POTENT CHEMICAL IN PLAY

Why onions make you cry

Onions make us teary because a reaction in the onion releases a chemical called lachrymatory factor, or LF, that irritates our eyes. The onion’s cells break open, allowing two normally separated substances to combine. Linked together like pieces of a puzzle, they become a potent chemical weapon. “It turns into a gas. It hits your eyes, and then it hits your sensory nerves in your eyes and causes them to tear up,” said Josie Silvaroli, an undergraduate at Case Western Reserve University, USA who helped describe how these pieces fit together in a paper published in the journal ACS Chemical Biology.

But is it possible to avoid the onion feelies? In Japan, scientists engineered a tearless onion. But it lacks that signature onion flavour. With regular onions, there are options like chucking your onion in the fridge before you cut it. Reducing the temperature will slow down the reaction, resulting in less LF.

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Building bio-batteries

Irrespective of their shape, size and function, the working principle behind all batteries is uniform: two electrodes connected by an electrolyte, undergo redox reactions to help convert …read more

POTENT CHEMICAL IN PLAY

Why onions make you cry

Onions make us teary because a reaction in the onion releases a chemical called lachrymatory factor, or LF, that irritates our eyes. The onion’s cells break open, allowing two normally separated substances to combine. Linked together like pieces of a puzzle, they become a potent chemical weapon. “It turns into a gas. It hits your eyes, and then it hits your sensory nerves in your eyes and causes them to tear up,” said Josie Silvaroli, an undergraduate at Case Western Reserve University, USA who helped describe how these pieces fit together in a paper published in the journal ACS Chemical Biology.

But is it possible to avoid the onion feelies? In Japan, scientists engineered a tearless onion. But it lacks that signature onion flavour. With regular onions, there are options like chucking your onion in the fridge before you cut it. Reducing the temperature will slow down the reaction, resulting in less LF.

ECO-FRIENDLY

Building bio-batteries

Irrespective of their shape, size and function, the working principle behind all batteries is uniform: two electrodes connected by an electrolyte, undergo redox reactions to help convert …read more