Palladium

Science post (Woohoo!)! As you'll read in today's fun fact, palladium is a champion at trapping hydrogen gas. It's major downfall is cost, which is why we are still dependent on oil and haven't seen more hydrogen fuel cell cars around just yet. But palladium's affinity for trapping hydrogen in its crystal lattice (read: structure) has stimulated research into other possible metals that can be used for storage.

(Google Images)

So how exactly does a hydrogen fuel cell work? While I claim to be nothing more than an internet searching "expert," the fuel cell uses hydrogen as its primary fuel and requires oxygen as an oxidant (read: facilitates a reaction). In between the hydrogen and oxygen is an electrolyte substance where a chemical reaction can take place. The energy produced in the reaction can be used to power a car (see below) or other engine. What is most important about a hydrogen fuel cell is that it releases water instead of carbon dioxide, a much more eco-friendly or green energy producing process.

(Google Images)

So your next question, where does palladium come into play? Palladium has the ability to store hydrogen by trapping the gas molecules in its chemical structure. This is needed, especially if we want to see it in cars, as it provides a more stable and safer way to have a hydrogen tank without the fear of explosion (At this point you should be thinking Hindenburg blimp disaster). But as mentioned earlier, palladium is EXPENSIVE so scientists are currently trying to find a solution by looking at hydrogen storage in other metals. But like all experiments, good things take time, so we have yet to see mass production of hydrogen fuel cell cars.


Fun Fact: Palladium is an ideal catalytic converter because it can absorb 900 times its volume in hydrogen gas without any external pressure. (If I could choose, I would want to absorb 900 times my volume in dark chocolate, but hey to each their own.)

Rhodium

Rhodium...rhodium...brhodium?? I thought I would take some time on my blog to show you something that could make any heart break from homesickness. You never know how much you'll miss the antics from a silly looking pound pup until you're away from him for extended periods of time. I was reminded of my dear sweet Brodie Bear today in a picture text message of him styling his new collar and thought I would make my case for the renaming of rhodium to brodium.

The answer to your question is "yes, he is sitting on a park bench."

So are you convinced yet? This dog was one science experiment waiting to happen (at least in terms of genetics, he totally contradicts the blue eye-brown eye predictions :) ).


Common Occurrences: Like ruthenium, rhodium is also found in costume jewelry, except it provides a silver sheen. Rhodium is also commonly found in catalytic converters in automobiles.

Fun Fact: The price of rhodium is dependent on the price of platinum, as rhodium is an impurity found in platinum mining.

Ruthenium

This week is NUTS (kind of like the Michigan and Skidmore squirrels). I have been in camp all day and then have limited time to do a lot of work, so I apologize if the blog posts are boring or nonexistent this week...

To get an idea of what I've been up to, check out this video. It's a pretty cool program. While there is no project based learning for chemistry at U of M, I am learning a lot about rivers and watersheds in the ecology unit.

P.S. Have you checked out my "comment" section? They are now called "scientific inquiries." Awesome, right?


Common Occurrences: Like most other metals, ruthenium is a component in metal alloys. But you can also find ruthenium plating on costume jewelry that has a darker metallic sheen.

Fun Fact: You could probably guess that Germanium is named after Germany and Francium after France, but did you know that Ruthenium is named after the former country Ruthenia? Ruthenia included parts of modern-day Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus (google it!).

EDIT: So I was mistaken. U of M actually has a project based inquiry camp for chemistry earlier in the summer. Clearly, we can tell I just moved here. And as a little birdy that posted a scientific inquiry mentioned, there is chemistry in the ecology unit (today, they used pH meters...surprise!). My bad.
  

Technetium

Clearly I have an innate preference for colleges with crazy squirrels (OR maybe all colleges have crazy squirrels). If anyone has ever seen the movie Ice Age, the first thing that probably comes to mind is that crazy squirrel. That idea for the squirrel's antics was modeled from the Skidmore squirrels (NO JOKE - the animator has ties to Skidmore).

(Google Images)

To give you an idea about the Skidmore squirrels, I once saw a chef running out of the dining hall after a squirrel who had stolen a cookie. I know of people that got attacked by squirrels and one that was even bitten. I think the craziest part of my Skidmore squirrel experience was being afraid of the garbage cans near the academic buildings where squirrels would pop out before your hand had separated from the piece of trash.

