Ink and Equations

Real science, written as stories, poems, satire and speeches

Quiz yourself
Ink and Equations

Welcome in.

Real science, written as stories, poems, satire and speeches.

Settings Your page
  1. How an Old Ball Swings the Wrong WayUnpacked, 8 Nov
  2. Why the Sea Bulges Away From the MoonUnpacked, 7 Nov
  3. Why Measles Needs Almost Everyone VaccinatedUnpacked, 7 Nov

Find your way around

Yours

    Nothing saved yet. Use Save under any piece’s byline and it waits here.
    All collections

    Small lives

    Bacteria, viruses and a leaf breathing out.

    123 3 pieces, best read in this order

    1. Stories My Grandmother's Secret Is Bacteria Every night, Ammi saves one spoonful of curd. It takes a week away, a cold December windowsill and two ruined batches for anyone to ask why. The idea Curd sets because bacteria ferment the milk sugar lactose into lactic acid; as the pH falls towards 4.6, the casein proteins lose the negative charge that keeps them apart and link up into a gel.
    2. Satire & Humour Local Man Furious That Antibiotics Did Nothing for His Cold "I took the whole strip," says man, still sneezing. The idea Colds are caused by viruses, while antibiotics attack structures only bacteria have, such as the cell wall penicillin stops them building; so antibiotics cannot help a cold, and every unnecessary course selects for the bacteria that can survive them.
    3. Poetry Trees Are Made of Thin Air A poem about where a tree actually comes from. The idea Plants build their bodies mostly from carbon dioxide taken from the air, using light energy to split water and fix the carbon into sugar; the soil supplies only a small share of their mass.