Today, October 7, marks the third anniversary of the date the Hamas invaded Israel, killing 1200 and taking 251 hostage.   All living hostages have been released and the remains of the last person was recovered earlier this year. Israel still bombs the Gaza Strip, almost on a daily basis. At least 77,271 have been killed on the Hamas side, while more than 2000 Israelis and other foreign nationals have died. Gaza is now a tent city. Earlier this week I read an article from the local paper with the headline:  New Solar Technology Could Help U.S. Catch China . China controls 80% of the solar panel market today. Companies in the U.S.are developing a new kind of solar panel that could generate 25% more energy than today. Called tandem solar , the technology involves adding second and third layers of material to convert more of the sun's radiance into electricity. Mind you, this system still costs at least three times more than conventional devices with one layer of silicon....

 Food dyes are everywhere: A surprising amount of the food we consume contains various compounds to add color. Marshmallows look white, but they contain blue coloring (to keep them from growing less bright as they sit on shelves). Starbucks uses food coloring in its strawberry drinks. And frozen meat, like fish and crab meat, contains red food coloring to make it more appealing . Red dyes, in particular, have had a colorful history. The Aztecs crushed an insect, the cochineal, which produces a nasty-tasting compound called carminic acid, which can make up as much as 24% the body weight, dunked the product into an acific solution, mixed it with salts, and produced  carmine dye , which is a vibrant red color. Then there is Red Dye #3 In 1856, William Henry Perkin, at the age of 18 in Germany, was the first to synthesize a a dye.  Experimenting with derivatives of coal tar, he produced mauveine, a purple dye. In 1876, Swiss chemist Karl Kussmaul of Switzerland created erythr...