Halogen of the Week:
When looking up what a halogen is exactly, I found one interesting tidbit about all of them - they are the only group on the periodic table which contains elements in all three states of matter (solid, liquid, gas).
That said, I chose to read a little bit more about Iodine, symbol I and atomic number 53. Iodine is the second least reactive of the halogens, and the second most electropositive halogen. As a solid it is dark purple/dark brown, and as a gas it is violet/pink.
Iodine is rare in the solar system and the Earth's crust, although it is found in some minerals and soil; and it is concentrated in seawater and is found in high amounts in kelp. Trace amounts are required to sustain life by all animals and some plants and it is the heaviest element known to be necessary to living organisms.
Iodine is used in medicine, as a disinfectant - povidone iodine in particular is found commonly in hospitals for surgical procedures - photography, and as a dye (due to its staining property) in various technical applications, to detect starch which indicates stuff that is a bit too technical for me. Its staining property is useful in counterfeit banknote detection pens, which is an application that I do understand.
Iodine is also an ingredient of the home production of methamphetamines...
According to Wikipedia, its main role in animal biology is as a constituent of several thyroid hormones...the thyroid gland actively absorbs iodide from the blood to make and release these hormones, which is then regulated by TSH from the pituitary gland. Thyroid hormones regulate basal metabolic rate; 70% of the body's iodine is found in mammary glands, the eyes, gastric mucosa, the cervix, and in salivary glands. Iodine deficiency leads to hypothyroidism, and mental retardation.
Alchemy - science, magic, art, or all three?
I find it really fascinating to be discussing such a metaphysical and spiritual concept in the context of a basic science course - and yet upon reflection it doesn't really seem all that strange at all. Chemistry is the way in which elements exist and combine and create energy and the building blocks and processes which drive our physical world - and our minds and spiritual/emotional selves serve the same purpose in our personal physical and soul journeys; alchemy seems to be a very eloquent way to understand the ways in which these very scientific processes intersect in a very real way.
There seems to have been a concerted effort in the past on the part of the Western scientific community to separate out the mystical and spiritual aspects of science - which has resulted in a cold and sterile perspective, IMO. I guess that is one of the reasons that I love TCM, because Eastern medical and scientific thought does less of this, and integrates the whole mind/body perspective, which I believe is a more holistic way to approach health and the world at large.
At any rate, I do believe that alchemy is indeed all three; science, magic, (and really, how dull would our world be without the element of magic???) and art.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Week 5 Assignments: The Chemistry of Color and Nutrition
"Inert Gas of the Week: Krypton"
Anyone familiar with Superman knows about his Achilles heel, kryptonite - a meteorite from the planet Krypton, Superman's planet of origin, which renders him powerless; its creation is a bit of Superman trivia (per Wikipedia) in that the 1943 radio show introduced the concept as a plot line and in order to provide the voice of Superman an occasional day off, and that it was only later that the substance made its way into the comic books. Perhaps a more salient point is that kryptonite in no way resembles krypton, nor was it ever intended to do so....
Nevertheless, this would be the reason that I chose krypton as my inert gas of the week, and one characteristic of krypton that does resemble its presence in the world of Superman is its natural brilliant green (and sometimes orange/yellow as well) spectral signature, which is the result of the production of krypton by the fission of uranium and plutonium.
Krypton (symbol Kr, atomic weight 36) occurs in trace amounts in our atmosphere and is a colorless, odorless and tasteless gas. Combined with argon gas, krypton is used in fluorescent lamps which are more energy efficient - however, krypton costs about 100 times more than argon, so these lamps are actually not very cost effective. Krypton is also used in high speed photography, due to its being a brilliant white light source - and neon lights of varying colors are almost entirely krypton based.
Scientific applications for krypton would be in the krypton flouride laser, important in nuclear fusion energy research - and liquid krypton is used in particle physics experiments (neither of which I understand very well, but which are nevertheless important to mention here).
Colors in my kitchen:
Red and yellow raspberries
Blueberries
orange juice
green zucchini
orange butternut squash
green avocado
orange (colored) cheese
brown (chocolate) pudding
white (rice) pudding
yellow butter
black and green olives
yellow and red jello
Links:
What is important about the color of minerals? I was interested in this one, as I make jewelry and I love to use semi-precious stones vs. glass or plastic beads, and over the years I have become familiar with many of the minerals shown and in particular with their variations of color. What was interesting to me was to find that the color of a particular stone is not only determined by the various minerals in it, but also has to do with light frequencies and reflection and so on...which I suppose probably should have been obvious to me.
