Week 13, Memory and Magic

In terms of memory, I have thought for a long time that it is something not only within but beyond the mind. Although there are many mental activities and functions that relate to memory, we also store memory in every part of our body and possibly even in our energetic bodies.
With magic, I think sometimes we just want to be amazed and allow our analytic minds to go and then we can enjoy a magician "tricking" us...I honestly think magic is great because it brings forth a sense of curiosity and wonder.

Week 13, To live is to know...?

I don't think that to live is to know...I think that to live is to live, and knowing might be included in there but it isn't everything. The validity and truth of this statement is dependent on the definition of "knowing". What" knowing" is is a huge topic and I don't think I could answer specifically what it is because it is so deep and multi-layered...

Week Eleven, Comments on Links

I really liked all the images on the links these weeks. My favorite one was the page that had all the 3-D images of animals like fleas and ticks. I think we often times forget that those so-called "pests" are incredibly complex beings that have a completely different reality than they one we do. I think sites like these are really educational.

Week Eleven. Diversity

There doesn't seem to be too much diversity surrounding me these days. All I have are humans, the ants that have taken over my compost, and the plants I see everyday on my bike rides. Up in the hills there is more diversity and I would like to think that in the ocean too, but I am not sure of that one because of all the pollution. I like to think that I am living in this lack of species diversity so that other places in the world can teem with life. But it still saddens me a little...

Week 10, Animations

These animations are really cool...They are the closest thing to having a lab without having a lab. I could see them being really useful for any chemistry class.

Week 10, Biochemistry is the chemsitry of life

According to Wikipedia, biochemistry is the chemistry of life. To me, this seems to say that biochemistry is concerned with the the chemical reactions of molecules and elements that occur in living systems. I guess this brings up the conundrum of what is considered a living system again. Maybe it's easier to say that this definition of biochemistry states that it is the chemistry that studies the molecular interactions of nature.

Week 10, Gene Therapy

The ethics of gene therapy are very complicated. One the one hand, a lot of people seem to think that they can do a lot of good and help weed out "bad" or "unwanted" genes from the gene pool. Personally, I think it's a pretty ridiculous idea to start messing with genes on any level, even the genes of plants. We just have no idea of knowing what are the long term complications. Also, who are we to decide what we want or don't want in the gene pool. That seems like a really big decision to be made be a group of geneticists wanting to explore.

Week 9, ChemBalancer

This game looks like it would actually be really useful to learn with. I remember balancing equations in high school chemistry straight out of a textbook, and that was really boring. Something like this would have made learning how to balance equations much better. I also think it's important to make sure that chemistry students know the need to balance equations. In high school, no one ever told me that an unbalanced equation on paper could cause real danger in real life. That puts the need to balance equations in context.

Week 9, Germanium

Germanium is an atomic element with an atomic mass of 32 and with properties similar to tin and silicon. Germanium is relatively abundant in the Earth's crust and has five known isotopes. Germanium's main use is as a semiconductor in transistors. Mostly, Germanium is used in fiber-optic and infra red optic. Interestingly, Germanium is one of those elements that Mendeleev predicted but never found.

Week 8, Link

What I got out the most from this article and this week's topic is how incredible thinkers and scientists can be...Apart from the incredible findings they come up with, it really impresses me how these people dedicate their lives to figuring something out. About the link, it was good but it definitely requires some background knowledge. 

Week 8, Test

1. hypotheses do not become laws

2. Cl20

3. according to Dalton the formula for ammonia would be NH

Week 8, Lithium

Lithium is atomic number 3 and is a soft, white alkali metal. It is considered to be the lightest metal and the least dense solid element under normal conditions. Lithium is thought to be one of the rare metals created in the big bang, but is not common throughout the universe and it's creation and apparent disappearance is still under investigation. Although the element seems to hold no biological use in humans, lithium salts have been used as mood stabilizers. The splitting of the lithium atom was the first human made nuclear reaction. 

Week 6, Comment on Link

I read the introduction to Chinese alchemy. It keeps on amazing me how systematic and complex Chinese philosophy and theories are and that they were developed years before the West even began to pay attention to the same issues. I also wonder how much of the knowledge has been lost, especially due to the rule of the Communist Party. 

Week 6, Alchemy

Alchemy has always seemed to be another one of those words that can be used for many things: the process of turning metals to gold, the inner transformational process of spiritual evolution, or any magical process of transmutation. In terms of chemistry, alchemy seems to really happen with the elements but we are still fuzzy on how that works. So if it is a science, magic, or art would depend on what aspect/definition of alchemy we chose to chose.  

Week 6, Halogen

Astatine, the heaviest of the known halogens, is only found in tiny amounts in nature due to its short half-life. The most stable of its isotopes lasts decays in 8.3 and turns into isotopes of lead. Astatine is black, becoming a purplish vapor when heated. Interestingly, Medeleev predicted the existence of astatine and called it eka-iodine but the element was not produced until 1940 and three years later it was found naturally.

Week 5, Links

I looked at the first link and explored turquoise. I didn't know that turquoise could change color when it came in contact with different skin oils. And turquoise has been mined for over 6,000 years! That's pretty amazing. 

Week 5, In my kitchen...

My boyfriend and I went shopping recently, so there were a lot of colors from the vegetables and fruits we bought. Mostly, there was a lot of green and orange because I am going through a squash, carrot, sweet potato, and kale obsession. There were some purples and reds, too. I also noticed that grains and legumes have all sorts of different colors: green mung beans, black beans, garbanzos have a weird color, white canellini beans, and rice of all hughes. I love color and color is definitely one of the reasons I chose to buy fruits, vegetables, and other foods.  

