s a fairly nice round number. Yes, it’s also pretty easy to turn the temperature knob to that setting (not too much twisting). And yes, if you have an oven with a digital setting there aren’t too many keypad buttons to push. But that’s not the reason 350 degrees seems to be cooking’s magic number. It’s the chemistry.

One Man's Nobel Idea

Winning a Nobel Prize is definitely a life-changing experience. But the way Nobel laureates find out the good news is pretty unassuming. 

Dr. Aziz Sancar’s experience is typical for a Nobel Prize recipient. Someone from Stockholm, Sweden, where the awards are announced, called him on the telephone. And since the awards are announced during the day in Sweden, it was the middle of the night in North Carolina. 

Taking out the Nuclear Trash

UNC-Chapel Hill Solves 50-Year-Old Nuclear Waste Puzzle
April 22, 2016

The topic of nuclear power as an energy source is one that can stir up emotions. Some see it as a clean energy source for the future, which as more research and a few major discoveries have shown, provides potentially limitless greenhouse gas-free energy. Others see it as a danger, with the potential for large-scale disasters like the ones at Fukushima and Chernobyl, and the potential to create toxic, radioactive waste.