70
€5 including VAT. £4 NI and GB.
Science
SPIN May/June 2015
The Shapeshifting Punkp26
Dirty Old Town
Dublin’s Industrial Heritage p16
What Determines Gender Balance?p12
Exploring the dual nature of
Light
P30
?
An untapped food source P36
Visit us at www.sciencespin.com
What’s the quality of my environment Find out on My Local Environment
Air Quality
Timpeall an TĂ
Water Features
The Environmental Protection Agency has developed a new website called My Local Environment.
Historic Mines
Type in where you live and, at the touch of a button, you can access to a whole range of information on environmental topics in your area. Log on to: http://gis.epa.ie/myenvironment#/search to find out more.
EPA Regulated Activities Radiation Monitoring Stations Radon Map Soil Type Coal Restriction Status River Catchment Aquifer type
http ://gis.epa.ie/myenvironment #/search
Ireland’s STEM, Nature and discovery Magazine
Contents May/June 2015
70
€5 including VAT. £4 NI and GB.
Science
SPIN
Feeling Social?
May/June 2015
The Shapeshifting Punkp26
Dirty Old Town
Dublins Industrial Heritage p16
What Determines Gender Balance?p12
Exploring the dual nature of
Light
P30
?
An untapped food source P36
Visit us at www.sciencespin.com
Science SPIN Issue 70
What determines gender balance? p12
Dublin’s Industrial Heritage p15
Nature of Light p30
Regulars
3
Upfront Brief Science Snippets
Production & Design Elusive Edge www.elusivedge.com
22
Science and technology careers Science & industry profiles
Commercial Manager Alan Doherty alan@sciencespin.com
26
Family Science
32
Young Scientists
24
Weird & Wonderful Animals Sive Finlay
Features
10
Blue or Pink? Julia Galbenu What determines gender balance?
12
Mourne Granite Paddy Gaffikin A closer look at the speckled granite of the Mourne Mountains.
14
Dirty Old Town Tom Kennedy An in depth look at Dublin’s industrial past.
28
Light Margaret Franklin Exploring the Dual Nature of Light.
36
An Earthquake That Shook Ireland Anthea Lacchia A BTYSE Project that won three students the Geology Prize.
37
Fuel Cells Jacob O’Neal How do they work?
Editor Tom Kennedy editor@sciencespin.com
Production Support Marie-Claire Cleary marieclaire@sciencespin.com Editorial Support Con O’Rourke Printed By Turner Group, Longford Subscribe From www.sciencespin.com/subscribe or www.spinstore.eu
Science Spin Ltd. 5 Serpentine Rd, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 www.sciencespin.com Published by Albertine Kennedy Publishing Cloonlara, Swinford, Co Mayo
Christina Campbell Student projects from the BTYSE
Publication of Science SPIN has been made possible with the help of our sponsors.
Letter from the Editor
Editor in Chief Page 02 Science SPIN Magazine Issue 70
w w w.sciencespin.com
- U P F RO N T -
Can we beat cancer?
S
cientists involved in the Breakthrough Cancer Research group, based in Cork, take a positive view that coming up with new treatments is “not beyond us.” In a statement to mark World Cancer Day, the group noted that survival rates have increased, but of the 36,000 people diagnosed with cancer each year in Ireland, 8,800 die prematurely because of the disease. The main reason for this is that treatments for a number of cancers have not yet been developed. As one of the lead researchers, Dr Declan Soden, observed, developing these new treatments is expensive, so if scientists are to continue making progress, they need good financial support. Dr Soden has been working on a minimally invasive approach that makes tumors 1000 times better at absorbing drugs by giving them a brief zap of electricity. With better targeting and absorption, cancer patients would not have to suffer from chemotherapy side-effects. Another member of the group, Dr Sharon McKenna is investigating why some cancers respond initially to treatment, then for some reason, reemerge. Dr Mark Tangney, an expert in gene therapy, is looking at how probiotic bacteria can be engineered to enter and destroy tumor cells. All these lines of research offer a lot of hope that effective treatments can be developed even for the most difficult forms of cancer.
Pictured above: Dr Declan Soden’s approach of giving tumors a zap of electricity could reduce the need for chemotherapy.
Giant guinea pigs
S
outh American guinea pigs were not always so small. One of the ancestral species from 3 million years ago, Josephoartigasis monesi, had a body mass estimated to have been about 1,000 kg. The giant guinea pig is the largest fossil rodent ever known and it was first described in 2008 by Dr Andres Rinderknecht, of The Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, Montevideo, and Dr Ernesto Blanco, of Facultad de Ciencias, Instituto de Fısica, Montevideo. According to a study conducted by scientists at the University of York and the Hull York Medical School, the prominent front teeth were so powerful that they must have been used like the tusks of an elephant. Dr Philip Cox estimated that the bite would have been as powerful as a tiger’s, while the teeth could have been capable of withstanding three times the force.