I was also interested in the link about luminescence, and to discover the different energy sources which produce this kind of light.
Update on article regarding GM contaminated rice in the UK
Anyone familiar with Superman knows about his Achilles heel, kryptonite - a meteorite from the planet Krypton, Superman's planet of origin, which renders him powerless; its creation is a bit of Superman trivia (per Wikipedia) in that the 1943 radio show introduced the concept as a plot line and in order to provide the voice of Superman an occasional day off, and that it was only later that the substance made its way into the comic books. Perhaps a more salient point is that kryptonite in no way resembles krypton, nor was it ever intended to do so....
Nevertheless, this would be the reason that I chose krypton as my inert gas of the week, and one characteristic of krypton that does resemble its presence in the world of Superman is its natural brilliant green (and sometimes orange/yellow as well) spectral signature, which is the result of the production of krypton by the fission of uranium and plutonium.
Krypton (symbol Kr, atomic weight 36) occurs in trace amounts in our atmosphere and is a colorless, odorless and tasteless gas. Combined with argon gas, krypton is used in fluorescent lamps which are more energy efficient - however, krypton costs about 100 times more than argon, so these lamps are actually not very cost effective. Krypton is also used in high speed photography, due to its being a brilliant white light source - and neon lights of varying colors are almost entirely krypton based.
Scientific applications for krypton would be in the krypton flouride laser, important in nuclear fusion energy research - and liquid krypton is used in particle physics experiments (neither of which I understand very well, but which are nevertheless important to mention here).
Colors in my kitchen:
Red and yellow raspberries
Blueberries
orange juice
green zucchini
orange butternut squash
green avocado
orange (colored) cheese
brown (chocolate) pudding
white (rice) pudding
yellow butter
black and green olives
yellow and red jello
Links:
What is important about the color of minerals? I was interested in this one, as I make jewelry and I love to use semi-precious stones vs. glass or plastic beads, and over the years I have become familiar with many of the minerals shown and in particular with their variations of color. What was interesting to me was to find that the color of a particular stone is not only determined by the various minerals in it, but also has to do with light frequencies and reflection and so on...which I suppose probably should have been obvious to me.
I was also interested in the link about luminescence, and to discover the different energy sources which produce this kind of light.
Update on article regarding GM contaminated rice in the UK
Monday, February 2, 2009
...about that book I mentioned
Garbage Land - written by Elizabeth Royte
This is the book I mentioned that was written by the woman in New York who became curious about what happened to her garbage after it was taken away from the curb in front of her home...what came out of it was an interesting journey on her part through the whole labrynth of the NY City garbage system....and was also an interesting story about garbage disposal in general here in the US.
This is the book I mentioned that was written by the woman in New York who became curious about what happened to her garbage after it was taken away from the curb in front of her home...what came out of it was an interesting journey on her part through the whole labrynth of the NY City garbage system....and was also an interesting story about garbage disposal in general here in the US.
Week Four Assignments - Green Chemistry
Catalyst of the Week:
So this was a little more complicated for me, but eventually I figured out that hydrogen is a catalyst in the hydrogenation process, which among other things produces margarine, one of my least favorite foodish substances. (For some reason Wikipedia mentions nickel as part of this process, and in another article there was mention of transition metals being involved in some way – however, other than repeating verbatim what the article says I am only going to mention it here, because I don’t honestly understand how it works….).
Basically, hydrogenation is the process the food industry uses to convert vegetable oils and fats from a liquid state to a solid or semi-solid state. There is some history associated with the invention of margarine in particular, which has to do with Napoleon wanting a substitute for butter and the subsequent work of the chemist Hippolyte Mege-Moutird, which ultimately resulted in the invention of margarine in 1869. Later on, margarine became popular here in the US, due to its being less expensive than butter, and also because it has a longer shelf life; as a result it is the predominant fat used in baked goods.
One of the side effects of the hydrogenation process, however, is that there ends up being leftover product from the process; some but not all of the double bonds of the molecule are reduced which results in an incomplete hydrogenation – hence the term “partially hydrogenated” – the leftover product are the trans fats which have been linked to heart disease.
There is much debate about whether butter or margarine is worse for us health wise; on the one hand you have the whole fat and animal product issue with butter, while on the other hand there is this issue with margarine. Personally, I don’t like the taste of margarine, and the whole chemical process required to create it makes me uncomfortable as well – so my choice is to go with butter in moderation. Probably less fats overall is the ultimate answer here.
