September 16, 2007

Wine as a Reagent

Posted by Eric at 12:16 am | Category: Food, Literature

This was an amusing press release, about using wine as a solvent for dissolving metals. I like this part of the press release:

The scientists tested red wine and a number of popular soft drinks. The effectiveness of the technique is unlikely to be affected by whether the wine is a shiraz or a malbec and diet soft drinks are just as effective as those containing sugar. Dr. Noble would also like to reassure taxpayers that the research was conducted in the scientists’ spare time. The research had the added benefit that none of the unused scientific solutions were wasted.

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3 Responses to “Wine as a Reagent”

  1. Apollo Says:
    September 16th, 2007 at 12:22 am

    I think it was in my “Medicine and Society in America” course with Allan Brandt when I was reintroduced to the idea of red wine as a disinfectant: according to his presentation, it’s a very effective disinfectant (more so than many commercial disinfectants used for medical purposes).

  2. Eric Says:
    September 16th, 2007 at 1:34 pm

    Of course, it can also be a terribly bad disinfectant, since they aren’t always perfectly sterile. I’d definitely be a little upset with a doctor using wine instead of an iodine or ethanol/isopropanol solution for disinfection.

  3. Stephanie Says:
    September 16th, 2007 at 7:04 pm

    Happy Birthday!

    Or as the Italian say, Buon Compleanno!

    You and Jennifer should come visit me! ASAP!

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