Above: Comparison of a silhouette of Josephoartigasia monesi with a person and a drawing of a pacarana, its closest living relative – Credit: Andres Rinderknecht and Ernesto Blanco Top Left: Artist's impression of Josephoartigasia monesi – Credit: James Gurney Left: Josephoartigasia monesi fossils – Credit: Andres Rinderknecht and Ernesto Blanco Issue 70 Science SPIN Magazine Page 03
w w w.sciencespin.com
- U P F RO N T -
Enceladus plumes
Saturn’s Active Moon
T
en years ago it was discovered that Saturn’s 500 km diameter moon, Enceladus, was giving off icy plumes of water vapour. Study revealed that the plumes are rich in sodium and gravitational measurements from the Cassini spacecraft indicated that the water comes from a 10 km deep ocean hidden below a 30 to 40 km icy crust. Cassini’s instruments have shown that dust particles around Saturn are rich in silicon, and scientists believe that these originate on the seafloor of Enceladus. Hydrothermal processes would dissolve minerals from the rocky interior, and these are ejected with the plumes. More recent findings show that methane is being produced on Enceladus, and as Nicolas Altobelli, project scientist for Cassini, observed, the moon has all the ingredients needed to support life.
Cutaway graphic of hydrothermal activity on Enceladus. Page 04 Science SPIN Magazine Issue 70
w w w.sciencespin.com
- U P F RO N T -
BICEP2 Telescope Team withdraw their claims of detecting
‘Gravity waves’.
O
n March 17th 2014, the team of researchers in charge of the BICEP2 telescope, located near the South Pole, reported that they had observed spiral patterns in the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation. They interpreted this finding as evidence that they had detected ‘gravity waves’. It is postulated that these waves resulted from the very rapid expansion of the universe, known as ‘inflation’ that occurred right after the so called’ BIG BANG’ which marked the beginning of space and time. Issue 64 of ‘Science Spin’ magazine published an article at the time, reporting on the BICEP2 findings.*
Cuts Government funding for environmental groups in Northern Ireland is being reduced and, as the Mourne Hertiage Trust reports, this is going to have a detrimental impact on management of sensitive areas. According to the Trust, core funding from the Northern Ireland Environment Agency will cease in June. In a statement expressing alarm at these cuts, the Trust declared that although it has been established in 1997 to meet a need for local management of a designated area of outstanding natural beauty, losing three-quarters of their funding will make it very difficult to do that job. From £225,000. Funds from the NI Environmental Agency have been reduced to £56,000 for 2015-2016. www.mournelive.com
Scientists studying data from the Planck space telescope soon began to question the interpretation of the BICEP2 team. The Planck results seemed to indicate that the polarization that was observed could be caused by light bouncing off tiny particles of interstellar dust within our own Milky Way Galaxy. Results from the Keck array telescope, located in Antarctica, supported this view. On January 30th of this year (2015) the European Space Agency (ESA) published the results of a joint analysis of data from BICEP2/Keck and Planck experiments. The analysis has found no conclusive evidence of primordial gravitational waves. The BICEP team has now withdrawn its claim of having detected these waves and Science Spin wishes to put the record straight. This is how the scientific method works. When a major scientific discovery is announced, it is checked and double checked by independent teams of scientists. The EPA announcement may be read here:
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Planck/Planck_gravitational_waves_remain_elusive
Inflation is not entirely ruled out, but the search is still on to find the evidence. Watch this space! * http://sciencespin.com/index.php/articles/95-issue-64
Compact Genome
A
mong plants that capture prey the Humped Bladderwort, Utricularia gibba, is even more peculiar than others in that in spite of having a relatively small genome compared to other species, a higher proportion of its genes are active. The plant lives in an aquatic environment with no roots, and its thread-like branches have miniature traps that use a vacuum to capture prey. In a study of the plant, Victor Albert, from the University of Buffalo, remarked that the incredibly compact genome is the result of rapid turnover, in which genetic material was acquired and eliminated quickly. The bladderwort has ended up with more active genes than many other plants with much larger genomes. For example, U gibba’s genome is six times smaller than a grape, yet it has 28,500 genes compared to 26,300 in the grape. The Bladderwort is rich in genes that enable the plant to break down meaty fibres, and its genes that are linked to synthesis of cell walls that are suitable for an aquatic environment.
