When you have a bright idea, who do you share it with? When scientists have a bright idea, they share it with other scientists in a ‘learned society’. This tradition was begun by Britain’s Royal Society.

Well, we know chemistry influences the world. But did you know the curious history of a chemical accident – that’s tied to our country’s struggle for independence?

We depend on coal-burning thermal power plants for much of our electricity. But do you know that coal mines are extremely dangerous places? Let’s read how a simple lamp made coal mines much safer places to work in by shedding some light on the situation.

You might grumble when your mom makes you wash your hands with soap before sitting down for dinner. But did you know that washing hands is so important, it actually saves lives?

Today, advances in science are made in well-furnished research institutes, such as the Tata Chemicals Innovation Centre. Did you know that one of the earliest research institutes was the House of Wisdom in Baghdad?

Today, clothes of all colours cost the same. But did you know that a few generations ago, the cost depended on the colour of the cloth? This was because dyes were expensive to obtain. Tyrian Purple was a dye so expensive that only kings could afford it!

Almost everything we use today – plastics, medicines, synthetic fabrics - is made by some chemical process or the other. Many of these require organic solvents like benzene or acetone, which are environmental pollutants. How nice would it be if there was a way to make these useful things without needing harmful solvents?

If you look around, quite a lot of things in your home, your car or your school will be made of alloys. An alloy is a material made by smelting two or more metals together. Alloys have thousands of uses; indeed our lives would be very different without them. Let’s have a look at some exciting alloys that will dominate our lives in the future.

We know that too much carbon dioxide in our atmosphere is causing climate change. If we increased forest cover on land, we could reabsorb some of the CO2. But did you know the best solution is actually in the oceans?