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).