Christmas Closure Times

Total Lab Supplies closes on Friday 21st December and re-opens on Wednesday 2nd January 2019.  There will be no deliveries during this period.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank for your custom this year, and look forward to continuing our relationships in 2019.

Please don't hesitate to contact us with your requirements however large or small.  We're here to help.

Christmas Closure

P&R Labpak closes on Wednesday 24th December 2014 and re-opens on 5th January 2015. There will be no deliveries during this period.

P&R Labpak would like to take this opportunity now to thank you for your custom this year, and look forward to continuing our relationships in 2015.

We hope you've enjoyed our blog posts over the last year and hope you will continue to read them in future.  If you want us to feature anything or try and answer a question for you then let us know.

Remember to LIKE us on Facebook and subscribe to our Twitter feed too!

Christmas Tree Needle Drop

It's that time of year when we think about whether to get a 'real' Christmas tree or whether to get the artificial one out of the loft to decorate.

One of the problems of real trees is needle drop.  First you have to decorate the tree without getting too many injuries from the sharp needles.  Then you have to face the task of collecting the fallen needles on the carpet as the tree slowly withers.

Scientists have looked into the problem of needle drop.

Researchers identified a plant hormone, ethylene responsible for needle loss in balsam fir. They made the discovery by placing fir branches in containers of water inside a growth chamber. After ten days the branches began to produce ethylene and three days later the needles began to drop. After 40 days, the branches were completely bare.

To test that the needle loss was in fact due to the ethylene, the researchers used two chemical compounds that interfere with this hormone: 1-MCP and AVG. After exposing the branches to one of these two products, the needle retention period rose to 73 and 87 days, respectively.

It should be possible to dissolve AVG in the water added to the tree stand, which would prolong the tree's lifespan indoors.  Any Ethylene inhibitors should work.

There are other ways to prolong the life of your tree.

Choose your tree carefully.  Norway spruce (traditional choice but with a quick needle drop rate); Nordmann fir (dark green and expensive but also boasts of a slow needle drop); Noble fir (the king of Christmas trees and again holds a better track record of needle drop than the Norway spruce); Fraser fir (excellent needle-holding properties and a lovely pine fragrance to boot and resembles the Norway spruce).

Make a new cut on the stump when you first buy it or get it home, at least an inch above the previous cut. Put the tree in water immediately, and maintain the water level. Keep temperatures in your home slightly cooler, if possible, and position the tree away from the kitchen. Also, keep fruits away from the tree as they give off ethylene. Lastly, leave the lights on at night. Being left in the dark causes a tree to respire more, using up its carbohydrates. As a result, says Dr. Raj Lada of the Christmas Tree Research Center, "it can be starved to death."

Above all else - decorate and enjoy - don't eat all the chocolates on the tree before Christmas!

For more information visit:-
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101206111450.htm
http://theweek.com/article/index/210597/why-christmas-trees-lose-their-needles

Christmas.....Did You Know.....?

Did You Know…?

The celebration of the passing of mid-winter and the lengthening of the days is ancient, Norsemen lit bonfires, told stories and drank ale at the winter solstice; the Roman festival of Saturnalia ran for seven days from 17th December and was a time when ordinary rules were turned upside down (such as men dressing as women, masters as servants), houses were decorated with evergreens, candles were lit and presents given. It was the arrival in Britain of the Romans that brought many of the rituals of Saturnalia to the mid-winter celebrations of the British peoples.

 

·         Evergreens have long been valued for showing life in the dead of winter.

·         Mistletoe was sacred to the Druids and was thought to bring good luck, fertility and protection from witchcraft.

 

·         Since the Middle Ages the Yule log has been gathered and carried into the house on Christmas Eve. It is lit with the end saved from the previous year’s log and kept burning until Twelfth Night.

 

·         The Georgian period saw the introduction of the Christmas tree to England, however the idea wasn’t popularised until Victorian times when a drawing of the royal family gathered around a decorated tree was published in an 1848 newspaper.

 

·         The first Christmas card was commissioned in 1843 and by the 1880s the sending of cards had become very popular. Gift giving had traditionally taken place at New Year but with the increased focus on family at Christmas by the Victorians this tradition was moved.

 

·         The Christmas meal in its now familiar form began to take shape in the Victorian era, meat was replaced by fruits in mince pies, turkey started to be served instead of goose - at first just for the wealthy and later for all.

·         Father Christmas’ origins are in old English mid-winter festivals; he dressed in green and represented the returning spring. He was known as Old Father Christmas or Old Winter and roamed from home to home, feasting with families.

·         The ghost of Christmas Past in A Christmas Carol is based on Father Christmas. Images of him dressed in red started to appear on Victorian Christmas cards and our images today owe a lot to early American cards.

·         Santa Claus is based on St Nicholas of Mrya, (Sinterklaas in Dutch). St Nicholas was a 4th century Christian who had a reputation as a secret gift giver to the poor. It was Dutch settlers in America that gave us Santa Claus. St Nicholas is patron saint of children and also unmarried women, prisoners, thieves and pawnbrokers.

