UN-BEE-LIEVABLE! HOW HUMANS HAVE BEEN EXPLOITING … · reactions, using props like gloves and...

Issue 6 // Autumn 2016bristol.ac.uk/chemistry

UN-BEE-LIEVABLE! HOW HUMANS HAVE BEEN EXPLOITING HONEYBEES SINCE THE STONE AGE

SOLVING CLIMATE CHANGE: BRISTOL LEADS THE WAYAN EXCELLENT FRUIT: THE SCIENCE OF PINEAPPLES

02 Chemistry Explored // Issue 6

WelcomeOne of our greatest challenges in putting this magazine together is the sheer number of stories to choose from.

From adventures in beeswax, pineapple scent and climate

change, to students trying their hand at stand-up comedy and University Challenge, it’s fair to say this issue covers a lot of ground. Science is nothing if not diverse. Our students and researchers, with their varied portfolio of talents and interests, are testament to this fact.

In the following pages, you can read about how students past and present have been utilising the skills acquired here in the School of Chemistry to expand into new academic and professional directions. Our regular feature, Onwards and Upwards, provides a great illustration of where a qualification in chemistry can take you.

Equally important is the access Chemistry itself provides to all the tools and materials required, as demonstrated by our very own Paul Egan, who looks after our Stores and is featured in this issue’s interview on page 15.

Head to our website for more: bris.ac.uk/chemistry

Professor Nick NormanHead of the School of Chemistry

NewsStanding up for science 03Girl power! The ultimate challenge 04Speedy science, Those who can, teach 05

FeaturesReal-world science 06Where science meets business 07Onwards and upwards 08All a-buzz about ancient apiary 10We need to talk about climate change 12Picture It... 14Paul Egan, Chemistry in numbers 15

University of Bristol

School of Chemistry

Cantock’s Close, Bristol BS8 1TS, UK

Tel +44 (0)117 928 8201

Web bris.ac.uk/chemistry

Email [email protected]

To find out more about our courses and programmes,

visit: bris.ac.uk/study

Chemistry Explored is produced in association with

Immediate Media Branded Content, Tower House,

Fairfax Street, Bristol BS1 3BN

Tel +44 (0)117 927 9009

Web immediatecontent.co.uk

Cover photograph Eric Tourneret

Production Editor Steve O’Brien

Art Editor Carolyn Bunt

Editorial Director Dan Linstead

Account Manager Hannah Mann

With thanks to Rumman Ahmed, Mary Bartlett,

Sam Briggs, Ben Brown, Jonathan Charmant, Colin Cooper,

Harry Destecroix, Julian Eastoe, Paul Egan,

Richard Evershed, Charl Faul, Natalie Fey, Steph Flynn,

Jack Heal, Eloise Hicketts, Rebecca Ingle, Sophia Laney

Paul Lawrence, Ellie Lloyd, Emma Long, Maev Moran,

Rich Pancost, Melanie Roffet-Salque, Corrie Sadler,

Becky Sage, Dudley Shallcross, Micheal Tomsett,

Steve Uphill, Kiera Watson

Freelance Writer & Communications Consultant

Aliya Mughal

Unless otherwise indicated, copyright in this publication belongs to the University of Bristol. Views expressed in Chemistry Explored do not necessarily reflect those of the University. The Editor reserves the right to edit contributions received. While care is taken to ensure accuracy of information, this cannot be guaranteed. Printed in the UK by William Gibbons.

We want to hear from you! If you’ve anything you want to tell us about your experiences at Bristol University, or if you have any thoughts about Chemistry Explored, then please email us at [email protected].

YOUR SAY

Also in this issue...

Chemistry Explored // Issue 6 03

updateThe latest news from the School of Chemistry

STANDING UP FOR SCIENCEWho said science couldn’t be funny?

