Emil Fischer is a German chemist who has contributed numerous ideas and methods to the field of organic chemistry. Fischer is known for his creation of the Fischer indole synthesis, the Fischer oxazole synthesis and the Fisher esterification. Fischer also discovered the structure of glucose and involved himself in the thorough investigations of the sugar and purine groups of substances. One of Fischer’s most known contributions to science was his study done on the establishment of the chemical structure and configuration of glucose, galactose, fructose and sorbose. Through his research, Fischer discovered that the sugars were spatial isomers and with that information and using osanone derivatives, Fischer was able to differentiate and synthesize nine of the predicted isomers. Through the conducted research of sugars, Fischer then moved onto the study of enzymes and proteins where he discovered the structure of enzymes and protein and the different types of bonds that hold the molecules together. All of Fischer’s contributions to science have allowed other sciences the capability to better understand sugars and how they are composed. Fischer’s contributions led him to be the recipient of numerous awards including the Nobel prize for chemistry.
Sunday, December 6, 2020
Contribution of a Canadian scientist: Henry Taube
Henry Taube is a Canadian scientist who contributed his ideas from organic chemistry into inorganic chemistry. Taube investigated how electron transfer occurs in chemical reactions. His findings have helped explain and understand why certain reactions produce colors, this discovery also led to him uncovering the basis of how oxygen fuels chemical reactions. Furthermore, Taube also discovered a technique in developing a way of determining the properties of a molecule through the electron configuration of it. He also discovered that in an immediate stage of any reaction an ion must bond to a ligand which can then break and affect the electron transfer. All the discoveries and experiments he created led him to be the recipient of numerous honors throughout his lifetime. His contributions to science awarded him with two Guggenheim fellowships, a national medal of science and the winner of the Nobel prize and much more.
Tuesday, December 1, 2020
Nuclear Engineer
Nuclear engineers work with nuclear energy to figure out the safest way to produce nuclear reactions to find its potential. Most nuclear engineers work in the power industry. They design power plants and the nuclear reaction to convert to electricity. They also upkeep and repair the plant as needed. Some engineers monitor and process uranium and dispose of these materials safely. Some also work in food production to irradiated impure elements, while others work in health care where they design designostic equipment and study other medical uses for radiation.Nuclear Engineers usually work at power companies, medical equipment companies, engineer firms, government agencies, universities and the military. They earn between 45,000 and 200,000 dollars a year with a typical salary of 75,000 dollars. Factors depend on expertise, location, employer, and if they are in a senior position. There are public and private sectors in this industry. To become a nuclear engineer, there is a need of at least a bachelor’s degree in engineering. You could have any bachelors of engineering, but must take related course to nuclear engineering. You could also have a masters to a PhD. But a necessity is to be registered as a professional engineer.
Career Cruising. (n.d.). Career Cruising. Retrieved December 1, 2020, from
https://www2.careercruising.com/default?e=1&r=/careers/profile-at-a-glance/638
Glenn Seaborg, a man of science
Glenn Seaborg started his career by getting a PhD from Berkeley at the University of California. In 1961, Seaborg was appointed as the first advisory committee for the atomic energy commission by President Truman, until 1968. From 1941-46 Seaborg headed the plutonium work on the Manhattan Project at the University of Chicago. He was a co-discoverer of plutonium and transuranium elements until element 102. Also, Seaborg and his colleagues are responsible for the identification of hundreds of isotopes throughout the periodic table. He also discovered the relationship between the transition metals and lanthanides. For all of his work including being the author of hundreds of papers and books on chemistry and elements, he has accumulated many awards and honours over his lifetime. In 1947 he received the American Chemical Award in Pure Chemistry, Perkin Medal of the American Section of the Society of Chemical Industry (1957), Atomic Energy Commission's Enrico Fermi Award for his work in nuclear chemistry and leadership (1959), and many more. He was also an honorary fellow to many institutes in America. He also has many honorary degrees from a list of universities and colleges. His favourite hobby is Golf.
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1951. (n.d.). Retrieved November 17, 2020, from https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/1951/seaborg/biographical/
Artificial intelligence, particle sensors, nitrogen catalyst, scallops, Methanol fueled beetles
Artificial Intelligence has learned to estimate oil viscosity
Skoltech scientists from the University of Calgary (Canada) and Caltin University (Australia), developed machine learning algorithms to teach an AI to determine oil viscosity based on nuclear magnetic resonance. This could be potentially very useful in the petroleum industry or sectors of industry that need to characterize substances. These industries include the food industry to test the quality of the fruit or in agriculture to test the quality of soil in large amounts. Standard assessments to find oil viscosity is very expensive and time consuming. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) determines properties based on the electromagnetic energy absorbed and emitted. The AI is trained on NMR data from different sets of data from Canada to the United States to provide accurate predictions of viscosity. Dmitry Koroteev, a professor at the Skoltech Center for Hydrocarbon Recovery, said that this method is more efficient than the old way of doing it. He says that it’s interesting the high accuracy of the models on extra-heavy oil and bitumen samples because of the complex chemical composition.
