Highland blues: While on holiday at Scotnish, a tiny village near Tayvallich in Strathclyde, I noticed that ordinary toilet soak turned the local tap water bright blue. Emptying the basin left a small amount of blue scum behind. Water left without the addition of soap would remain clear for hours. Can anyone suggest an explanation?
Water everywhere: What do seals, or any other marine mammals, drink?
Flint glint: Recently, while hard soldering with a butane torch, I noticed an old lighter flint on a firebrick and began to play the torch on it. The flint became red hot, but didn鈥檛 melt. When I removed the flame, however, the temperature of the flint increased until it glowed bright orange for several seconds before cooling to dull red. Then, to my surprise, it slowly began to get hotter again until it glowed bright red. It increased in size and changed in texture to resemble crumbly black coke. What was going on.
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