Six STEM Tweets

Six tweets that celebrate engineering and all things STEM.

I scroll so you don’t have to.

Hello new friends. Just for reference, all previous issues including the special issues are online at https://sixstemtweets.beehiiv.com/

Please feel free to forward this to others who would enjoy learning about science, math, engineering and related topics.

#1 🤯 

Mole day is coming up in a couple of days, Oct 23.

Celebrated annually on October 23 from 6:02 a.m. to 6:02 p.m., Mole Day commemorates Avogadro's Number (6.02 x 10²³), which is a basic measuring unit in chemistry. Mole Day was created as a way to foster interest in chemistry.

Here’s an explanation from the National Mole Day Foundation’s website:

For a given molecule, one mole is a mass (in grams) whose number is equal to the molar mass of the molecule. For example, the water molecule has an molar mass of 18, therefore one mole of water weighs 18 grams. Similarly, a mole of neon has a molar mass of 20 grams. In general, one mole of any substance contains Avogadro's Number of molecules or atoms of that substance. This relationship was first discovered by Amedeo Avogadro (1776-1858) and he received credit for this after his death.

​Wikipedia also has more details on Mole Day

#2 🤯 

This is such an effective scientific explanation! The simplicity is superb!

Once you see this, I bet you will never forget what distinguishes an electric eel from a snake.

#SciComm

#3 🤯 

Ravioli = good

Bulging Lithium battery = not good

And not recommended to install in any appliance

#4 🤯 

You can visualize math in so many fun ways!

#5 🤯 

Another excellent example of #SciComm

#6 🤯 

The ‘e’ in Mr. Bean stands for ‘engineering’ 🤣 

This is issue #46 of the newsletter. Here’s some fun facts about 46:

• The atomic number of palladium - symbol Pd, a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal. Palladium is used in catalytic converters, which convert as much as 90% of the harmful gases in automobile exhaust into nontoxic substances.

• The number of human chromosomes.

• The code for international direct dial phone calls to Sweden.

• Online Japanese slang for a greeting - because 46 in Japanese can be pronounced as "yon roku", and "yoroshiku" means "my best regards"

• 46 BC is was the longest year in history. It had 3 extra months and was a transition year from the pre-Julian Roman calendar to the Julian calendar. The Romans had to periodically add a leap month every few years to keep the calendar year in sync with the solar year but had missed a few with the chaos of the civil wars of the late republic. Julius Caesar added Mercedonius (23 days) and two other months (33 and 34 days respectively) to the 355-day lunar year, to re-calibrate the calendar in preparation for his calendar reform, which went into effect in 45 BC. This year - 46 BC - therefore had 445 days, and was nicknamed the annus confusionis ("year of confusion") and serves as the longest recorded calendar year in human history.

That’s it for this issue.

Hit ‘reply’ to tell me what you think.

And hit ‘forward’ to share with your friends and family.

Let’s all celebrate science and engineering and curiosity.

Best wishes,

Harshal