As for Michigan, the grey squirrels have an orange hue, which makes me think that they've been drinking toxic waste water from the graduate science buildings. Like the Skidmore squirrels, these little rodents are bold. This morning, one squared up the guy in front of me who was holding a muffin, as if he was large enough to attack and take the man down. It was nuts (HA...nuts...squirrels). My fear of squirrels has been reinforced by the Michigan squirrels. Time to call the exterminator or make some squirrel stew ;)
  

Fun Fact: Technetium was the first synthesized element (although technetium does exist in nature, it is only a minute amount). Its discovery was predicted by the father of the periodic table, Dimitri Mendeleev, who left a space in the table below manganese and named the place holder eka-manganese.

Molybdenum

So I've been to Detroit more than a couple times now, but I don't think I've shared many pictures, so here are some! (This is also known as a post where I have done nothing exciting recently besides cry over Andy Schleck losing the Tour). Please don't think that all of Detroit is derelict - there is something that I find intriguing about old abandoned buildings, the beauty that was once there...

This picture ACTUALLY represents the good happening in Detroit. This is old Cass Technical High School, which has been replaced by a state of the art building right next door.

I can only imagine how beautiful the Depot was in its heyday. Now, the cost to save it has far surpassed the cost to tear it down. But it remains because the fight to keep the building has turned into a court case.

I'm not sure how readable this is but it says "Save the Depot."

An old neighborhood near the Depot.

Common Occurrences: Like most metals, molybdenum is found in stell alloys. It is also a component of tools and multi-purpose grease.

Fun Fact: You've heard of brown cows and milk cows but have you heard of the "moly cow?" In the medical world, the "moly cow" refers to the use of molybdenum to generate radioactive technetium that is used for medical imaging.

Niobium

How crazy is it that niobium is found in jewelry and it's art fair in Ann Arbor? Art fair is this GIANT festival that stretches through downtown and has anything artsy you could imagine. The craziest thing I have seen? It would have to be a 6 foot bronze bunny complete with bronze carrot - wish I had taken a picture to show you!

Anyway, enjoy this video of anodizing niobium for earrings. I'll admit it's pretty dry but the process is actually kind of cool. I'm pondering it for a future chemistry lab - provided that the materials and hazards are high school friendly :)

 

Common Occurrences: Niobium is a component of rocket nozzles, as it is resistant to corrosion at high temperatures. Niobium is also found in jewelry and coins, as it can be anodized into different colors. And if you've ever had an MRI, you can thank niobium, which is found in the wire that produces the magnetic field necessary for imaging.

Fun Fact: Niobium is named after Niobe, a figure in Greek mythology, who was the daughter of Tantalus, a son of Zeus (coincidentally, tantalum, named after Tantalus, sits right below niobium on the periodic table). According to myth, Niobe had 14 children but in bragging to Leto (a nymph) about the "Niobids," Leto sent her children Artemis and Apollo (who were gods) to kill Niobe's children. Lesson: don't brag about your kids to a nymph (also don't refer to your children as Niobids).

Zirconium

With this unbearable heat wave (current temperature is 99, feels like 112, so says The Weather Channel), I found out that the wonderous upper peninsula of Michigan is experiencing much more tolerable weather (it's currently 83 in Ishpeming).

Why do you care about the weather in the UP? For starters, it's my current obsession (the UP, not the weather). I am absolutely convinced that it is Lake Placid spread out over a giant piece of land. Like LP the UP has ski jumps (woo!!) and values my most favorite sports: nordic skiing and hockey (although I also love biking, which is a whole different story for today with Le Tour de France). It also has a tie to Canada (LPer's love/hate the Quebecois) and has beautiful hiking and plenty of fresh water to swim in (gotta love those great lakes).

My hunt from my air conditioned apartment today has been finding high-need schools in the UP. After my mandatory year at U of M, I am totally going North to where I belong (my home away from home). Get me some flannel and Sorel's because here I come! (P.S. I already own both so I guess this takes away from the expression :/ )


Fun Fact: You've probably heard about cubic zirconia used for jewelry, but did you know that zirconium is material for ceramic knife blades and its powder is in fireworks?