Robin Ince’s The Infinite Monkey Cage, Dara O’Briain’s Science Club, Festival of the Spoken Nerd – all fine examples of how science can be as entertaining as it is educational. Now, Bristol’s very own Jack Heal joins the elevated ranks, with no less than a string of performances at the Edinburgh Fringe under his comedic belt.

“I started performing stand-up comedy at university, long before I started doing research,” says Jack who, last year, gave a three-week stint of lectures in Edinburgh called ‘Do Scientists Dream of Synthetic Sheep?’

Something of a leap from his day job researching protein design in the School of Chemistry, but one that’s proved useful.

“Using comedy is an excellent way of getting ideas across, particularly to people who may not otherwise be interested, or indeed aware, of the subject matter. I cover topics such as the science of genome engineering, synthetic life and de-extinction. By entering into discussion

with people you get honest reactions to big concepts, and you often get asked questions that you would not otherwise have contemplated.”

In May, Jack teamed up with Dr Emily Baker, Dr Drew Thomson, Caitlyn Edgell, and Chris Wood to take part in the annual

Pint of Science Festival, which takes scientists out of the lab and the lecture theatre and into the pub.

“I’ve been really enjoying trying to talk about serious topics in a funny way, and I plan to carry on doing this as much as I can,” says Jack.

UPDATE

JUST FOR LAUGHSInterested in whether synthetic science can make you laugh as well as think? Go to Jack’s website for details of forthcoming tour dates at jackheal.com. And fancy seeing more scientists try their hand at comedy? Check out the global list of events at pintofscience.com.

“I STARTED PERFORMING STAND-UP COMEDY AT UNIVERSITY, LONG BEFORE I STARTED DOING RESEARCH”


UPDATE

The ultimate challenge

Skirting Science: Inspiring the next generation of female scientists…

Who is best placed to demonstrate the principle of process optimisation? In the case of Skirting Science, an annual event aimed at encouraging girls from secondary schools to take up science at university, it was a team of female scientists from the School of Chemistry with their toolkits.

Dr Natalie Fey and Chemistry BSc graduate Eloise Hicketts (pictured) attended the Weston-super-Mare event to run a series of workshops on process, synthesis and computational design. Activities included demonstrating the use of molecular models to investigate the chiral products of alkene insertion reactions, using props like gloves and blindfolds to demonstrate the principles of process optimisation and designing homogeneous catalysts.

For many university students, going head-to-head with Jeremy Paxman is the ultimate test of academic prowess under pressure. Michael Tomsett, a 3rd Year Organic Chemistry PhD student is so far proving more than capable alongside fellow Bristol University teammates who won a coveted place on the 53rd series of University Challenge.

“I had a great time preparing for and filming the show,” said Michael. “Now that it’s finally out in the public domain it’s pretty thrilling. Especially as I’ve even had Richard Osman tweet about me! Let’s hope I don’t have to struggle with any chemistry questions going forward.”

Alongside Michael, the Bristol team, chosen from hundreds of Bristol students who applied, are: team captain Alice Clarke (2nd year Medicine), Claire Jackson (3rd year MSci Palaeontology and Evolution), Joe Rolleston (PGCE Secondary History), and David Dewar (MPhil in Musicology).

GIRL POWER!

It’s Bristol versus Paxman…!

“NOW THAT IT’S OUT IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN IT’S THRILLING, ESPECIALLY AS I’VE EVEN HAD RICHARD OSMAN TWEET ABOUT ME!”

Chemistry Explored // Issue1 05Chemistry Explored // Issue 6 05

Nurturing students’ enthusiasm for science and enabling them to transition through successive phases of their studies are invaluable skills in a teacher’s armoury.

Professor Dudley Shallcross has long been dedicated to both pursuits since joining the University of Bristol in 1999. This year, he was recognised for his work when he was granted an Honorary Fellowship by the College of Teachers for making a distinguished contribution to education.

Professor Shallcross, whose own research is focused on atmospheric chemistry, joins an impressive list of recipients, which includes Jon Coles, Mary Beard, Dame Celia Hoyles and Sir Michael Barber.

