http://periodictabloid.chemheritage.org Periodic Tabloid is an ongoing record of Tom Tritton’s actions and impressions as president and CEO of the Chemical Heritage Foundation, a library, museum, and center for scholars based in Philadelphia. Look for interactions with staff and stakeholders at CHF, reflections on science education, and comments on research in the sciences, all within the context of the history CHF exists to preserve. Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:00:39 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Science fiction aficionados may be familiar with a trilogy by Nancy Kress, in which she imagines the emergence of genetically modified humans who don’t require sleep. Naturally, given all the extra time, the sleepless quickly surpass others who need to rest each day and evolve into a superior race. The trilogy tells ... http://periodictabloid.chemheritage.org/?p=382 It is an article of faith, especially in higher education, that student participation in research is utterly required for shaping attitudes, appreciation, and understanding of the scientific enterprise. Accordingly, every institution of higher learning with any aspiration to excellence has students toiling in labs doing some kind of research right ... http://periodictabloid.chemheritage.org/?p=380 In one corner, we have Moore’s law. In the other corner, there is Carlson’s curve. Moore’s law— named after Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel—famously predicted over 40 years ago that the transistor density of integrated circuits would double about every two years. So far, it’s been right. Carlson’s curve—named after biologist Rob ... http://periodictabloid.chemheritage.org/?p=376 The universe is a big place. Estimates vary, but there are something like 1010 galaxies, 1022 stars, and 1080 atoms. Such numbers are hard to get your mind around, even in an era when trillions (1012) is commonly used when measuring government debt. But this is just the observable universe. Cosmologists ... http://periodictabloid.chemheritage.org/?p=370 One of the reasons cancer therapy is effective is that conventional drugs are somewhat indiscriminate toxins. Thus, they kill lots of tumor cells, even if those cells are not similar in their molecular properties. This is a good thing since most tumor masses are thought to be heterogeneous at the ... http://periodictabloid.chemheritage.org/?p=366 Like most contemporary people, I am a voracious consumer of information.  I readily concede that possession of information does not ensure wisdom, but at least it raises the possibility of a more informed judgment about the state of the world. Leaving aside television and the Internet (and who wouldn’t be better ... http://periodictabloid.chemheritage.org/?p=352 You probably never considered the possibility that tiny bacteria have active sex lives. Rest assured they do, at least if you think the exchange of genetic information from one to another to be akin to a sex life. But why should you care what these microscopic creatures do in the privacy of ... http://periodictabloid.chemheritage.org/?p=350 People have always yearned to peer at that which can’t be seen. Hence, telescopes to see into the distance and microscopes to magnify the tiny. The resolving power for any such instrument depends of the wavelength of light used for detection and the ingenuity of the optical device used to capture ... http://periodictabloid.chemheritage.org/?p=339 Most people love movies. Whether drama, comedy, westerns, thrillers, romance, documentaries, or animation, what's not to like about settling in for a couple of hours with popcorn and film? But have you ever seen a chemistry movie? Obliquely maybe, in The Andromeda Strain, GATTACA, or The Absent-Minded Professor. But we count ... http://periodictabloid.chemheritage.org/?p=335 Astute readers will recognize that "all the world's a stage" is a classic metaphor. Shakespeare, in fact, created metaphors by the bushel, this particular one from As You Like It. Without consulting a dictionary, I would say that a metaphor is a comparison that shows how two things not fundamentally the ... http://periodictabloid.chemheritage.org/?p=330