Yttrium

So despite these last few days being busy beyond belief, the word to sum them up is: AWFUL. I think my bad mood was mostly attributed to the heat, but Monday through Wednesday had at least one thing go wrong everyday.

Monday: On my way to class, I sweated through my t-shirt. Real attractive. While trying to print in the library, the internet moved slower than dial-up so in my sweaty mess, I turned into an angry sweaty mess. I'm going to end there, because you get the picture.

Tuesday: We had an all day field trip to Detroit which was actually amazing BUT we had to do this scavenger hunt in 95 degree weather throughout the city. Not so cool, literally and figuratively. And my nice camera broke. Ugh.

Today (Wednesday): Another hot mess day. I woke up late after sleeping on my couch due to its proximity to the air conditioner. While in this rush, I almost started a fire in my apartment with my toaster oven. During the school day bad moods led to nasty comments from and to fellows, which just didn't help.

But with every negative comes a positive. I found a desk that qualified to my super picky specifications (!!!!), an amazing antique sleigh bed for super cheap on Craigslist, and figured out that the heat had only destroyed my camera batteries, not my whole camera. So all in all these past three days in two words has been: semi-awful. Here's to hoping Thursday will be better (and hopefully cooler - I can't handle this heat).


Common Occurrences: Yttrium is a component of super conductors and is used to extend the life of spark plugs.

Fun Fact: Forget the magician pulling a bunny out of his hat - go for an yttrium magic trick. YBCO, a material containing yttrium will levitate approximately a quarter of an inch above a magnet. Check it out!

 

Strontium

Sometimes science does good things and sometimes science goes too far. Take for example Nobel: he invented TNT to help build infrastructure (i.e. blasting through rock for railroads, highways, etc.) but realized its potential to do catastrophic damage. From this he invented the Nobel Prize to recognize great advances in science.

On a smaller scale, the NY Times just highlighted the use of technology to create a safer playground. While science has advanced playgrounds to make the surfaces softer and the equipment safer, there have been detriments to the safety of playgrounds. Research has suggested that these safe playgrounds reduce risk taking because kids do not have the challenge of the monkey bars or the height of the jungle gym. Kids who have played on safe playgrounds also tend to have phobias in their adolescence. So the question arises: do we give up cuts, bruises, or broken bones for phobias that must be medicated or cured with therapy? 


Historical Reference: Strontium-90, a radioactive isotope of strontium, is found in nuclear fallout (think: WWII, Chernobyl). Because of its similarities to calcium, strontium is a bone-seeker, which is why many people suffered from bone cancers (among other cancers) and generations later were affected with limb deformations (though that is also a compilation of the effects of many radioactive isotopes).

Common Occurrences: Strontium is a component of luminous paints and powders as well as the main ingredient in Sensodyne toothpaste. It is also found in vitamins that stimulate bone growth.

Fun Fact: Before imitation diamonds were made of cubic zirconium they were made of strontium titanate.

Rubidium

Happy National Ice Cream Day! If it's as hot as it is in Ann Arbor, they you most certainly deserve an ice cream cone! (And if it's not, then get one anyway - you have a great excuse).

Common Occurrences: Rubidium has few uses but it is found in fireworks and atomic clocks.

Fun Fact: The names for rubidium and rubies are derived from the Latin term for red but rubidium and rubies are not related. Rubies were named for their red hue (which comes from chromium) while rubidium was named for its signature red spectral line. Rubidium does have a tie to a color: it provides the purple hues in fireworks.

Krypton

I now understand why schools have large summer breaks even though they are no longer necessary and have detrimental effects on retention (in the past, the summer breaks were in accordance with an agrarian calendar so that children could work on their family farms). With the weather SO nice and SO warm, it is SO hard to even want to work, let alone get work done. I had planned to go to a nature trail area about 3 miles from my apartment until I found out that I have SO much reading and writing to do. So here's to hanging out in a cafe all day (hopefully outside) with a small procrastination trip to the farmer's market instead.

Heidi on Wright Summer '09

View of Lake Champlain and Vermont from Hurricane

Bear Cub Rd.

