In this article, by Hillary Rosner, a chemist from Princeton
University has made a discovery in the science of alchemy. He may not have been
able to turn iron into gold, but he had his own version of modern day alchemy.
Paul Chirik, the chemist, managed to make iron function like platinum, which is
crucial to the developing world. To create this, he dissolved catalysts, which
are mixed into the end product; the molecules are then dissipated during the
reaction. Also, cobalt is being
used to create a cheaper type of plastic. The only downside with iron is rusting
can occur which might impact the metal.
This
is important to society because many of the elements used in everyday products
are starting to become less abundant, so a discovery that makes an abundant
metal have the properties of a less abundant metal will have a huge impact on
saving the precious metals. Also, the products that harm the environment can
start to be eliminated if we find ways to do this with other products. “If you can
transition to a completely earth-abundant world,” he said, “you can have a huge
impact.”
I
really liked this article because it was a very complex topic that was put into
ordinary words that still allowed the impact of that topic to shine through. I
also thought the way the author related this new discovery to things in our
society and how this discovery can help our environment was very useful in
understanding the article.
6 comments:
Gaby also did an excellent job in her review. First off I thought her article topic was extremely interesting and even hard to believe. One thing she did well was giving the real world solutions. I also believe that this science can help save endangered metals. She also made her summary very brief and too the point and didn’t put in unnecessary details. Lastly, I thought she did a good job at giving both sides. At the end of the article she pointed out that rusting can easily occur.
One thing she could have worked on was explaining more on how cobalt is being used to make plastic. She didn’t go into any detail on it. Secondly, I didn’t like how she didn’t post a link to the article because I would have liked to read it.
One thing that I learned from this article is that alchemy is still in use today. I would of thought that the science became extinct a long time ago, but I guess not.
First thing I would like to say is the article is interesting itself. Alchemy, the medieval forerunner of chemistry, based on myths such as turning iron into gold is bought up in modern day society. Whoever thought that in the 20th century alchemy would be brought up into public itself? The article stated that, sure, you can’t make iron into gold but you can make iron into platinum. That extremely fascinating already, because look: our resources are running out in this world. Many items such as platinum itself are a rare abundance throughout the world. If we are able to create platinum through cheaper materials, then we can advance through technology faster. If more scarce materials are brought in through alchemy, maybe we wouldn’t have to work as hard to find the materials. Since we are talking about alchemy, couldn’t we use useless objects to make it into something worth value? If that is possible then I would say all our needs to create valuable expensive would no longer be a hard thing to do. I have to agree with what gabby is saying, because as I said, it is true that natural abundance are running out. Sooner or later, the resource will no longer be available to us. If we can find new ways to create materials then maybe we wouldn’t need to worry about recycling anymore. One less annoying activity to do in our daily lives. This innovative article can spark various researches and believe me, alchemy is innovative itself. If the article can give more data results or test and trial experiments, we can define a broader meaning of alchemy and understand it more, so we can use alchemy for our advantages later in the future. Overall, good job Gabby for bring us this article.
Gabby did a lot of things well in her review of “A Chemist Comes Very Close to a Midas Touch.” In her review, she included a lot of information about Hillary Rosner’s accomplishments. She explained how Rosner made iron function as platinum and how she was able to do it. Gabby laid out the process very clearly. She also explained very well the implications of the finding and how the iron (now functioning in platinum) can be helpful for developing countries. She was also good in adding the negative side, which is that iron rusts whereas platinum does not. She didn’t clutter her review with unnecessary information and was very to the point.
Although these were several positive components, there were a few things that I thought were missing from her article review. She could have done a better job explaining the process of changing iron to platinum. She could have included more about the chemical process and how this actually occurs (as well as how it was discovered- was Rosner looking to do this?). I also think that she could have talked more about the cobalt that is being used to make a cheaper type of plastic. She only mentioned this, and didn’t explain anything about the topic. It seemed a bit irrelevant.
I learned a lot from reading Gabby’s review. I didn’t know that it was possible to make elements function as other elements. I was also surprised to learn that alchemy is still going on today (though not in the same form) and that it can be useful in real-life applications.
Gabby did a nice job on her review. She made this article very clear and gave a step by step process on how to “change” iron into platinum. She also did a nice job integrating quotes the scientist made about the discovery. She also gave multiple reasons of how this will affect people, which proves it is important. Two things she could have done better are mentioning why platinum is so important, that way we’d know why the chemist set out on his experiments. She also could have mentioned if the same process is used for both the iron and cobalt changes. One thing I learned was that iron can be changed to have the properties of platinum.
Maxim Izotov
Article Review 11/19/12
Overall, I thought Gabby did a brilliant job reviewing this article. I enjoyed the fact that she was able to make a lot of connections to our everyday life and describe how this invention will affect us. I thought this was important because it works as a great hook. Another thing that I thought was done well is that Gabby described the process very thoroughly, which made it much easier for me to follow. Last but not least, it was very engaging when Gabby put a quote into her review.
Even though Gabby’s review seemed very fine, there were a couple of things that were not at their best. For one, I thought that the quote could have been discussed a little more. Even though the quote was introduced very well, it could have been discussed after. Second, I would add a little more description when talking about how the metal can rust, since I was not sure how exactly that would affect the process.
I think that this is a very interesting topic that will soon change the world around us. I am sure that one way or another this will be done.
I thought Gabby did a fantastic review of this article. I really liked how she mentioned the steps that Chirik took to ensure that the reaction he wanted occurred. I felt that listing the steps gave me a deeper understanding of the topic. I also really liked how mentioned the demand for, and importance of, this new scientific breakthrough. It gave the discovery a literal, real-life-situation significance, which cannot always be seen from these discoveries. This helped make the article more relatable and accessible. Finally, I liked how Gabby mentioned another sort of substitution that scientists have manipulated (cobalt for plastic), which gave the article a broader approach.
I felt that Gabby could have made the space between her lines 1.5 space, so that it was clearer to read and even more accessible. However this is a minor detail, and overall, I felt she did a great job with the article. One last thing I felt Gabby could have done better was making the transition between the iron reaction and the cobalt reaction a little smoother by adding in a buffering sentence in-between the two.
I learned that there are extremely helpful and inspiring discoveries being made in the scientific world today, which are hard to fathom and incredible to hear about. I think it is really inspiring that scientists are becoming more and more able to conduct solutions to almost every problem. Overall, I feel that Gabby did a fantastic job reviewing the article!
Post a Comment