Cramming an entire doctoral study into a three-minute presentation is up there with some of the most pressurised experiences that students encounter. For Sam Briggs, a 2nd Year Chemistry PhD student, it also turned out to be one of the most successful.

Sam had “the distinct pleasure” of presenting a talk entitled ‘Polymers to Protocells: How can Chemistry Help Us Understand the Origins of Life?’ as part of this year’s 3MT Competition, hosted

by the Bristol Doctoral College during the Research without Borders Festival.

“The competition was fierce and included talks on volcanology and how effective various pain relief medications are in our pets. However, it seems that chemistry, big questions and a cheeky joke at the expense of myself here and there was the key to winning this particular competition. I look forward to hearing the results of the national semi-finals, in which I am competing.”

THOSE WHO CAN, TEACHHonouring Bristol’s finest

UPDATE

It’s Bristol versus Paxman…!

SPEEDY SCIENCESam Briggs is a three-minute wonder

“IT SEEMS THAT CHEMISTRY, BIG QUESTIONS AND A CHEEKY JOKE WAS THE KEY TO WINNING THIS COMPETITION”


PLACEMENT

For hundreds of Bristol students, industrial placements provide a gateway into professional science…

Real-world science

You’ve made it through to a science degree at one of the world’s top universities, in a chemistry department renowned for its academic credentials. You know you want to pursue a career in science but you don’t yet know how or

where – that’s where industrial placements come in. What better way to accelerate your ambitions than with a course that is exciting, challenging and potentially career-defining?

Sophia Laney, an MSci student taking the Chemistry with Industrial Experience course, did just that, working at Schlumberger Limited in Cambridge, the world’s largest oilfield services company.

“It’s been a great opportunity for me, especially being completely new to the oil and gas industry. I’ve had the chance to learn about the vast range of

technology that is required from the initial exploration stage to the production and processing stage.

“My base was in the chemistry department at Schlumberger Gould Research Centre (SGR) in Cambridge. I worked on a project focused on the development of a new material for marine seismic streamers, which are up to 10km

long in a typical array of 10 streamers per vessel. Streamers house internal electronics and hydrophones. They are towed by a specially equipped vessel to map the seabed for hydrocarbon formations.

“I had the chance to produce and test a range of thermally responsive polymer gels which enabled me to learn about block copolymers as well as techniques including rheology, NMR and GC-MS analysis.

“In November one of the gels I prepared and characterised was sent for a field trial which was very exciting. Alongside working in the lab and writing reports, I was able to attend peer reviews which are internal talks given by the researchers at SGR on the projects they are working on. I found them really interesting as it allowed me to see the other projects that were going on across all the departments and learn how research could be applied in the field.”

“IT’S BEEN A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR ME, ESPECIALLY BEING NEW TO THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY”

“Our industrial placement programmes are flagship courses,” explains Professor Julian Eastoe, the School of Chemistry Industrial Experience Coordinator. “An industrial placement year gives great added value to your degree. You learn how to make successful job applications, and get a first-hand taste of what it is like to work as an industrial research scientist.”

First year students on these courses are enrolled on a custom-designed module, developing skills essential for job applications and interviews in the chemical industry. Second year students follow core courses, but also seek an industrial position, mentored by university staff. All the industrial opportunities are carefully vetted to ensure they provide high-level scientific and training environments. During the third year, students carry out paid work in research laboratories supervised by industrial and academic supervisors. The final year is spent back in Bristol studying advanced courses and undertaking a research project.

Adding value to your degree


Where science meets business

PARTNERSHIPS

With so many far-reaching scientific ideas and discoveries, matched by a plethora of business development opportunities, how do the worlds of academia and industry find the partnership that will help them flourish?

