The Institute of Physics announced its regret at the decision of the University of Reading to close its Physics Department. The Institute of Physics science director, Peter Main said, on learning of the impending closure of the 33-strong department, “University vice-chancellors are operating in an environment that is controlled by the choices of seventeen-year old students. Funding follows student numbers and so the future of Britain’s science base rests on the university choices of sixth-formers. In addition, laboratory-based subjects are not adequately funded. This is a clear example of market failure. The government has to realise that its aspirations for science, set out in the chancellor’s “Next steps” programme following the March budget, will not happen unless they look again at how university departments are funded; the current model disadvantages laboratory-based subjects, especially physics”.
Robert Kirby-Harris, the Institute’s chief executive, commented, “Contrary to many reports, physics is not a declining discipline; undergraduate numbers have increased over the last few years - although not in line with the overall increase in university student numbers. Measures are in place to try to increase further student numbers and there is some evidence that they are starting to work - closing a department now would seem to be short-sighted and sends out the wrong messages”.
“Most importantly, the skills of physicists are crucial to research in disciplines as important as health sciences, environmental research and energy”, he went on, “There are universities without a physics department that have many physicists teaching and doing research. If physics departments close who will train the next generation of these vital researchers?”
This follows the University of Newcastle's closure of Physics a couple of years ago, and a number of high profile decisions to close Chemistry Departments in the UK in recent years. It is not clear what the UK's policy is on university science. In a nutshell, Professor Main is saying that despite the fact that the UK needs scientists, university funding follows the whim of school pupils, and how can that be right?
The Institute of Physics is one of the organisations that is working with the Higher Education Funding Council for England on ways to increase physics uptake. The funding council is said to be exploring with a group of universities in the South East of England, including Reading, how to make physics more sustainable.
For the last few days there have been many reports of damage to car oxygen sensors in England's south east. This seems to have been cause by faulty fuel supplied by some supermarker chains, including Tesco and Morrison's. Initial reports suggested the fuel was up to standard but one wonders if this is a consequence of not applying the correct tests. Expecially now that reports are emerging (for instance from The BBC) that indeed there is a contamination arising from silcon, probably from silcone contaminants. Silicones are used in diesel but damage high-tech petrol engines.
The silicones were probably introduced inadvertantly at storage rather than at the refinery stage.
This is going to get expensive for someone as it sounds as though thousands of cars have been affected.
It is suggested that poisoning by polonium-210 may have caused the death of Alexander Litvinenko, said to be a former Russian spy, in November 2006. Following his death at the end of November 2006, traces of polonium were found at several places he had visited before becoming ill. Before his death it was thought that thallium, or even radiothallium, might have been the cause of his illness. At the time of writing it is not clear who killed him, but not surprisingly the Russians deny it. Polonium-210 decays through the emission of α-particles and these emissions are noramlly easy to stop, but they are very dangerous if the polonium is inside the body.
Polonium is radioactive and present only in extremely low abundances in the environment. It is quite metallic in nature despite its location beneath oxygen in the periodic table. It is made in very small quantities through a nuclear reaction of bismuth. Neutron irradiation of 209bismuth (atomic number 83) gives 210polonium (atomic number 84).
209Bi + 1n → 210Po + e-
Polonium-210, 210Po, transmutes into the lead isotope 206Pb by the emission of an α-particle. The half life for this process is just over 138 days meaning that after 138 days one-half of the original 210Po has disappeared and after 2 times 138 days 3/4 has gone.
21084Po → 20682Pb + 42He
The short half life of polonium-210 and the heat generated with the above radioactive decay means that polonium metal generates considerable heat (141 W), meaning that the metal and its compounds self-heat. This is a useful property and polonium can be used as a small heat source (if expensive!). It can be used in space satellites for this purpose and is especially desirable as there are no moving parts. It was also used in the lunar rovers to keep internal parts warm during the frigid lunar nights.
Polonium metal is unique in that it is the only element whose structure (known as the α-form) is a simple cubic array of atoms in which each atom is surrounded by six other polonium atoms. On gentle warming to 36°C, this converts into a second form known as the β-form.
Polonium dissolves in acids to form pink hydrated Po(II), presumably as[Po(OH2)6]2+. This seems to oxidize to yellow Po(IV) species perhaps as a consequence of oxidizing agents produced through the α-particle induced decay of water. The polonium(II) oxide PoO is known but this oxidizes easily to the Po(IV) oxide PoO2.
There are few crystallographically characterised polonium compounds largely because not many researchers work with polonium and the difficulties associated with characterising such radioactive compounds. The 14-electron polonium(IV) anion [PoI6]2– is strictly octahedral meaning the lone pair is sterochemically inactive.
The Sheffield Chemdex underwent a change that was required for several reasons. You can use Chemdex to find links to many thousands of chemistry sites on the WWW, and also you can post suggestions for new links directly on to the site. The revamp continues
Sequel to an Essay on the Constitution of the Atmosphere, Published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1826; With Some Account of the Sulphurets of Lime
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