The day started off with a daily introduction. The topic for today was “Coming to Life.” Apparently, we live in what a lot of people call the Information Age. Materials have always been defined by their properties, and glass itself is actually considered a technology of its own time. Advances in materials have enabled us to explore and examine other properties of fundamental importance. Light, a wave or a particle, is an electromagnetic wave, but there are many contradictions. Nowadays, with nano technology, properties of many substances can be changed. Today, we also received a visit from Giacomo Chiari, director of the Getty Museum. The definition of “intangible heritage” is something that does not belong in the domain of science. It is of major importance for a historian to know at what time objects originated. Many objects have revolutionized as well, to become smaller and more efficient, therefore making then portable. A good example to look up or think about would be the cell phone.
After this lecture, it was time for lunch. When lunch was over, we came back for some lab visits at the Dunn, Yang Yang, and Shailos laboratories. Some things that I were awe struck by included the glowing algae and the sol-gel. In the algae laboratory, it was explained that when the algae get aggravated by their small predators, they start glowing to attract large fish, which are predators to the algae’s predators.
Sol-gel involves the transition of a system from a liquid “sol” into a solid “gel” phase.
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/glowingalgae/
http://www.chemat.com/html/solgel.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sol-gel
http://www.howstuffworks.com/light2.htm
http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/it/2007/3/2007_3_8.shtml