Artificial Intelligence has learned to estimate oil viscosity. (2020, November 9). Retrieved November 17, 2020, from https://www.chemeurope.com/en/news/1168562/artificial-intelligence-has-learned-to-estimate-oil-viscosity.html
The smallest particle sensor in the world
This small 12 by 9 by 3 millimeter device is an innovative piece of technology that detects air quality of ambient air in real time and puts out an alarm when dust values significantly increase. This tiny piece of technology can be put inside a phone or a watch. The particle sensor was developed by Paul Maierhofer as part of his dissertation at the Institute of Electrical Measurement and Sensor Systems at Graz University of Technology. He had help from experts in semiconductors and researchers from Silicon Austria Labs. The method they used to build this sensor is common but what makes it amazing is the size of this tech. This new piece of technology is a great innovation to secure the health of many. Over 400,00 people die a year prematurely in Europe because of particulate matter pollution. This could help people with specific conditions that relate to sense of smell, compromised immune systems to adapt and go to and avoid certain places. This particle sensor could make people more cognizant of their actions that result in such particulate matter pollution.
Technological innovation: The smallest particle sensor in the world. (2020, September 25). Retrieved November 17, 2020, from https://www.chemeurope.com/en/news/1168073/technological-innovation-the-smallest-particle-sensor-in-the-world.htmlHow nitrogen is transferred by a catalyst
One of the main goals of catalysis is the selective control of the chemical transformation, which is true for reactive complex molecules. Inserting a nitrogen molecule inside a carbon-hydrogen bond has been theoretical and made true through quantum-chemical computer simulation with individual nitrogen atoms bonded to metal. Through experimental and theoretical studies the exploitation of catalytic nitrogen atom transfer reaction has begun. Chemists from Amsterdam, have been able to observe and measure the spectroscopy of metallonitrene and provide quantum-chemical characterizations. A platinum azide was transformed and examined by electrometric and photo-crystallography. This provided a report on the reactivity of a metallonitrene with a metal-nitrogen bond. Furthermore they observed the structure and oddities of the platinum metallonitrene to see that it allows a nitrogen atom to be inserted into C-H bonds of other molecules. This research contributes to the understanding of chemical bonding and reactivity of complex metals, with synthesis planning. This reaction of insertion by catalyst contributes to the development of green syntheses of nitrogen compounds.
Goethe University Frankfurt. (2020, November 13). Chemistry: How nitrogen is transferred by a catalyst: Chemists characterize key compound for catalytic nitrogen atom transfer. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 17, 2020 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201113105825.htm
Metal pollution in British waters may be threatening scallops
Due to contamination of seabed sediments with zinc, lead and copper, from mining, its causality is the shells of king scallops becoming significantly more brittle. This causes imbalance in the ecosystem by killing species that is responsible for water filtration and other jobs. The authors consider that the accepted metal pollution should be revised. Over a period of 13 years, researchers compared scallops from six areas in the Irish sea around the Isle of Man. Analysis revealed that one area had a significantly more brittle with a mineralization disrupted shell for the molluscs, then the other areas. This causes a high mortality rate for the species. They are not quite sure how the sediments are affecting shell formation but they hypothesize that the metals could be in the shells replacing calcium during a process called biomineralization. They also hypothesize that the metals could be modifying the activity of proteins during the crystallization process.
University of York. (2020, November 5). Metal pollution in British waters may be threatening scallops, study reveals. ScienceDaily. Retrieved December 1, 2020 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201105112938.htm
Methanol fuel gives this tiny beetle bot the freedom to roam
The creation of this beetle bot could be the future. Scientists envision insect bots could be used to assist search and rescue missions. This sounds very much like a comic book villain. But who would have thought this could actually be a reality. This beetle is powered by methanol and packs more than 10 times more energy than batteries. To make the robot move, researchers coated a nickel-titanium wire with platinum. Then this wire heats up it contracts and when cooled it extends. The platinum coating allows the methanol vapor to combust. The varying temperatures in the accordion like ‘muscles’ allows motion to occur, by moving forward only. In the future they are hoping they will be able to control the movements of these insect bots so that they could potentially fly and run.
Drahl, C. (2020, August 28). Methanol fuel gives this tiny beetle bot the freedom to roam. Retrieved November 17, 2020, from https://www.sciencenews.org/article/methanol-fuel-beetle-robot
How can tailing ponds be rehabilitated to lessen the effects of hazardous chemicals on plant populations?