·         The Dutch custom of leaving shoes filled with food for St Nicholas’ donkeys is where we get our custom of Christmas stockings

·         Norwegian scientists have speculated that Rudolph’s red nose is the result of a parasitic infection of the respiratory system.

·         In Poland spiders and spiders webs are common Christmas tree decorations because according to legend a spider wove a blanket for the baby Jesus.

·         In Germany Christmas Eve is said to be a magical time when the pure of heart can hear the animals talking.

·         St Nicholas's evil accomplice in Austrian tradition, Krampus is a demon-like creature that punishes bad children. Men dressed as Krampus roam the streets during the festive period, frightening the children.

·         In some rural areas of Wales, a villager is selected each Christmas to perform the ritual of Mari Lwyd. They must then parade around the streets with a mare's skull fastened to the end of a wooden pole, while villagers sing traditional songs. White sheets are used to conceal the pole, and the person carrying it. Sometimes the horse's jaw is spring-loaded, so that it can be used to snap at passers-by.

·         In Spain the Catalonians have the traditional caga tio or defecating log. A character is made from a log by drawing a face and putting a hat on it. A fortnight is then spent ‘feeding’ the log with fruit, sweets and nuts until on Christmas Eve the whole family beats the log with sticks until all the treats are ‘excreted’.

·         For many in Japan the traditional Christmas dinner today is Kentucky Fried Chicken, reservations have to be made to eat at KFC on Christmas day.

·         Next time you moan about eating sprouts think of the folk in Greenland, for their Christmas meal they have Mattak – raw whale skin and blubber, and kiviak – auk (a small seabird) wrapped in seal skin, buried for months and eaten once decomposing.

·         The robin is strongly associated with Christmas, appearing on many Christmas cards.

·         Different legends associate the robin with Christ and Christianity however the association with Christmas is probably due to the fact that postmen in Victorian England wore red jackets and were nicknamed ‘robins’, the robin representing the postman delivering the card.

 

Christmas Tinsel - how did that come about?

Tinsel is a sparkling decorative material that mimics the effect of ice or icicles. When in long narrow strips (sometimes known as "lametta"), it emulates icicles. It was originally a metallic garland for Christmas decoration. The modern production of tinsel typically involves plastic, and is used particularly to decorate Christmas trees. It may be hung from ceilings or wrapped around statues, lampposts, and so on. Modern tinsel was invented in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1610, and was originally made of shredded silver.

According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary, the word is from the Old French word estincele, meaning “sparkle”.

Tinsel was invented in Nuremberg around 1610. Tinsel was originally made from extruded strands of silver. Because silver tarnishes quickly, other shiny metals were substituted. Before the 16th century, tinsel was used for adorning sculptures rather than Christmas trees. It was added to Christmas trees to enhance the flickering of the candles on the tree.

Modern tinsel is typically made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) film coated with a metallic finish and sliced into thin strips. Coated mylar film also has been used. These plastic forms of tinsel do not hang as well as tinsel made from heavy metals such as silver and lead.

For more information, visit:-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinsel
http://www.christmascarnivals.com/christmas-history/christmas-history-tinsel.html

There will be no blog article next week.  The P&R Labpak Limited Blog will return in 2014.  We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Christmas Closure

P&R Labpak closes on Tuesday 24th December 2013 and re-opens on 2nd January 2014. There will be no deliveries during this period.

P&R Labpak would like to take this opportunity now to thank you for your custom this year, and look forward to continuing our relationships in 2014.

We hope you've enjoyed our blog posts over the last year and hope you will continue to read them in future.  If you want us to feature anything or try and answer a question for you then let us know.

Remember to LIKE us on Facebook and subscribe to our Twitter feed too!

It's a Cracker!!!

Silver fulminate (AgCNO) is the highly explosive silver salt of fulminic acid.
Silver fulminate is a primary explosive that has very little practical value due to its extreme sensitivity to impact, heat, pressure and electricity. The compound becomes progressively sensitive as it is aggregated, even in small amounts; the touch of a falling feather, the impact of a single water droplet or a small static discharge are all capable of explosively detonating an unconfined pile of silver fulminate no larger than a penny and no heavier than a few milligrams. Aggregation of larger quantities is impossible due to the compound's tendency to self-detonate under its own weight.

Silver fulminate was first prepared in 1800 by Edward Charles Howard in his research project to prepare a large variety of fulminates. Since its discovery, its only practical usage has been in producing non-damaging novelty noisemakers as children's toys and tricks - and Cracker snaps!

Silver fulminate, often in combination with potassium chlorate, is used in trick noise-makers known as "crackers", "snappers", "whippersnappers", "pop-its", or "bang-snaps", a popular type of novelty firework. They contain approximately 200 milligrams of fine gravel impregnated with a minute quantity (approximately 80 micrograms) of silver fulminate. When thrown against a hard surface, the impact is sufficient to detonate the tiny quantity of explosive, creating a small report from the supersonic detonation. Snaps are designed to be incapable of producing damage (even when detonated against skin) due to the buffering effect provided by the much greater mass of the gravel medium. It is also the chemical found in Christmas crackers. The chemical is painted on one of two narrow strips of card, with abrasive on the second. When the cracker is pulled the abrasive detonates the silver fulminate.


Remember this next time you pull a cracker!!!!!