Enter the Knowledge Centre for Materials Chemistry (KCMC). Formed in 2009, the Centre brings together some of the leading innovators in the UK. Alongside Bristol University members sit experts from the universities of Liverpool, Bolton and Manchester, supported by Innovate UK, the national innovation agency, sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

The primary raison d’etre of the Centre is to create opportunities for materials-based industry to collaborate with top-level academic researchers on projects that meet real-world needs. From initiatives focused on energy and sustainability, to expertise in electronics, photonics, multifunctional and biological materials, the KCMC has a remit that covers virtually all critical areas of technological and societal needs in the 21st century.

Dr Colin Cooper is the KCMC Knowledge Transfer Manager for Bristol’s

School of Chemistry. He says: “The model of the KCMC is that it connects, facilitates and delivers collaborative research and development projects through its unique structure and industry expertise. My role is a mix of being a technical consultant, innovation broker, and an academic-industry matchmaker!”

The inclusion of an industry steering group in the Centre’s structure means that academics and business professionals have a truly collaborative forum in which to share and evolve ideas around materials chemistry. For post-doctoral students, there is the added benefit of being able to work on projects with timescales that complement their studies, where, for instance, timescales require a quicker turnaround.

“It’s a vital gateway between academic and industry,” adds Dr Cooper. “The Centre monitors collaborative projects, liaising with both industry and academics to ensure everything progresses to plan. From my perspective, I get to advise both parties in determining just how novel a discovery might be, as well as looking closely at knowledge and capability, and intellectual property management.”

Interactive Scientific Ltd was founded by School of Chemistry/Royal Society Research Fellow Dr David Glowacki and is run by School of Chemistry Alumus Dr Becky Sage with their fellow director/founder Phill Tew. Find out more at: interactivescientific.com

Ziylo is a start-up founded by Dr Harry Destecroix, a former PhD student from School of Chemistry. Ziylo has already secured over £1m in funding and is run by a team of nine Bristol-based staff. The company is developing a new biosensor platform for glucose which could ultimately be used to monitor blood glucose levels for diabetics. The technology uses artificial carbohydrate receptors known as synthetic lectins. Find out more at: ziylo.com

The appliance of science

Bristol’s Knowledge Centre for Materials Chemistry helps connect the worlds of industry and academia

EMPLOYMENT

As part of our regular feature catching up with the post-University adventures of Bristol students, we asked some of our former undergraduates and postgraduates where they are now and how they got there…

ONWARDS AND UPWARDS


Mary Bartlett – Graduated in 2013 with a Chemistry MSc by ResearchAfter finishing a BSc in Bristol, I decided to carry on and do an MSc by Research, studying atmospheric gases and attempting to model them – with a focus on carbonyl sulfide globally and HFCs and HCFCs in Bristol. While modelling these gases I got my first taste of writing and editing software. I decided to pursue a career in software engineering and I’m now working for OVO Energy in Bristol, as a software engineer.

Ellie Lloyd – Graduated in 2015 with an MSci in Chemistry with Industrial ExperienceSince leaving Bristol I’ve started a four-year graduate scheme with HMRC. Studying Chemistry helped me in many ways, especially analytical skills and balancing detail with the need to be concise when writing reports. I hope to be able to contribute to HMRC research into development claims within companies, which would utilise the industry experience I gained at Bristol.

Ben Brown – Graduated in 2014 with a PhD in Functional NanomaterialsI studied for an MSci in Chemistry with Industrial Experience and stayed on to do a PhD in the Bristol Centre for Functional Nanomaterials. I now work for GE Oil & Gas as an Engineering Project Manager. My main responsibility is the delivery of the engineering required to design and test the products and systems being developed. The skills I learned in Bristol set me up very well for the role.

EMPLOYMENT


Steph Flynn – Graduated in 2015 with a Chemistry PhDAfter finishing my PhD I embarked on the 'nucleargraduates' scheme. The UK nuclear industry is undergoing a regeneration, gearing up for a new round of nuclear power stations and decommissioning old reactors and associated radioactive waste. This programme includes the undertaking of a number of industrial placements in companies essential to the nuclear industry. Sponsored by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, my first eight months will be spent working at their head office in Cumbria.

