How can you tell where water came from? Lets say I give you a bucket of water taken from a local water source (river, lake, etc). There's some plants and maybe a fish in it as well. What could you tell me about where this water came from, could you pinpoint which body it came from, and how would you come to this conclusion? [more inside]
posted by The Whelk on Dec 1, 2011 - 21 answers

My stovetop espresso maker has a small leak. I don't think returning it will help me. Are there any recipes for food-safe 'stop leak' compounds? [more inside]
posted by anthill on Feb 8, 2011 - 10 answers

My shower (an in-stall water heater) sometimes smells like something rubber is burning. It's a strong acrid smell that I only notice while in the shower and usually only after a sweaty workout. There is no sign of smoke like you would expect with burning rubber. Is this just some sort of weird sweat and treated water chemical reaction? Anybody heard of something like this?
posted by srboisvert on Jul 24, 2009 - 11 answers

By what process do air bubbles form in water? [more inside]
posted by metastability on Feb 21, 2009 - 13 answers

why does pernod turn milky when water is added? [more inside]
posted by mwhybark on Feb 14, 2009 - 7 answers

According to Wikipedia, the bond angle for water is precisely 104.45 degrees. How do they get that number? And how would one experimentally verify it? [more inside]
posted by metastability on Dec 14, 2008 - 16 answers

WTF is up with this sign? [more inside]
posted by Mcable on Mar 2, 2008 - 14 answers

Why am I getting blotches on my black and white negatives? What are the marks? Are they dust? Water spots? How do I fix this? [more inside]
posted by Geckwoistmeinauto on Nov 28, 2007 - 13 answers