Article Summary

Cal-tech professor, James Heath and colleagues made a great discovery as if by mistake. "Almost all surfaces have a coating of water on them." he says. But this layer is hard to study due to the face that water is in constant flux. This "mistake" was made when Heath and colleagues were studying graphene on an atomically flat surface of mica. They found nanoscale 'island-shaped' structures trapped between the graphene and the mica. They conducted other experiments because they thought the 'islands' were water. The graphene sheet was atomically conformal(it hugged the water molecules as if it was shrink wrap). The first layer of water on the mica was two water molecules thick. The second layer was two water molecules thick and was like ice. The third(top) layer was just droplets of water. Heath and colleagues are now working on improving the resolution of the device so that it may be used to see the atomic structure of biomolecules like antibodies and other proteins.

Self Evaluation: I think this story is really interesting because it just shows that there are new discoveries in science almost everyday. This accident has opened a wide variety of windows for being able to see the atomic structure of very minuscule things.

Stomach Acid Lab

Self Evaluation: I enjoyed this activity, because we had some freedom of what antacids we could pour into the vinegar. Also, the reactions were interesting to watch. The results showed which antacids worked the best at raising the Ph Level. This lab taught me a lot about how the labels on antacids (and maybe other medicines) may lie to you about how effective they really are. Just because they say "maximum strength", or "extra strength" doesn't mean they actually work better.

Acids have excess H+ ions, making their Ph Level low, while bases have excess OH-, making their Ph Level higher. The lower the Ph Level the more acidic the substance is. Bases neutral out acids. So, since antacids are bases, they balance out the Ph Level of the acids. Water is neutral because the H+ and OH- balance out, making water completely neutral.

Properties of Water

Through experimentation and watching numerous videos about the properties of water, I have learned quite a bit. I broke down basically everything I've learned into key words, which I have conveyed through this powerpoint/movie.

Properties of Water

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Clinical Trial

Many children, ages 6 to 17, suffer from a disease called Attention Deficit-Hyper Disorder(ADHD). This disease causes kids (and later, adults) to be extremely hyper and not able to focus in a normal setting. Due to the increasing problems of this disease, many clinical trials have been attempted to try to find a drug that helps with the symptoms and affects of this disease. In this double blind trial, doctors tried the drug atomoxetine. A double blind trial is where neither the patient nor the doctor administering the drug know if the injection or capsule is atomoxetine or a placebo. Only a third party of scientists and doctors know which is which, but they never see the patient nor know of their name or other information. A placebo is known as a "sugar pill", because it is an inactive subtance that looks like medicine but contains absolutely no medicinal affects. This is used in clinical trials to see if the trial drug actually works or if the improvement is a mental state of mind.