Rumman Ahmed - Graduated in 2011 with a Chemistry PhD Since completing my PhD in 2011, I have moved to the chemical sector, namely, the automotive and industrial coatings industry (BASF, Beckers); utilising my materials and polymer background in discovering new innovations within coatings technology. My PhD saw me working on the design and development of next generation hierarchical nanostructures with stimuli-responsive properties, having implications in both opto- and electronic devices.

Emma Long – Graduated in 2014 with an MSci in Chemistry with Study in Continental Europe My MSci in Chemistry has taken me into environmental science working as a Process Advisor for Severn Trent Water. Each sewage treatment works has to comply with environmental permits on the quantity of substances such as ammonia, phosphorus and iron, which can discharge into the river. Every day is different; I spend time in the office, on-site, in meetings and have regular contact with engineering, trade waste and environmental compliance teams to name a few.

Steve Uphill – Graduated in 2015 with a Chemistry PhDAfter completing my PhD, studying the flow of nano-particles through timber, I became Head of Development for the Koppers Performance Chemicals laboratory team in Marlow, UK. I’ve since been promoted to Technical Director, overseeing the research and development team, and biology and regulatory sections for the European operations.


All a-buzz about ancient apiary!

RESEARCH

Humans have been exploiting bees as far back as the Stone Age, according to new research by University of Bristol’s Melanie Roffet-Salque and Richard Evershed

T he ability to reconstruct past environments is one of the fundamental ways in which science

has enabled us to understand the changing nature of life on Earth.

The University of Bristol’s Organic Geochemistry Unit (OGU) uses their well-honed approach to achieve detailed reconstructions based on organic chemical biomarker ‘signatures’ or ‘fingerprints’.

This can involve teasing out plant or microbial lipids from ocean or lake sediment cores to investigate climates of the geological past, or using amino acid carbon and nitrogen isotope signatures from archaeological animal or human skeletons to unravel ancient diets.

In the area of human prehistory this approach can provide remarkable insights into how our ancestors lived. And as is so often the case with scientific exploration, they can yield some invaluable and unexpected results.

A particularly striking recent example of such serendipitous discovery has shed new light on the ecological limits of the honeybee in prehistoric times.

The study showed that Eurasian farmers have been using bee products for at least 9,000 years.

These findings emerged as a by-product of a wider research initiative performed over the past 20 years into ancient diet and agriculture, through the analysis of thousands of pottery sherds excavated from archaeological sites around the world.

The new study gathered together evidence for the presence of beeswax in the pottery vessels produced and used by the first farmers of Eurasia. Investigations were carried out into the nature of the organic compounds trapped in the clay fabric of more than 6,000 potsherds (fragments of pottery) from over 150 archaeological sites in Europe, the Near East, the Eurasian Steppe and Africa.

The basic idea is that lipids from foodstuffs cooked in pottery vessels become absorbed into the clay fabric during their use, often surviving over thousands of years, likely because of their hydrophobic nature and protection offered by the micro-structure of the porous ceramic. In the laboratory, around 2g of potsherd is cleaned to remove possible contaminating compounds – arising from the soil or handling by excavators – ground into a fine powder to open up the clay fabric structure and lipids extracted using organic

Imag

e: E

ric T

ourn

eret


solvents. The extracts are then analysed using gas chromatography (to separate the compounds) and mass spectrometry (to characterise the compounds).

Although most of the lipids detected in sherds are animal fats, over the years, beeswax lipids (C23 to C31 n-alkanes, C20 to C36 n-alkanoic acids, C38 to C52 alkyl palmitate monoesters, C40 to C54 hydroxy monoesters) have been regularly detected in archaeological sherds – providing the opportunity to investigate the close association between early farmers and the honeybee.