I want schoolwork-free summer vacation back :(


Fun Fact: Before the length of one meter was measured by light in a vacuum, it was measured using krypton. Between 1960 and 1983, the definition for the meter was "1,650,763.73 wavelengths of the orange-red emission line in the electromagnetic spectrum of krypton-86 in a vacuum." Say that 5 times fast.

Bromine

There is something to be said about a heartwarming story. And that story gets even better when it's related to science and/or technology (okay, maybe just for me). Here is a great story that I ran across in a caption in Runner's World: Teva, a shoe company, designed a bootie for a penguin with a deformed foot at the Santa Barbara Zoo. Check out the video:

Isn't this fantastic? And I bet your asking how this relates to science. While it's not chemistry, this story is all about biomechanics and physics. The angle of Lucky's foot in the bootie was tinkered with after finding out that a 90 degree angle was uncomfortable. And the material for the bootie had to be light enough so that Lucky was not dragging it around and was wearable on land and in water. Who says science can't be heartwarming?


Common Occurrences: Other than hot tubs, bromine is found in flame-retardant pajamas and Mountain Dew (weird).

Fun Fact: While chlorine salts are used as disinfectants for cold-water pools, bromine salts are more effective for disinfecting hot tubs.

Selenium

Besides reading the New York Times science and education sections, I tend to read all different types of books in my spare time. While my time has been a little less sparse as of late, not having a TV in Ann Arbor has given me the opportunity to read a little bit more than usual. Here are some of my favorites:

I get a lot of my fun facts from here (including today's)! It's a great read for both science-y and non-science-y alike.

A professor had recommended that I read this before traveling to the Mid West. The book classifies students in rural high schools into four types based on whether they leave, if they come back after leaving, and the jobs they hold.

I LOVE Malcolm Gladwell. I can't get enough of this guy. His books make you stop and think about your perceptions of common occurrences. In this particular book, Gladwell questions the link between success and resources. It's shocking.

Common Occurrences: Because it responds to light, selenium is found in photocopiers and laser printers. Selenium also provides a red pigment for glazes. Nutrition wise, selenium is found in brazil nuts, fish, eggs, and mushrooms.

Fun Fact: Locoweed is a prairie plant from the pea family that has a high selenium content and when too much of it is eaten by cattle, they get "high" and stagger and stumble around. The same outcome happened to William Crookes, a scientist who pioneered the study of selenium, who was unknowingly high on selenium for large amounts of time and was convinced that he could talk to his dead brother.

Arsenic

Robots! (Google Images)

 If you recall, I have this obsessive fascination with the robot shop in Ann Arbor. After some sleuthing (aka asking one of my professors at U of M),  I found out that the "bot shop" is a facade for a WRITING CENTER FOUNDED BY DAVE EGGERS!! Are you as surprised as I am? Dave Eggers has started writing centers in other big cities (Chicago, LA, New York, Boston) each with an intriguing store front (pirates, superheroes, big foot research center, etc). The writing centers are areas for local students that struggle with writing or for students who love writing to foster their talents. SO COOL! Here's a great local article about the robot shop/writing center.

If you are craving REAL robots, check out this New York Times article and accompanying videos on research at UC Berkeley. Laundry folding robots may be something in the near future, but they take as long if not longer as those lazy laundry folders to get their acts together :)


(Not so) Fun Fact: Arsenic-containing compounds are added into the feed that is given to chickens raised for human consumption. While arsenic is a poison in its inorganic form, the organic form of arsenic fed to chickens optimizes their growth. Still, this is creepy, right?

Germanium

Miss me? I had a bit of a college relapse yesterday where you save all of your work for Monday until Sunday. As a consequence, no blog post yesterday - my apologies.

Here are some picture highlights of what I've been doing this past week - a bit of the fourth and an old car show in downtown Ann Arbor. Enjoy!

I love this picture. There were balloons being handed out all along the street to make the parade route more festive.

Fourth of July spirit! Before the parade, Ann Arbor has a Firecracker 5K run.

Apparently this clown has worked on 3 different continents. You would think he could afford a bike that came in one piece :)

Gotta love that Michigan spirit! Go BLUE!