Week 5, Inert Gas

Xenon is atomic number 54 and is found in trace amounts in the atmosphere. Although a nobel gas, xenon is known to be able to create compounds. In fact xenon hexaflouroplatinate was the first noble gas to be synthesized. Xenon is used in lamps and as an anesthetic. Xenon was first discovered in 1898 in England when scientists were observing the left over components of the evaporation of liquid air (yes, if cooled enough air can become a liquid...crazy, huh?)

Week 4, Discussion Question

Science without social responsibility- how did that happen?

It seems to have happened because of several factors. The first one is simple lack of knowledge. I think it is really easy to find a chemical or a way of doing something that seems so easy and at the same time works so well and not think about how it will affect the environment and human health in 100 years. Realistically, we can never completely know all the side effects a certain technology will have because it is new and because it will have a unique relationship with the world and society. Secondly, I think humans want easy fixes. If it works, let's use it (and not think about the effects). In fact, this seems to be one of the hardest hurdles to jump as we try to move into a greener way of living. Lastly, who wants to take responsibility for anything? Until we all accept that we have all contributed to the mess we have gotten into, it will be really difficult to change things.  

Week 4, Atom Economy

Green chemistry is completely new to me. I always knew that there were chemists out there trying to change things, but I had no idea that it was such a solid movement. The Atom Economy explanation really demonstrates how greener and cleaner does not always lead to more expensive prices. Also, it is a tool that can help scientists, and chemists in particular, find ways to economize the ways in which chemicals are made. It seems as though green chemistry is one of the most important and valuable tools we have in order to transition into a greener lifestyle because chemists are in direct contact with the chemicals that affect our world and our health. 

Week 4, Catalyst

Organocatalysts are non-metal catalysts that function in the same way as traditional catalysts. The most common chemicals found in organoctalysts are hydrogen, sulfur, and hydrogen. The term organocatalysts is a new name given to what used to be known as organic catalysts. Some organocatalysts include: proline, phenylalanine, chinchona alkaloids, and oligopepetides. Ogranocatalysts have been given more attention recently because of their contribution to green chemistry.  

Week 3, Commentary on Links

I really enjoyed the visual simulation page. It actually really got me thinking about how and why molecules assume certain shapes. I had never thought about the different possible shapes that atoms could arrange themselves in. I'm guessing that they way in which they arrange themselves has to do with differences in the amount of energy it takes for the molecular bond to hold. It's great that such models exist to help us learn but also as way to spark curiosity.

Week Three, Cobalt

Cobalt, atomic number 27, is a hard and grey metal. Cobalt has been used for a long time as a pigment, but was not officially discovered until 1735 by Georg Brandt. Cobalt is a ferromagnetic metal that is found in small traces in rocks and soil, but is most commonly formed as a by-product of nickel and copper mining. Cobalt is most commonly used to make alloys that are resistant to wear and high-strength. For example, cobalt aluminates are used to color glass, ceramics, and paints a deep blue. 

Week Two, Ozone

No one really seems to know what ozone is, how it is formed, and how it manages to mess with the ozone layer. I really didn't understand it at all until we read about it in class, and I even thought it was no longer such a big deal since all the CFC's were banned. The ozone issue really relates to what someone said in class: because this is such an abstract event occurring somewhere we can't even see, there is no emotional response to it. Because very few people understand how ozone affects the planet, it really holds no significant importance as a huge problem in people's minds. It's easier for us to relate to such things as deforestation and the demise of species, so ozone seems to stay somewhere in the stratosphere of our minds when we think about the current global problem. 

Week 2, Impressions of Links

I really liked the last link (the one that described different mixtures, elements, and compounds). I found that it spoke to two types of intelligence, a more rational, bookish type and more visual, model type. I really liked having them both together side-by-side, because I could understand the difference between elements, compounds, and mixtures but also see how the look and move. 

Week Two, Element of the Week: Iron

I was inspired to write about Iron because of my new cast iron skillets that I love to cook on. Iron’s symbol is Fe and its atomic number is 26. It is one of the few chemicals that is naturally ferromagnetic, which means that it is a permanent magnet. Interestingly, iron is the most common element in red giants (a type of star) and also forms the dense metal cores of some planets (Earth, for example). The core of Earth is thought to be made up of an iron-nickel alloy and makes up 35% of Earth’s mass, making it the most common element on Earth. However, it only makes up 5% of the crust of our planet. Most of the visible iron on Earth is in the form of iron oxide and tints the soil a rusty red. Iron is a metal that easily oxides when in contact with oxygen and is rarely found as a pure element. In terms of the Universe, iron is the sixth most common element. 

Week 1 Impressions of Links

I have always been kind of freaked out by the periodic table because it seemed like this obscure, non-practical way of looking at the stuff that makes up the Earth and the Universe. I guess I can appreciate the organizational genius of the table, the way how it makes sense how the different elements are grouped together, the importance of the rows and columns, and the number of each element. But I never really felt like I understood the importance of helium or chlorine or gold by looking it up in the table and knowing what type of element it was and how many electrons it had. And in fact I know that without any of the elements our world would be completely different...but the table never gave me that knowledge. I am looking forward to see how next week's class goes and maybe I can begin to see the periodic table in a different light. 

Week 1 Quiz Answers

1. chemical, physical, chemical, physical

2. mixture, mixture, pure, mixture

3. b

4. d

Bio

Hi! I am Nati. I just moved to Berkeley to begin my Masters and I am in Trimester 0. I am excited to be in such a wonderful new place, surrounded by interesting people, and studying Oriental Medicine in the way that I want to study it. I look forward to getting to know all of you more as we begin this new (for some of you old) adventure together.