Linus Pauling

Who's the supernerd to the left you ask? This is Linus Pauling, one of my top three favorite scientists of all time. Yup, I realize I'm a supernerd too. But listen to what this guy did during his lifetime:

He was born in 1901 and went to college at Oregon State University to study chemistry. The semester after he took Quantitative Analysis, the school invited him to teach the class. He went on to research the link between structures of different substances and their physical properties. His important discoveries helped found the emerging field of quantum chemistry. He also advanced the science of X-ray crystallography, a very important tool for determining chemical structures.

In 1954 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research done on the nature of chemical bonds. Along with his major contributions to the fields of physics and chemistry, he made massive contributions to the field of biology. He was the first to suggest that proteins were made primarily of alpha helices (think DNA) and beta sheets. He also discovered that sickle cell anemia was a molecular disease involving hemoglobin.

After World War II, he was deeply moved to warn people about the harms of nuclear weapons. He protests led him to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962, making him the only person ever to receive two unshared Nobel Prizes.

C'mon, now tell me that's not cool...

Halloween Mayhem

Just wanted to post a few pictures from this past weekend's Halloween mayhem. Mal as innocent Snow White, Ben trying to look like a sexy vampire (though the vampire teeth sort of kill it), and myself as jolly Santa.


Mallory as a not-quite-so-innocent Snow White.


Meghan, Lyndsi, Michael, and I. You can't actually tell from the picture, but Michael was extremely proud of the fact that he fit into his sister's pleather pants .


On a completely different note, I spent a freakishly long day in chem lab making these metal complexes. Twelve hours for this? I was completely jipped.

Weird Self-Portrait

Although this is my last semester, I have unfortunately put off a couple of classes that I should have taken as a freshman or a sophomore. One of these classes is Physics 2 lab. Possibly the lamest class ever with the exception of Physics 1 lab. It doesn't help that I actually took Physics 2 about 2 1/2 years ago. But alas, I am forced to go for three hours a week and pretend that I really care about that class in the least. This past week we were doing an experiment with electrons inside a glass ball. I took this picture because we were trying to measure the radius with the mirrored ruler in the back. The picture didn't actually help with that, but I thought it was a kind of interesting picture anyway with myself reflected in it. Sort of a weird self-portrait.


A recent picture from the top of City Creek Canyon (one of my favorite places to go biking):

Those sexy little atoms

So while studying for my test tomorrow (uh, actually today I guess), I picked up some interesting tidbits about a few elements. Pretty sure none of these will be on the test.

1) Of all the elements, sound travels the fastest through Beryllium. A whopping 12500 m/s!

2) Roentgenium has never been seen by the naked eye, but theorists say if someone ever saw it, it'd be gold.

3) Group 5, also called the Pnictogens, got it's name from a greek word meaning to stifle or choke. Funny since nitrogen is in this group and it makes up the majority of the atmosphere.

4) When heated, arsenic smells quite a bit like garlic.

And now I am going home...