Ann Arbor has fairy doors all over downtown. So the fairies displayed their "pimped out ride" at the car show!

You have to love the Michigan history with this old Ford, right?

Kickin' in the front seat, sittin' in the back seat...which seat can I take (Rebecca Black)

Don't mind my camera reflection. That Rolls was a beauty.

Common Occurrences: Germanium is primarily found in electronic devices, transistors, and fiber optics. Germanium can also be commonly found in bath salts and dietary supplements in Japan.

Fun Fact: Of the elements named after countries (americium, polonium, and francium), geranium is the only element that is stable and occurs commonly. The rest are radioactive, rare, and/or produced in a lab.

Gallium

Do you know something interesting about chemistry or the elements? Interested about learning more about science? Do you want your blog featured? I'm looking for new ideas and material (I only have so much chemistry knowledge) and would love your input! Leave a comment and I'll see what I can do!

As for today: enjoy these videos! Gallium is probably one of the best elements to use for a prank. It is non-toxic and does not have any side effects besides staining your hands.

Common Occurrences: Galinstan (an alloy of gallium, indium, and tin) replaced the use of mercury in thermometers. Gallium is also found in computer chips, LED lights, semiconductors, solar panels, calculators, and wristwatches.

Fun Fact: Of all the elements, gallium has the longest liquid range. It melts at around room temperature and does not vaporize (become a gas) until well over 2000 degrees celsius!

Zinc

I apologize for missing yesterday's post. Somewhere in between coming home from a review session for my chemistry certification exam tomorrow and going to see Tom Tom Crew (my usual blogging time before dinner/exploring Ann Arbor), my couch turned into an ultra comfy nap worthy haven. Whoops.

As mentioned in my fun fact, zinc is pretty "boring." It is not super reactive like sodium or potassium in water and like all but three metal elements is dull grey. But despite an outwardly boring appearance, zinc is kind of a big deal. Check out another one of Periodic Table Channel's videos (I hope you all remember Mr. Einstein's hair wannabe from argon):

Not too much else happening that is worth blogging about. I'm off to the car show downtown early this evening and then will be taking a chemistry certification exam tomorrow. In the meantime, I'll leave you with this wonderful NY Times article about the rebuilding of Detroit. Check it out (click the purple link)!

Trivia Answer: Like copper, only gold and caesium are not dull grey metals. Caesium (in case you couldn't tell by the color scheme above) is silvery-gold.

Fun Fact: To be honest, zinc is a fairly boring element, but it is vital for the human body. Zinc is found in many enzymes, including insulin-degrading enzyme, which has potential use for Alzheimer's treatment as the enzyme breaks down the proteins responsible for causing illness (so says Wikipedia).

Copper

I was feeling a loss in the chemistry mojo today so thank goodness today in science history rocked my world with the anniversary of the first use of rabies vaccines in humans.

Science does not advance without taking risks. On July 6, 1885, Louis Pasteur took a huge risk by innoculating Joseph Meister with a rabies vaccine that had only been tested in his lab on dogs. Two days prior, 9-year old Meister had been bitten by a rabid dog after provoking it with a stick. His mother took him to Pasteur and begged him to help her son (all individuals before rabies vaccines had died from the disease). After much deliberation (despite the fact that the only positive outcome for the boy was if the vaccine worked), Pasteur decided to treat the boy and was successful in preventing Meister from succumbing to rabies. Oddly enough, Meister ended up working as a groundskeeper for the Pasteur lab and died protecting Pasteur's grave from the Nazi's during WWII.

Since that first administering of the rabies vaccine on Joseph Meister, the use of vaccines has exploded. Vaccines now exist for measles, mumps, rubella, polio, diphtheria, tetanus, hepatitis, influenza, and even the chicken pox (among others).

But despite its benefits, there is still controversy. Most recently, the use of vaccines has been wrongly linked to autism (I say this with confidence - studies linking the vaccines to autism were falsified). And while people still refuse to have their children vaccinated, some go to extraordinary measures to expose their children to certain diseases. Take for example the chickenpox party. Parents who have a child with chickenpox will invite other families over so that their child may also contract chicken pox. They promote the children sharing drinks, lollipops, etc. My parents did this to me, but then again, I was one of the last "generations" to not have the chickenpox vaccine. The fact that these parties still exists today seems a little strange, but hey, to each their own. Just like science, we all take risks.

