I’d love to say it’s great to be back home, but I can’t do it with a straight face. Although our vacation only consisted of driving to the other side of the state and staying in Saugatuck (near Lake Michigan) for a few days, it was one of the most relaxing few days I’ve ever spent. Going back to work on Monday was definitely a challenge. Diligent chemist that I am, however, I made sure to practice my chemical techniques throughout the vacation. Examples would include:
1. Oxidizing a fair bit of ethanol with ADH (alcohol dehydrogenase). (Note to self -- consuming ice cream after a bottle of wine is no longer recommended).
2. Altering a large number of my DNA molecules via UV radiation.
3. Witnessing many colorful pyrotechnic explosions. Unfortunately, I’ve noticed that I spend more time trying to guess which elements are being used to generate the colors than I do just ooohing and aaahing like everyone else. At least I’m not trying to make my own fireworks (anymore) like this guy.
So it’s hard enough to get back into the work routine, but now I read over at Practical Transmutations that we may be running out of certain elements. I’ve written about this before, but it seems that the situation is more dire than I originally thought. Apparently, a German chemist has estimated when our supply of certain metals is going to be exhausted. This is not good news for some inorganic chemists. For example, becoming an expert on gallium and indium may not be a good career choice if you plan on working more than 10 years. And as if we aren’t using indium up quickly enough, we now have marketers promoting the use of indium as a promoter of good health. As far as I know, there are no studies demonstrating its efficacy in this area -- only its toxicity. Of course, they used to use arsenic for health reasons too, so who knows?
Anyway, this is not a good way to begin the work week. Stop using up our elements, you swine!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Only a decade left for indium? That's sobering. Hopefully we'll see some good ITO replacements in the near future...else, the display industry is screwed.
Nitrogen trifluoride is going to do for the industry before then isn't it. Headlines screaming 17000 times as potent a greenhouse gas as CO2
Post a Comment