Behind closed doors scientists produce creations that cure diseases, heal our planet and explain the laws that govern life. Just because everybody is not in those labs does not excuse them from knowing something about the advances that science is making every day.
What makes a dorm room so messy? The same thing that makes mountains crumble.
Entropy is the measurement of disorder in the universe, an quantity that is always increasing. To understand the importance of this principle, picture a perfect crystal. If this is a truly perfect crystal, then every molecule is perfect aligned, like marines marching. If the temperature is cold enough, then those molecules are not only in perfect order, but also completely stationary. This crystal contains no disorder and hence no entropy.
This principal becomes important in chemistry because the bonds formed during every chemical process need to overcome the natural tendency for entropy to increase. As chemists try to combine molecules, they are increasing the order of those molecules, and hence decreasing entropy'a task that always consumes energy.
Because entropy is always increasing in the universe, when a new molecule is created from multiple smaller pieces, the entropy somewhere else in the universe is increased.
Entropy is not only in the lab. When you pop the lid off of a carbonated beverage, the carbon dioxide that kept your beer bubbly rushes out of the liquid and turns into a gas. The sudden change to a gas is because the liquid has some form to it, as the molecules are bound together. But once it turns into gas, the molecules are like kindergartners with a substitute teacher'they can move about as much as space will allow.
Every living creature has DNA, a macromolecule made up of four nucleotides repeatedly strung like beads on two twisting, parallel strings. Discrete sections of the molecule code for individual genes.
The only difference between a person and mold is the order and the amount of DNA contained in large lumps, called chromosomes.
\It's like a really long transcript, and the cell is capable of reading from [it] and [ultimately producing] proteins from it,"" said William Bement, associate professor of zoology at UW-Madison. ""The proteins are what make everything run in a cell, and therefore [an organism].""
Proteins are some of the most specific tools in the world. They are composed of smaller units called amino acids, of which there are only 20. Every creature uses the same 20 amino acids, and often the same proteins.
In between the DNA and proteins there is a middle man'RNA. It is structurally similar to DNA, except its nucleotides are repeatedly strung on a lone string. Unlike DNA, RNA is not stored in the cell, it is only created in small segments from the DNA template when it is needed.
""The DNA itself is not the business end of this process, but it does provide the critical information,"" said Bement. ""The RNA is the intermediary and the proteins do [nearly all the work].""
One small change in any nucleotide or amino acid along the way can drastically alter the final protein's function.
A common misconception is that some diseases and defects, like blindness, come from ""disease genes."" In fact there is no gene that, if present, specifically causes a genetic defect. The genes that cause blindness, cancer or a number of other defects are actually caused by changes in the normal DNA. The information stored to aid in sight may be mutated enough that the incorrect protein is made and cannot preform its normal function.
In 1947, a scientist at Bell Laboratories produced a device made up of a small piece of germanium, a plastic wedge and some shiny gold foil. Because of that makeshift tool computers are smaller, toasters are smarter and hightech equipment is possible.
The invention was the semiconductor'a piece of material that strategically mediates the flow of electricity.
""The important thing about semiconductors is that they don't conduct electricity as well as a pure conductor like metals, but by changing the chemical nature you can change the amount of electricity they conduct and then change their properties,"" said Clark Landis, professor of chemistry at UW-Madison. ""So making high tech electronics really is the art of taking these semiconductor materials and modifying their ability to conduct electricity and then using those modifications to make amplifiers or to do other things with current.""
The most common semiconducting material used today is silicon. It is usually in the form of a thin, circular wafer with layers of variously treated silicon and often a layer which will be selectively removed when exposed to light. The entire unit is called a chip.
The unique properties of the chip are created by various etchings that alter the form of the chip's layers.
After these modifications, and insertion into a larger circuit, the chip may function in a computer, a radio, a toaster or a telephone.
If you want to learn more about semiconductors, click here.
Did you know that throwing a baseball increases its mass? Einstein did.
Einstein broke with traditional thought in the early 20th century and decided to run a few gedanken experiments, or thought experiments. He ran scenarios in his head and refrained from making any observations, simply inferences.
When he was finished, Einstein realized that light traveled at the same speed regardless of the observers frame of reference. The observer could be driving observing the light coming from a traffic light, or standing still observing a lamp. Either way the speed of light would be the same, 670 million miles per hour.
If a car going 20 miles per hour has its headlights on, one might assume that the light coming from the car would be going 670 million miles per hour plus the 20 miles per hour of the car.
Furthermore, one may infer that the light coming from the rear lights of the car is going 20 miles per hour slower than the normal speed of light.
Both of these simple inferences are false. No matter what crazy scheme physicists could come up with to alter the speed of light, they failed. Light travels 670 million miles per hour no matter what.
After Einstein realized this, he expanded the theory to realize that moving objects shrink as they move and ""time runs slow in moving objects, the clocks on a moving train are slow,"" said Ugo Camerini, professor emeritus of physics at UW-Madison.
As if that was not mind numbing enough, the theory of relativity gets even trickier.
A person on the ground may assume the clock on a moving train is running slow, but a person on the train will also observe that the watch of the observer on the ground is the one running slow.
Similarly, the observer on the ground observes the train as smaller than it actually is, while the passenger on the train observes the person on the ground as the tiny one.
The theory of relativity tells that anything can be assumed at rest while everything else is moving relative to that stationary object.
Over the past few decades the winter layer of ice on Lake Mendota has been following a trend. Like a rude dinner guest, it arrives late and leaves early.
Lake Mendota is not at fault, nor is the fleeting ice, but rather a group of gases, spearheaded by carbon dioxide, called greenhouse gases.
""There are many greenhouse gases, but carbon dioxide, from burning fossil fuels, is the biggest,"" said Douglas Rouse, professor of plant pathology at UW-Madison.
Carbon dioxide, a major by product of human industry, traps heat from the sun that would otherwise dissipate. The trapped warmth makes temperatures warmer, and can even make them colder.
On average, the gases stay true to their name and increase global warming, not cooling.
According to Rouse, this can be seen as plants and animals that usually stay closer to the equator for the heat slowly dispersing poleward. This can disrupt the ecosystems that are accepting the foreign species, and even lead to extinction of some species.
Another visible effect of rising temperatures can be seen as glaciers at the poles are shrinking. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, some glaciers in Antarctica have been thinning at a rate of over five feet per year between 1992 and 1999.
This, along with other melting glacial ice is leading to rising sea levels. This has not had a huge effect on the United States yet, but over time the rising sea levels will begin to swallow up ocean beach resorts and more.
Researchers are looking for ways to curb this trend, but for know, curtailing the burning of fossil fuels is often the best solution given.