Chemistry Math: This section is probably a once in a lifetime shot, so enjoy!

copper + tin = bronze

copper + zinc = brass

Trivia: Copper is one of three metallic elements that is not gray. Can you guess the others? (Hint: One of the elements is also the name of a color!)

Fun Fact: The Statue of Liberty is built of copper. From its dedication in 1886 to 1906, the statue turned from a dull copper to green due to oxidation.

Nickel

On living without a microwave...

I have never really been a big user of the microwave. To illustrate this: we use our microwave at home so infrequently that it doubles as storage for bread. So when I moved to Ann Arbor, I just never bought a microwave and haven't really craved its necessity since being here. In my infinite lack of wisdom, I even thought I was being green and eco-friendly by reheating things in my oven or by remixing leftovers into intriguing pasta dishes and stir fries. Wrong. Apparently my 5 million watt oven trumps the energy usage of a microwave. 

So here's to a waste of my afternoon of online researching about oven and microwave energy uses. I was planning on converting the masses to a microwave-less life, but now all I can say is this: I bought a toaster oven today. My compromise between the giant oven and the worlds most expensive bread keeper. :)

Historical Reference: During World War II, a nickel did not have any nickel in its composition and was instead made of silver. Why? When nickel is combined with iron, it makes an extremely strong steel that is resistant to high heat for the use in jet engines.

Fun Fact: A U.S. nickel is composed of approximately 75% copper and 25% nickel and like the penny, it costs more to make and distribute than its face value. 

Cobalt

Happy Fourth of July!

I hope that you all are enjoying the day today and that the weather is as bright and sunny as it is in Ann Arbor! The 4th of July is great for barbeques and enjoying the outdoors, but it is best known for fireworks. And fireworks are CHEMISTRY (with a little bit of Physics)! Here are some elements that are found in fireworks:

Antimony: glitter effects
Barium: green fireworks
Calcium: orange fireworks
Carbon: propellent
Copper: blue sparks
Lithium: red sparks
Magnesium: white  sparks
Oxygen: needed for the firework to burn
Sodium: yellow or gold sparks
Sulfur: propellent/fuel
Strontium: red sparks, stabilize fireworks
Titanium: silver sparks
Zinc: smoke effects
 

Fun Fact: Cobalt was named after the German word kobold meaning "goblin ore."

Iron

This amazing project came to my attention during WWTF orientation and I hope you find it as intriguing as I do. The Big History Project is an interdisciplinary approach to learning the history of the universe starting from the Big Bang and continuing to present day with the evolution of collective learning. It's main goal is to understand the complexities and fragility of life. Throughout Big History, there are "Goldilocks" events where things must be "just right" for the complexity of the universe to build.

 

With the help of Bill Gates, Big History is spreading and will be introduced into schools across the country this school year. It's an interesting approach especially with our culture that lies on a spectrum ranging from creationism to evolution. So maybe we'll hear about Big History soon in the news because I'm sure it'll bring about some ethical debate.

To learn more about Big History from it's mastermind, click here.

Fun Fact: In a person weighing 150 pounds, 4.086 grams of their body mass is iron. Iron is found in red blood cells which transport oxygen throughout your body and is also important for the generation of ATP (energy) from the food you consume. 

Manganese

So I recently noticed a surge in my blog views because of Nick's mention of my fun facts on his blog. Thanks for the blog love Nick and I love the newly added pictures!

Be prepared for a long post today...my apologies. I should have split this up over two days but I am just so excited to share my trip to Detroit. Detroit is unlike any other city I have been to...from media portrayal, we witness the horror stories from Detroit, but what you don't see is a city that is passionate about bringing back its vibrancy.

The fellows who live in and around Detroit were kind enough to entertain my questions about the city. I think Nick (not blogger Nick) put it the best when he said that Detroit was built for over 2 million people but currently has less than 1 million. Some of the buildings and skyscrapers are abandoned in the city not by choice but because there is no one there to occupy them.

Looking toward downtown Detroit from midtown.

