Do you like to experiment?

Try this experiment with your own little scientists and send us news of the results! Make your own Bubble Gum Teach kids how to make bubble gum as a lesson in the science of food polymers. Ingredients: 1/3 cup gum base 3/4 cup powdered sugar

3 tablespoons corn syrup

1 teaspoon glycerin 1/2 teaspoon citric acid

5 drops flavouring (your choice)

You could also add colour! Direction Place the gum base, citric acid, corn syrup with glycerin, and flavouring mixture into a microwave-safe or heat-resistant dish. Place the gum base into a microwave-safe dish. Heat the gum base on high for one minute. Remove it from the oven and stir. If it has not melted, place it back in the oven and heat for 30 more seconds. Stir again and repeat heating until the gum base is gooey. Measure one heaping tablespoon of powdered sugar and set it aside for later. Pour out about half of the remaining powdered sugar onto your work surface. Make a well in the middle of the pile. Pour the melted gum base mixture into the well. The gum base may still be hot, but it will cool quickly. Dip your fingers in the powdered sugar and begin kneading the gum base and sugar together. Work it as if you are kneading bread dough. Add more powdered sugar when ever the dough gets sticky. Continue adding sugar until you have a smooth, stiff dough. Knead the gum dough until all the sugar is worked in. This will take at least 15 minutes. The more kneading the better. Kneading too little will cause the gum to break up when chewed. Roll out the bubble gum and cut it into pieces. You can make a rope about a half inch in diameter and then cut individual pieces about a half inch long with scissors. To make sticks, roll out the gum with a rolling pin and then cut the strips. Dust all of the gum pieces with the tablespoon of powdered sugar that was set aside. Store in a resealable plastic bag or wrap individual pieces in wax paper. This recipe makes approximately a half pound of gum.

Corporate Knights released the 6th Annual Best 50 Corporate Citizens in Canada, the definitive annual list of Canada's top corporate citizens in Toronto, ON, on June 25.

"The 2007 Best 50 Corporate Citizens are using the unparalleled problem-solving ability of the modern corporation to take action that addresses our time's most pressing social and environmental struggles," said Toby Heaps, editor of Corporate Knights, which conducted the survey.

"In particular, the core divisions of financial companies, retailers, and energy companies are starting to put their money where their mouths are when it comes to environmental responsibility and green energy in a carbon-constrained world," Heaps added.

The number two ranked company was Alcan, lnc, which knocked down its Canadian absolute greenhouse gases by 30 percent since 1990, while increasing production by 50 percent, through energy efficiency programs and applying superior smelting technology to put the squeeze on PFCs, which are 6,500 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

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The Scientific Committee of the Italian Association of Calorimetry and Thermal Analysis (AICAT) has assigned Jacques Desnoyers, FCIC, the AICAT-SETARAM award for his outstanding contributions to the thermodynamics and calorimetry of solutions, liquid mixtures, and colloidal systems. The award was presented during a special session of the 8th Mediterranean Conference on Calorimetry and Thermal Analysis (MEDICTA 2007) that was held in Palermo, Italy from September 25 to 29, 2007.

The University of British Columbia chemistry professor emeritus, Brian James, FCIC, has been named one of two recipients of the prestigious 2007 and 2008 Paul N. Rylander Award. The award is given by the Organic Reactions Catalysis Society to individuals who have made significant contributions to the use of catalysis in organic reactions. James has contributed for over 45 years to the study of homogeneous catalysis by transition-metal complexes, especially those of platinum metals.

PhosCan Chemical has appointed Janet Lowe as its executive vice-president. Lowe will assume a variety of responsibilities, reporting to Stephen Case, president and CEO. Included in her responsibilities are environmental, governmental, and First Nations relations.

Gregory D. Scholes of the University of Toronto's department of chemistry has been awarded the Royal Society of Chemistry's Rutherford Memorial Medal in Chemistry. Scholes has built a superb research program over the past six years. In 2005 he published 11 high-quality journal articles--a substantial number for a physical chemist. Since 2006 he has published 25 papers. His work has been published in prestigious journals including Nature, Nature Materials, Angewandte Chemie, Advanced Materials, Annual Review of Physical Chemistry, Physical Review B, the Journal of Chemical Physics, and the Journal of Molecular Biology. The diversity of his research program, which spans physics, physical chemistry, materials chemistry, and biology, is extraordinary. Scholes has probed deeply into how light interacts with nanoscale materials to discover the conceptual backbone that underpins designs and breakthroughs in topics including solar energy, plastic visual displays, solid-state lighting, and security technologies.

Dave Schwass, MCIC

Dave Schwass, MCIC, senior advisor-environmental at NOVA Chemicals and CSC past president, has received the 2007 Frank W. Bachelor Service to the Profession Award from the Association of the Chemical Profession of Alberta (ACPA). The award recognizes an individual's outstanding contribution to the chemical profession in Alberta. The first recipient of the award, Frank Bachelor, FCIC, was a founding member of the ACPA. Bachelor served as CIC president from 1990 to 1991 and was awarded the CIC Montreal Medal in 1994.

Schwass has a long history of dedication to the profession of chemistry. He was a founding member of ACPA--he is actually member number 1--and secretary and treasurer when the organization was formed in 1992. He has been actively involved in the CSC and has held numerous positions in the Calgary CIC Local Section. He was treasurer for the Calgary CSC 2000 conference and the CSC treasurer from 2001 to 2005. Schwass was also a member of the CSC executive committee. He became CSC vice-president in 2005 and president in 2006. During his presidency, he championed the professional awareness project, whose goal is to increase awareness and recognition of the practice of chemistry as a profession in Canada. Schwass created the National Advisory Committee on the Profession of Chemist in Canada (NACPCC) comprised of leaders from provincial organizations representing chemists and chemistry. He is the president of the Alberta Plastics Recycling Association and a director of the Rockyview Gas Co-op Ltd.

Amy Trottier, ACIC, of Dalhousie University has been awarded an NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarship-Masters.

Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) president and CEO Robert Van Adel announced that he will retire from leadership of the company on November 2, 2007.

"The board of directors is extremely pleased with AECL's accomplishments under Bob's leadership and we respect his decision to retire," stated chair of AECL's board of directors, Michael C. Burns. "Over the last six years, he has transformed the company into a robust, profitable commercial business on track to lead the global nuclear renaissance and we thank Bob for his tireless work in preparing the company for an exciting future."

In announcing his departure, Van Adel noted, "AECL is well positioned to meet the anticipated demand for new nuclear around the world. I'm pleased and confident that we have the right strategies, systems, expertise and people to deliver."

Dalhousie University's Mary Anne White, FCIC, has been appointed chair of the NSERC John C. Polanyi Award Selection Committee. She has also been awarded the Royal Society of Canada's McNeil Medal. Her insatiable interest in understanding the physical world has provided a foundation upon which she has become Atlantic Canada's leading advocate for public awareness of science. White's activities attest to her unique ability to promote and communicate science to the general public. Her contributions have been made through helping establish an interactive science centre through newspaper columns, encyclopedia contributions and science booklets, and through public lectures, innovative courses, radio, television, and many public venues. She even gave an outstanding lecture to Parliamentarians on Parliament Hill in the Bacon and Eggheads series.