The distinctive chemical ‘fingerprint’ of beeswax was detected at multiple

Neolithic sites across Eurasia and North Africa, indicating just how widespread the association between humans and honeybees was in prehistoric times. For example, beeswax was detected in cooking pots from an archaeological site in Turkey, dating to nearly 9,000 years ago – the oldest evidence yet for the use of bee products by Neolithic farmers. The finding of beeswax in the pottery of the earliest farmers to populate the British Isles 6,000 years ago resolved a dispute suggesting the honeybee was introduced by the Romans over 4,000 years later.

The most obvious reason for exploiting the honeybee would be for honey, as this would be a rare source of sweetener for prehistoric people. However, beeswax could also have been used in its own right, for all sorts of technical, ritual, cosmetic and medicinal purposes.

This study provides the first evidence for the palaeoecological distribution of an economically and culturally important animal. The lack of a fossil record of the honeybee implies that it was invisible for most of the past 10,000 years. Previously, rare evidence for the exploitation of the honeybee by prehistoric people came from ancient rock art showing honey hunters and

RESEARCH

“THE RESEARCH WAS PUBLISHED IN NATURE LAST NOVEMBER AND FEATURED ON THE FRONT COVER”

➤ Candles ➤ Lip balm ➤ Leather waterproofing ➤ Embalming procedures ➤ Wood filler ➤ Tack cloth ➤ Glass etching ➤ Cosmetics ➤

Medicinal creams ➤ Fishing lines ➤

Lubricant for doors, windows and tools ➤ Dental procedures ➤ Wax for skis and toboggans ➤ Furniture polish ➤

Soap making ➤ Beard and moustache wax ➤ Crayons ➤ Sealing on jam jars ➤ Reconstructive surgery

That’s handy!Just some of the items that beeswax is used in…

Pharaonic Egyptian murals showing early scenes of beekeeping.

However, the close association between early farmers and the honeybee remained uncertain until now. The study shows the widespread exploitation of the honeybee by early farmers and pushes back the chronology of honeybee association to substantially earlier dates than known previously.

The research was published in Nature last November and featured on the front cover. The paper builds on over 20 years of research carried out at the OGU led by Professor Richard P. Evershed FRS. Co-authors of the paper include a number of archaeological collaborators and excavators without whom none of this work would be possible.


We need to talk about climate changeBristol’s studies are leading the way we understand climate change…

Words: Aliya Mughal

Hardly a day goes by when climate change isn’t reported on. Science, politics, geography, culture and the arts are all engaging in how, as a global society, we might respond to the challenges posed by the numerous threats now presented to our biosphere. Engaging with students of all ages, as the next generation who will find themselves at the forefront of these efforts, is therefore crucial.

Bristol chemists, from within the School of Chemistry and via the Cabot Institute, the University’s interdisciplinary research centre focused on environmental uncertainty, have been leading the charge for a number of years now.

“Disseminating world-class research at appropriate levels to a wide range of audiences should be the ultimate goal of all researchers,” says Professor Dudley Shallcross. “Running high-profile discussions on past and future climates at the Royal Society or advising various government agencies on air quality and publishing in high-profile journals are important routes to pursue. However, it’s

equally important to ensure that we’re communicating with a wider audience so more people have the knowledge and understanding to effect positive change.”

Along with fellow atmospheric and biogeochemists Professor Rich Pancost, Professor Shallcross, Simon O’Doherty and colleagues have spent more than 20 years studying human impacts on the atmosphere past and present, and the effects of gases such as methane and carbon dioxide – work that has formed key elements of successive Intergovernmental Panel and Climate Change (IPCC) reports.

At the educational level, Bristol’s studies of urban air quality, greenhouse gases and climate change have also fed directly into special events, curriculum teaching and teacher training at primary and secondary levels, arming teachers with new ways to engage their students in chemistry.