An abandoned building near the UM Detroit Center. The building was actually in nicer shape than others but was the closest picture for me to take. I hope you can see that it is void of windows.

Just this small taste of Detroit has really taught me that you can't judge a book by its cover and that you can't always rely on what you read in the media. This city was once amazing and will no doubt be amazing again. I think a young girl and boy from a panel of Detroit Public School students that we talked to on Friday put Detroit into perspective for me: "great things come from this city (referring to Ford, etc.)" and "we are going to bring back our city and youth." Detroit is not dead yet nor will it even be because its residents have pride and more importantly they are ready to fight. The resiliency has already been implanted into its next generations. Amazing.

Below are some pictures of the kids that we talked to. They work on a project called First Robotics where they build robots from the ground up with NO directions in six weeks and then take them into competition. What they come up with is amazing. They also have "mini bots" that they can build in 25 minutes (from Legos) or 2 days (from metal). They do EVERYTHING from designing to programming and building the robots. What they know and what they do puts my college education to shame.

Don't be quick to jump to conclusions about these students. While some have a more stable background than others, many are not at the top of their class and some attend alternative schools or their local neighborhood schools instead of the top Detroit Public Schools. They all come from diverse backgrounds but they all bond around the robots and they all care deeply about one another as well as their mentors. I asked them how they saw themselves without First Robotics and many concluded that this opportunity gave them the tools to succeed. If that isn't a success story, I don't know what is.

One of the First Robotics students showing us how his team's robot works. (Permission was granted for the use of this photo)

A First Robotics student showing us her robot. (Permission was granted for the use of this photo)

I learned SO much from these students today. As a group we were able to ask them about school and what advice they had for new teachers. It is absolutely amazing what you can glean from a panel of students: they are so honest and open and are not afraid to speak their minds. And in the end it boiled down to this: they want teachers who are consistent, sincere, and (simplest of all) say "good morning."


Fun Fact: During the 1970s Howard Hughes commissioned a ship the Hughes Glomar Explorer to find manganese nodules (small round lumps) on the ocean floor near Hawaii. However, his real mission with the Glomar Explorer was to raise a sunken ballistic Russian submarine for the CIA. The manganese nodules were simply a ruse for treasure hunters and unfortunately worthless.

(Not as) Fun Fact: If you rearrange a few letters in manganese, you can spell my first name! I could have told you this back at magnesium, but it is so much more apparent with manganese.

Chromium

The glories of science in the media. We often watch amazing videos about history, politics, and teaching, but there are fewer movies that highlight science and its impact on society. To counteract all of you science fiction fans, please go back and read the word directly following science (fiction). While I agree that there is scientific content expressed in these movies, it does not relate to how it affects our society.

I only caught the movie Erin Brockovich after scanning TV channels in a fit of boredom a month ago. While I knew it was about law, I was unaware of its ties to science and chemistry in particular. To refresh your memories or for those of you who haven't seen it, the trailer is below:

 
Erin Brockovich found documents pertaining to drinking water in Hinkley, CA  that contained hexavalent chromium, a chromium compound that is a known carcinogen (cancer causing). Not all chromium is bad - it is found in stainless steel products and our body actually utilizes another form of chromium. But the average levels of hexavalent chromium in Hinkley drinking water were 1.19 parts per billion (ppb) while elsewhere in California, the levels are around 0.06 ppb. The hexavalent chromium was being leaked into the drinking water by Pacific Gas and Electric company, which caused the levels to rise to dangerous proportions. From 1996 to 2008, 196 cases of cancer in a population of 1915 people were reported (1 in 10 people were diagnosed with cancer). Along with lawyer Ed Masry, Erin Brockovich sued PG and E and won $333 million for more than 600 residents affected by the tainted drinking water. Because of this case, the state of California now requires tests to detect for hexavalent chromium in drinking water (they are the only state to do this).

Just stop and think about this. We are affected by science everyday, most often without being cognizant of it. For the Hinkley residents, they were told by PG and E that the hexavalent chromium was harmless and if anything was actually good for them.


Fun Fact: The name chromium is derived from the Greek word chroma meaning colors. Chromium produces many different colored pigments which have been used in paints for school buses and postal vehicles (organic pigments have since replaced chromium because they are more environmentally friendly).