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EXTRA SHORT: To infinity, and beyond, with Michael Yeung's spicy molecules
The longer version:
We asked Michael Yeung about his favorite bits of boron lore. He did not disappoint.
Even if the first one may be apocryphal, it would make a great techno spy thriller.
"There was an old story that I heard about how we had a spy in the Soviet Union who was monitoring their rocket launches, and how they noticed that all the rocket plumes were green. The CIA immediately concluded that the Soviet Union was making boron-based missiles to hit the U.S. (boron is one of the few elements that burn green), and got a lot of labs in the U.S. to work on boron chemistry because we didn't want to be outranged in the Cold War. Turned out in the end that the fuel that the Soviet Union was using was just contaminated by the OTHER element than burns green (copper), and that was what made the rocket plumes look green. It was great for universities, though!"
OK, but what does Chernobyl have to do with it?
"The reason why boron chemistry exists today is because of nuclear power. The U.S. was building a bunch of nuclear reactors during the Cold War, and so we made A LOT of boron (it absorbs neutrons and is used as a control rod to prevent reactors from melting down, i.e. Chernobyl, where the boron control rods got stuck). Because we made so much boron during the Cold War, the U.S. decided to ship the excess boron to research labs to see if they could make anything useful out of it, which was another reason why boron chemistry was really popular in the '60s. We're trying to make it hot again."
Go deeperLearn more about how Michael's research group is blending traditional and advanced computational chemistry to unlock the spiciest traits of boron compounds.
Read their recent publication in the The Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Visit Yeung Lab @ UAlbany
Episode creditsResearch and interview by Erin Frick
Audio editing and production by Scott Freedman & Brian Busher
Photos by Brian Busher
Written and hosted by Jordan Carleo-Evangelist
The Short Version is produced by the Office of Communications and Marketing at the University at Albany, which is part of the State University of New York.
Comments, ideas, suggestions?
Send them to [email protected] and be sure to put The Short Version in the subject line.
View all episodes
By University at AlbanyThe longer version:
We asked Michael Yeung about his favorite bits of boron lore. He did not disappoint.
Even if the first one may be apocryphal, it would make a great techno spy thriller.
"There was an old story that I heard about how we had a spy in the Soviet Union who was monitoring their rocket launches, and how they noticed that all the rocket plumes were green. The CIA immediately concluded that the Soviet Union was making boron-based missiles to hit the U.S. (boron is one of the few elements that burn green), and got a lot of labs in the U.S. to work on boron chemistry because we didn't want to be outranged in the Cold War. Turned out in the end that the fuel that the Soviet Union was using was just contaminated by the OTHER element than burns green (copper), and that was what made the rocket plumes look green. It was great for universities, though!"
OK, but what does Chernobyl have to do with it?
"The reason why boron chemistry exists today is because of nuclear power. The U.S. was building a bunch of nuclear reactors during the Cold War, and so we made A LOT of boron (it absorbs neutrons and is used as a control rod to prevent reactors from melting down, i.e. Chernobyl, where the boron control rods got stuck). Because we made so much boron during the Cold War, the U.S. decided to ship the excess boron to research labs to see if they could make anything useful out of it, which was another reason why boron chemistry was really popular in the '60s. We're trying to make it hot again."
Go deeperLearn more about how Michael's research group is blending traditional and advanced computational chemistry to unlock the spiciest traits of boron compounds.
Read their recent publication in the The Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Visit Yeung Lab @ UAlbany
Episode creditsResearch and interview by Erin Frick
Audio editing and production by Scott Freedman & Brian Busher
Photos by Brian Busher
Written and hosted by Jordan Carleo-Evangelist
The Short Version is produced by the Office of Communications and Marketing at the University at Albany, which is part of the State University of New York.
Comments, ideas, suggestions?
Send them to [email protected] and be sure to put The Short Version in the subject line.