Bristol ChemLabS is one of Chemistry’s success stories, given its widespread and ongoing impact in encouraging students of all levels to grasp and apply fundamental science concepts, especially through its

award-winning outreach programme. Led by former secondary school teacher

Tim Harrison, ChemLabS has guided researchers and teachers in how to use scientific language to communicate with different audiences, using demonstrations and experiments that help people understand otherwise esoteric ideas.

Through ChemLabS, using the context of climate change and urban air pollution, teachers at all levels can connect seemingly abstract chemical equations with real-world challenges and environmental concerns.

Communication plays a strong part in the training of PhD students, who are given the skills to share their work with students, teachers and the general public. This in turn has had positive impacts on their own research. Working with other PhD students on outreach projects, sometimes from very different areas within chemistry or further afield, has sparked new and interesting discussions about the direction in which science is going.

Outside the classroom, more than 100 public lectures – including talks at the

COMMUNICATION


Cheltenham Science Festival, a series of National Science Weeks in South Africa and similar events in Namibia, Jersey and Malta – has brought world-leading research to the wider and international public.

The atmospheric science research that

underpinned much of Bristol ChemLabS’ outreach programme is strongly aligned with the University’s Cabot Institute, which conducts research on the challenges arising from how we live with, depend on and affect our planet. The Institute’s reseach communities focus on the six major issues at the centre of the human-planetary relationship: global environmental change, food, water and energy security, natural hazards and future cities and communities.

Cabot Institute Director Professor Pancost says, “The Cabot Institute brings these diverse communities together because interconnected challenges require integrated solutions. Each theme is exceptional, comprising dozens of academics from disciplines spanning the entire University and partners from government, industry, civil organisations and the public. And the School of Chemistry is at the heart of of all of them, from studying climate change and air quality to managing our soil and developing new forms of energy.”

COMMUNICATION

“THE SCHOOL OF CHEMISTRY IS TAKING THE LEAD ON SOLVING OUR GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES”

The Sun warms the Earth. Based on the distance between the Earth and the Sun the average Earth temperature should be about 10°C. Water will be a liquid so life can exist.

However, clouds and ice sheets reflect back to space 30% of the incoming energy from the Sun. So the Earth is only warmed by 70% of the Sun’s energy. This would make the Earth’s average temperature -18°C. Water would be a solid so there would be very little life on Earth!

Natural levels of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, act as a blanket, trapping heat from the Earth and stopping it from escaping, retaining energy in the atmosphere.

GRANNY MODEL OF CLIMATE CHANGEChemLabS' simple climate model

Illust

ratio

ns: M

ike

Stua

rt

Picture It…What gives the pineapple its appeal?

RESEARCH


About the author

Kiera Watson graduated with a First Class Honours BSc in Chemistry in July 2016. For her final year project she participated in the Undergraduate Ambassadors’

Scheme (UAS), spending time researching in a local secondary school, as well as supporting students and working alongside teachers. She also contributed the following piece to the School of Chemistry’s Picture It… blog, which delves into the science of everyday objects.

The pineapple (Ananas comosus) is a tropical plant and a member of the Bromeliaceae family; it is native to southern Brazil and Paraguay, but now grown all over the world. Costa Rica is currently the top producer of pineapples with 2.7 million metric tons, followed by Brazil and the Philippines. Pineapple plants were transported from their original territory to the Caribbean by native Indians who called them ‘anana’, which translates to ‘excellent fruit’. Columbus, who encountered the

pineapple while exploring the island of Guadeloupe in 1493, brought it back to Europe, where it soon became a symbol

of wealth and privilege.Pineapples make

a healthy snack (often consumed as juice, with thanks to the piña colada!) due to their high vitamin C and

manganese content. They also contain a high concentration of bromelain, a

proteolytic (protein-digesting) mixture of enzymes that are responsible for the

tenderisation of the tongue

often experienced when pineapples are consumed, but also for the medicinal uses of this plant. Bromelain has been considered as a treatment for arthritis.