My Opinion of Green Chemistry as Social Movement:
I think that the discussion we had in class about organic foods and their availability to the public at large is a good example of the sociopolitical aspect of this concept. While there seems to be no doubt that organic foods are a good thing, and that everyone would benefit from the switch, there is still a predominant paradigm particularly in this country that makes it prohibitive for people of a lower socioeconomic status to take advantage of healthier food. When basic survival skills are the foremost concern for low income families, and for people who are in danger of losing their jobs, spending substantially more for food that is organically grown is sometimes asking too much.
This speaks of a more basic underlying structure that exists where privilege is extended to a small minority of the population and IMO there is a certain callousness that has become the predominant attitude among the privileged that for some reason people of a lower social group are there because they haven’t worked hard enough or been smart enough or in some way are responsible for their own reduced circumstances.
At any rate, the way this applies to green chemistry is that this overall social paradigm has driven our administration for a very long time, and so any prospective advance in scientific thought or activity has been perceived as some type of threat and therefore been politicized. To embrace a “the world is not flat” opinion has been perceived as radical thought under this social environment, and therefore those who have done so have in some ways been labeled as activists.
Hopefully the new administration, with its renewed commitment to scientific thought and research will help to dispel this way of thinking.
On Atom Economy:
Well, while all the math is WAY beyond my understanding, I get the basic concept being discussed, which is the attempt by chemists to use all of the materials in a chemical reaction so as to reduce or eliminate waste material which may be toxic or harmful to humans or the environment – which is something I can get behind.
So this was a little more complicated for me, but eventually I figured out that hydrogen is a catalyst in the hydrogenation process, which among other things produces margarine, one of my least favorite foodish substances. (For some reason Wikipedia mentions nickel as part of this process, and in another article there was mention of transition metals being involved in some way – however, other than repeating verbatim what the article says I am only going to mention it here, because I don’t honestly understand how it works….).
Basically, hydrogenation is the process the food industry uses to convert vegetable oils and fats from a liquid state to a solid or semi-solid state. There is some history associated with the invention of margarine in particular, which has to do with Napoleon wanting a substitute for butter and the subsequent work of the chemist Hippolyte Mege-Moutird, which ultimately resulted in the invention of margarine in 1869. Later on, margarine became popular here in the US, due to its being less expensive than butter, and also because it has a longer shelf life; as a result it is the predominant fat used in baked goods.
One of the side effects of the hydrogenation process, however, is that there ends up being leftover product from the process; some but not all of the double bonds of the molecule are reduced which results in an incomplete hydrogenation – hence the term “partially hydrogenated” – the leftover product are the trans fats which have been linked to heart disease.
There is much debate about whether butter or margarine is worse for us health wise; on the one hand you have the whole fat and animal product issue with butter, while on the other hand there is this issue with margarine. Personally, I don’t like the taste of margarine, and the whole chemical process required to create it makes me uncomfortable as well – so my choice is to go with butter in moderation. Probably less fats overall is the ultimate answer here.
My Opinion of Green Chemistry as Social Movement:
I think that the discussion we had in class about organic foods and their availability to the public at large is a good example of the sociopolitical aspect of this concept. While there seems to be no doubt that organic foods are a good thing, and that everyone would benefit from the switch, there is still a predominant paradigm particularly in this country that makes it prohibitive for people of a lower socioeconomic status to take advantage of healthier food. When basic survival skills are the foremost concern for low income families, and for people who are in danger of losing their jobs, spending substantially more for food that is organically grown is sometimes asking too much.
This speaks of a more basic underlying structure that exists where privilege is extended to a small minority of the population and IMO there is a certain callousness that has become the predominant attitude among the privileged that for some reason people of a lower social group are there because they haven’t worked hard enough or been smart enough or in some way are responsible for their own reduced circumstances.
At any rate, the way this applies to green chemistry is that this overall social paradigm has driven our administration for a very long time, and so any prospective advance in scientific thought or activity has been perceived as some type of threat and therefore been politicized. To embrace a “the world is not flat” opinion has been perceived as radical thought under this social environment, and therefore those who have done so have in some ways been labeled as activists.
Hopefully the new administration, with its renewed commitment to scientific thought and research will help to dispel this way of thinking.
On Atom Economy:
Well, while all the math is WAY beyond my understanding, I get the basic concept being discussed, which is the attempt by chemists to use all of the materials in a chemical reaction so as to reduce or eliminate waste material which may be toxic or harmful to humans or the environment – which is something I can get behind.
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