Thursday, July 9, 2009

Today we had a guest speaker named Giacomo Chiari who talked about art conservation. It is devoted to conserving and even restoring art for the preservation of cultural heritage. Chiari works at the Getty Museum, a famous art museum in Los Angeles. It was a real eye opener for the techniques and technology used in preserving and displaying art. It is difficult to imagine how much work and money is poured into art conservation.

Something really cool that these people do is actually see behind the outside painting and see the original sketches that the artists did. They use infrared electromagnetic waves to go beyond the outside. With todays new technology, we can take samples of the art and determine the materials used in the paintings. For example, some artists add silver or gold to the paintings. These metals tarnish in the air, forming a black metal. Restoring paintings is a complicated process, and is heavily involved in science.

I also got to see something called sol gel. Sol gel is another area where art and science greatly coincide. Sol gel can be used to make ceramics and glass. The difference between normal glass and the gel is that the manufacturing of them. Normal glass is made in an extreme heat environment, whereas sol gel is manufactured in room temperature.

SEM image of SOLGEL

Biofuels are being researched and have great potential. They almost replicate the oxidation of glucose in a human body. Enzymes catalyze these reactions to form H2O, and CO2, along with an electric current. There are still a number of limitations being worked on, such as the short lifespan of the enzymes.

Another alternative energy source being looked at is solar energy. There is research being done that replaces silicon with plastic-like polymers. These are extremely cheap and quite effective. The problem is the polymers degrade within a matter of hours under the sun and with oxygen.

Only time will tell whether any one of these energy sources will produce tangible results. There is potential, but we must wait and see.

http://www.getty.edu/

http://www.solgel.com/

http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/technology/biofuels/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation-restoration

http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/story/chapter15.html