There are many ways to lessen the effects or, hiding a tailing pond. The main way to rehabilitate tailing ponds from hazardous materials is to neutralize the chemical with limestone and superphosphate. The contents of a tailing pond is sent to a treatment facility to ‘clean’ it. When they are in the tailing pond they add water to make it subaqueous, which reduces oxidation of sulfide minerals. Luckily, for the environment, tailing ponds aren't so far from the mine. They use excess non-acid generating rock to build the tailing pond nearby and line it with a layer of geomembran, a synthetic material, to which stops leakage into the environment or the soil beneath. Water is usually added to tailing ponds. What do they do with the water, you may ask ^ Well they either actively or passively treat the water. Actively makes the water more basic to clean tailing ponds to create precipitates in the solution. After processing and using it many times, they can release it into the environment, but it is expensive. Passive treatment lets the environment clean the water by using plants and insects, it is cheaper. Most companies do a combination of both to protect the environment. To process gold, aqueous cyanide is used and is then hydrolyzed where it decomposes into less toxic compounds. This reaction is due to its effect with UV rays from the sun. When this process occurs, it is kept in an enclosed environment.
Other ideas are used to protect the environment from tailing ponds. In Alberta, in 2010 they tried to use a geotextile to cover the tailing pond during the winter to build a series of roads. In Greece, a rehabilitation process is going on where they have a 26.5 hectare land of a tailing pond. They are doing the rehabilitation process and as the process goes on they add plants that could thrive in the environmental conditions, and adapt to the contamination. A conceptual plan was also made up of processing tailing ponds material back into the environment and adding new soil to create a healthy pasture. Once the pH gets between 5 and ten, they can introduce worms, plants, trees, and animals to the area.
Geosynthetics. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2020, from https://www.layfieldgroup.com/Geosynthetics/Project-Profiles/Tailings-Pond-Rehabilitation.aspx
LECTURE 4: MINING WASTE. (n.d.). Retrieved December 01, 2020, from https://www.sgu.se/en/geointro/lecture-4-mining-waste/
Rehabilitation in Action: From Tailings Ponds to Green Space in Greece. (2020, July 13). Retrieved December 01, 2020, from https://blog.eldoradogold.com/rehabilitation-in-action-from-tailings-ponds-to-green-space-in-greece/
Waihi Gold. (n.d.). Retrieved December 01, 2020, from https://www.waihigold.co.nz/sustainability/environment/rehabilitation/rehabilitation-from-tailings-to-pasture-plantings-and-ponds/
In what ways do toxic chemical fires affect local communities?
Was the chemicals from a fire or just a by-product of a plant or storage facility. In Houston, there is a petrochemical terminal which affects people around a 2 mile radius from the area. Noxious gases, and heavy metals are released into the air. It was said that there is a higher chance of having leukemia being in the radius. They call this zone of unsafety the sacrifice zone. In 1992, a circuit board manufacturing facility burned and released a thick black smoke into the air for about 8 hours. If you think about it, everything that burns/combusts must follow the law of conservation of mass. Meaning that there are thousand little particles that could be flying around that in reality is the same mass as a couch. Most particles are carcinogenic. Effects of breathing these substances included asthma, blurred vision, hearing loss, hair loss, rashes and numbness in the body. In 2014, an LA port burned down causing treated wood of various sizes were scattered across the waters. Toxic gases were released into the air from the combustion of the treated wood; releasing benzene, naphthalene, which did not read on a monitoring device, and was more then 100 parts per billion. The average in this area of typical naphthalene levels is o.o5 ppb. The effect made many evacuate from dozens of LA cities and Orange counties. One main relationship between many of these situations is the rebuild. Think of any recent disaster. The worst part for most is the destruction of their living space. Most people do not think about the health concerns linked to toxic chemical fires where dioxins can be released and could potentially affect any part of your body. Dioxins are essentially catalysts for carcinogens. Plus, there is no such thing as a safe level of dioxins. Once they are released into the environment, it must be monitored frequently. There are many consequences to chemical fire, such as health concerns, air pollution, water pollution, environmental defects and destruction.
(n.d.). Retrieved December 01, 2020, from https://apha.confex.com/apha/128am/techprogram/paper_3909.htm
Addressing Toxic Smoke Particulates in Fire Restoration. (n.d.). Retrieved December 01, 2020, from https://theredguidetorecovery.com/recovery-stories/addressing-toxic-smoke-particulates-in-fire-restoration-2/
Barboza, T. (2014, September 26). Port of L.A. fire cleanup: Effects of toxic chemical releases studied. Retrieved December 01, 2020, from https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-port-la-fire-air-quality-20140926-story.html
Toney, H., Moms Clean Air Force, & Ziff, A. (2019, April 18). Fires and Chemicals: A Toxic and Deadly Mix. Retrieved December 01, 2020, from https://www.momscleanairforce.org/fires-chemicals-toxic-pollution/