The scent of a pineapple can be evoked by the compound ethyl butanoate (shown in the main picture), an ester which occurs naturally in fruit. Esters (molecules with the functional group R-COO-R) have very distinct aromas; those with a small number

of carbons tend to smell of typical organic solvents (think glues) whereas those with longer carbon chains have more interesting smells that are often described as similar to those of fruits.

It is worth noting that scents can be very subjective such that descriptions for the scent of butyl methanoate range from raspberry to fruity and rum. Similarly, ethyl butanoate is added to food to evoke and enhance the flavour of oranges, cherries, mango, peach, fig, plum and, of course, pineapple.

“PINEAPPLES MAKE A HEALTHY SNACK DUE TO THEIR HIGH VITAMIN C AND MANGANESE CONTENT”

For more Picture It... blogs, go to: chempics.wordpress.com i


Store Lord

Chemistry in numbers

Each year, the School of Chemistry gets through vast

amounts of materials. In many cases, the by-products and

waste are recycled:

What’s a typical day for you, from arriving in the morning to going home at night?A typical day is coming in, checking my emails and looking at people’s queries, whether it's account managers, students or suppliers… Then we’re looking at parcels coming through the door – it could be 50 or 60 parcels and they all have to be unpacked, checked, receipted, and that takes up a large part of the day. There’s three of us and we all have our part to play.

We open the counter at 10.30am and you get students, staff and academics coming down and picking up their deliveries that have come in. That is quite intensive! That goes on until we close at 12pm. Then I’m usually ordering stock before we open again at 2pm. There’s always something going on, you’re always busy. There’s never any time to relax, it’s a really fast-paced day.

Is it quite a demanding job? It’s quite an operation, the logistics of

getting all this stock in. It’s quite a challenge because we only have a limited amount of space and the turnover is really fast. You have to be on top of the game all the time to make sure it’s available, because at the end of the day, it’s their bread and butter. If they don’t have the tools to do the job then they can’t do it.

What appealed to you about this job?The University of Bristol is a really nice place to work. I like to help people the best I can, to make sure they get everything that they need and that it’s always available to them. I feel disappointed if I haven’t got the stock there.

Do you have a favourite place to relax in Bristol?I like the Llandoger Trow down on King Street. It’s its olde worlde quality – that really appeals to me, rather than some modern, sparse pub.

We talk to Paul Egan, who, as the School’s Purchasing and Stores Officer, is the go-to guy for all your chemistry needs...

17,000Lof acetone (enough to fill nearly 7,000 bottles)

8,000+litres of bottled solvent

3,000+ glass bottles recycled

10,000 paper towel rolls

30,000L of waste solvent recycled,

providing an alternative fuel source in cement kilns

4,000+ boxes of disposable gloves

1,500 bottles of gas exchanged

500+parcels dispatched

2.5 tonnes of paper issued

A Bright Bunch of Bow-Ties by Patrick KingHere artificial protein fibres are glowing under fluorescent light. The tiny individual fibres are designed to assemble themselves into structures such as the ‘bow ties’ shown.

Horse Feathers By Judith BrownThese are photographs of a sample of a dye called ‘Acid Yellow 23’, complexed (weakly joined) with a surfactant. This dye is also known as Tartrazine, and it is sometimes used as food colouring.

Atomic Dancing by David GlowakiYear 9 schoolchildren manipulate a simulation of gas particles in danceroom Spectroscopy (dS). This is the world's first science-art installation, combining cutting edge-computing and the latest nanoscience and quantum physics research with music and dance.

Chem@rt is a University of Bristol initiative that brings chemistry into the classroom and stimulates literacy and creativity. Here are a small selection of the stunning images created by our scientists…

Chemistry art

UN-BEE-LIEVABLE! HOW HUMANS HAVE BEEN EXPLOITING … · reactions, using props like gloves and...

Documents

Transcript of UN-BEE-LIEVABLE! HOW HUMANS HAVE BEEN EXPLOITING … · reactions, using props like gloves and...