Issue 70 Science SPIN Magazine Page 05
w w w.sciencespin.com
- U P F RO N T -
Non-invasive delivery
R
esearchers at Waterford Institute of Technology, in collaboration with industry and college partners, have developed an alternative to conventional injections for delivery of drugs through the skin. The approach is based on using micro-needles that are just long enough to penetrate the skin surface, without reaching the underlying pain receptors. The technique, developed by the Pharmaceutical and Molecular Research Centre (PMBRC) in collaboration with Cardiff University, An-eX Analytical Services and EirGen Pharma, can be used for delivery of various pharmaceuticals, vaccines and other medications in a non-invasive way. More information from www.pmbrc.org
Dr Niall O’Reilly, PMBRC Centre Manager, holding a drug-loaded microneedle array which allows for more efficient means of drug delivery through the skin. Photo by Patrick Browne.
Image: ESA, NASA, A. Gal-Yam (Weizmann Institute of Science)
Galactic collisions
E
verything in space is on the move, but what happens when one galaxy comes too close to another? The space telescope, Hubble, has captured this aftermath of a collision causing the spiral arms of a galaxy to twist out of shape and sending star-forming material to stream into space.
The galaxy, known as NGC 7714, is 100 million light years distant from Earth, and the distortion was caused by a smaller galactic companion drifting closer to it about 100 to 200 million years ago. In a gigantic tug of war, a long starry trail formed between the two galaxies. This acted like a pipeline, funneling material from the smaller to the larger galaxy. Page 06 Science SPIN Magazine Issue 70
w w w.sciencespin.com
- U P F RO N T -
Preserving the dead
L
ong before the ancient Egyptians began to mummify their dead, the Chinchorro inhabitants of northern Chile and southern Peru were taking great care to preserve bodies of men, women, children and unborn foetuses. According to Marcela Sepulveda, professor of archaeology in the anthropology department and Archeometric Analysis and Research Laboratories at the University of Tarapacå, the procedure was general and it was not just the elite who received this special treatment. Over 100 mummies, dating back from 7,000 or more years ago are housed at the university, but Marcela has expressed concerns about their rapid deterioration. She described the rate of deterioration over the past ten years as alarming, with some specimens turning into a black ooze. Experts from both sides of the Atlantic were called in to find out what was causing the deterioration and to determine if anything could be done to prevent further damage. To prepare bodies for mummification, explained Marcela, the organs and brains were removed, and the body cavities filled with straw or ash, while a stick, connected to the skull, kept the spine straight. Animal skins were used for patching, and finally the body was coated with a paste, the colour of which has helped archaeologists to assign mummies to different Chinchorro epochs over a 3,000 year period. Analysis by Alice DeAraujo, a research fellow at Harvard, revealed that the deterioration was due to the action of microbes and that rising air moisture levels had caused them to become active. As it happens, humidity at the museum has risen over the previous decade. Identifying the cause solved the museum’s problem, but concerns did not stop there. Chinchorro mummies often come to light during construction projects, and, as one of the scientists involved in the study, Prof Ralph Mitchell from Harvard, observed, once these remains become exposed to humid air they begin to deteriorate.
Above: Alice DeAraujo found that rising humidity had triggered the growth of micro-organisms.
Below: One of the mummies at the San Miguel de Azapa Museum in Arica, Chile showing signs of accelerating decay. Photograph: Vivien Standen.
Issue 70 Science SPIN Magazine Page 07
w w w.sciencespin.com
- U P F RO N T -
The Dead Sea
A
t 420 metres below sea level, the Dead Sea is the lowest point on the Earth’s surface. Although fed by the River Jordan, the Dead Sea has no outlet, the level has been dropping, and it is so salty that fishes cannot live there. With over 34 per cent salt, the water is almost 10 times as salty as the world’s oceans. In this Landsat-8 image looking over the Jordan Rift Valley, the evaporation ponds producing sodium chloride and other salts are visible as green rectangles below the Sea. Amman, capital of Jordan can be seen at the upper right, and Jerusalem is to the west of the Dead Sea. In the lower left corner of the image, the difference between land use in Israel and the Gaza Strip can be seen clearly.
Page 08 Science SPIN Magazine Issue 70
Seabed features at 2000m deep identified by the EM302 echo sounder on the RV Celtic Explorer.
David O’Sullivan, surveyor & marine biologist
Bottom right: EM302 echo sounder swath showing seabed features at depths of 4500m
Sea trials of new multibeam systems on the RV Celtic Explorer “I am somewhere in the Bay of Biscay. The swell is relentless and I have been thrown from my bunk. It’s that kind of night. Oh, the heaving ocean is no place for the weak of heart.” Two new Konigsberg multibeam echo sounder systems recently fitted on the RV Celtic Explorer are being tested at sea. David O’Sullivan, marine biologist and surveyor working for INFOMAR*, Ireland’s national seabed mapping programme, explains the purpose of the trials while on the research vessel RV Celtic Explorer. Both dolphins and whales use sophisticated sonar to understand and explore their marine environment and out here on the high seas we are trying to do the same. To accurately test the response of the new multibeam systems we needed deep water, which brings us to the stormy Bay of Biscay and this sea-sick scientist being thrown from his bunk. The new systems are used for transmitting and receiving acoustic signals through the water, which tell us very important information about the seabed beneath.
