Science Around the House

Clean your bathroom, do your laundry, light a candle, eat some food, or throw a match on your barbeque, and you’ve just used centuries of scientific innovation and eons of evolution. Going home, you may have escaped nature, but you’ve entered a whole new world of science.

The Truth about Cannabidiol (As Far as We Know)

by Ben Marcus | Science Around the House, Science Within Us

“CBD.” Perhaps you’ve seen these letters shining bright, in green neon, on a store window in a seedy part of […]

Three Ingredients for a Perfect Cocktail

by Dan Gill | Science Around the House

Using Science to Step Up Your Cocktails

by Dan Gill | Science Around the House

In the midst of the cocktail revolution, there’s no shortage of online recipes for aspiring home mixologists to shake or […]

Diabetes in Low-Income Communities: Its Causes and Its Solutions

by Pamela Bilo Thomas | Science Around the House, Science Within Us

According to the Center for Disease Control, in 2014, over 29 million people had diabetes in the United States – […]

The Science of Grilling vs. Barbecue

by Kristen Vogt Veggeberg | Science Around the House

Autumn is officially here, and if you’re anything like me, you’re a little sad that the smell of charcoal and […]

Go Home Food, You’re Wasted: What You May Not Know About Food Waste in the U.S.

by Erin Conway | Science Around the House

In the last several years, I, like many others, have become increasingly aware of and concerned with the issue of […]

Eating Bugs: A Diet That’s Hard to Swallow

by Austin Lim | Science Around the House, Science of the Outdoors

According to a common piece of folklore, you swallowed eight spiders in your sleep last year. Urban legend or not, […]

Getting Clean with Some Household Science

by Kristen Vogt Veggeberg | Science Around the House

Ah, summer in Chicago. A time of long days, longer lines at the Shedd Aquarium, and endless amount of fruit […]

The Science of Laundry

by Kristen Vogt Veggeberg | Science Around the House

The year was 2008. A year of recessions, Obama, and the last Batman movie to be filmed in Chicago. It […]

In Your Face! Privacy Lawsuits over Faceprinting Technology are Front-and-Center in Illinois

by Erin Conway | Science Around the House

In the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s recent testimony before Congress, there is growing […]

What is Corn Syrup, Anyways?

by Ben Marcus | Science Around the House

Editor’s Note: This is Part II of Ben Marcus’ series on the science of sugar. For Part I, click here. […]

Knitting: For Senior Citizens or Scientists?

by Kristen Vogt Veggeberg | Science Around the House

My first memory of knitting wasn’t of my grandmother making a scarf by a roaring fire, though it did involve […]

Making Cheese Taste Gouda

by Stefanie Kall | Science Around the House, The "TEM" of STEM

What does this…

Where Wine Gets its Kick

by Stefanie Kall | Science Around the House

By pure volume, America has become one of the largest consumers of wine in the world. Twenty years ago, Americans […]

How Candles Work

by Ben Marcus | Science Around the House

“I PURPOSE, in return for the honor you do us by coming to see what are our proceedings here, to […]

Why Does Popcorn Pop?

by Dana Simmons | Science Around the House

Popcorn. Classic movie snack. Perfect combination of salty and light, fluffy crunch.

Glass: Solid or Liquid?

by Ben Marcus | Science Around the House

Glass is a solid, right? Obviously. You touch it, your finger doesn’t go through. You stand it upright, it doesn’t […]

Two women representing the Illinois Science Council at an event.

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