Imagine bouncing a tennis ball off a hard path and then off a grassy area nearby. The ball would bounce back quicker and harder from the path than it would from the grass. The same goes for the sound-waves. If we travel over some exposed bedrock the signal is sharper as nearly all the sound is reflected. When we travel over mud some of the sound energy is absorbed by the soft sediment and the returning signal is weaker. The data collected during surveys can be used to identify the location of dangerous submerged rocks and calculate the exact water depth to create safe navigation charts of our coastline. Habitat maps can also be constructed that identify biologically-sensitive areas and help ensure there is minimal human impact upon them. John Hughes Clarke, hydrographic consultant and expert from the University of New Brunswick, aboard to oversee the trials, described the new multibeam systems as ‘a great system on a great ship’. This is particularly true when you consider the RV Celtic Explorer, just over 65m long and 15m wide, while in the stormy ocean is able to provide a continuous swath of around 8.5km on the seabed in the deepest parts of the ocean at 4500m. That means we can continuously map over 4km of seabed on either side of the ship, which is an impressive wing-span.
The deep water EM302 can operate in depths of 8000m and uses low-frequency sounds (15 kHz) that travel further through water. The technology works in the same way that large marine mammals, like great whales, use low-frequency acoustic pulses to communicate over large distances. The ‘songs’ of the humpback whales are one such example.
After a few stormy days and sleepless nights the INFOMAR team successfully completed the tests covering nearly 800 nautical miles. The instrumentation is now fully calibrated and operational so INFOMAR can continue to produce high quality maps of Ireland’s ocean floor.
The EM 2040 echosounder uses much higher frequencies (300 kHz) that are more effective over shorter distances, giving better resolution. This type of sounder works in a similar way to the high pitched ‘chatter’ dolphins communicate with.
Safer navigation and habitat mapping are just two important products of the INFOMAR seabed mapping program produce. All our data and maps are freely available to examine and download from www.infomar.ie.
As we sail over the seabed, the data collected by the echosounders enables us to identify different ground-types under the ocean.
*INFOMAR (Integrated Mapping for the Sustainable Development of Ireland’s Marine Resources), jointly coordinated and delivered by the Marine Institute and the Geological Survey of Ireland.
Issue 70 Science SPIN Magazine Page 09
What Determines Gender Balance?
Logerhead turtles are an endangered species and a balanced sex ratio would help them survive. Photo, Upendra Kanda
Warmer temperatures producing more or all females
Pink Julia Galbenu is a student of biological sciences at Oxford University. In addition to her studies, Julia writes about biology.
Blue Cooler temperatures producing more or all males
temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD)
Page 10 Science SPIN Magazine Issue 70
L
ooking at our human population we know that about half of us are female and half of us are male. The way this 1:1 sex ratio is determined is by genetic means, you get an X from your mum and either an X or Y from your dad; meaning there is an equal chance to be a female (XX) or male (XY). This seems to be a good way to achieve an even sex ratio. However quite a few animals go about a far more daring way to determine the sex of their offspring. They let the environment do it — in particular by using the temperature. This variable element determines the sex of all crocodiles, and most reptiles and turtles. And if the temperature over a long period of time doesn’t seem variable enough to you, it is actually the particular temperature during the incubation of the egg which makes all the decisions. This risky and bizarre mechanism is known as temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD). It is something the enchanting loggerhead turtle goes through; with cooler temperatures producing more or all males and warmer temperatures producing more or all females — there is however, also a ‘pivotal temperature’ which produces an even sex ratio. For the loggerhead turtle it is therefore not only the time of year the female lays her eggs which is crucial, but also the way she does it — in this way nests on the open beach versus beneath vegetation produce hugely different sex ratios. So how can such an unusual character work? In truth, we are not so sure — but that is simply what makes it all the more exciting. There are suggestions that certain enzymes involved in female or male development may only work at particular temperatures. Or that particular temperatures may result in signals which produce hormones, these in turn result in either female or male development. Overlooking the exact mechanics of what is going on, the crucial question I can hear you asking, is why? Why are animals letting the sex of their offspring be determined by temperature? And whether you may find it intriguing or aggravating, again the answer is uncertain. Nonetheless, theories and research have given us some direction. One theory is that TSD may have evolved due to it increasing the group fitness. This involves individuals in the population being aware that laying eggs at different times of the year or in different ways will influence the sex of their offspring, and so using it to their advantage. However there hasn’t been any evidence in females changing their behaviour to decide the sex of their offspring; therefore leading us to a dead end. Inbreeding provides another theory; due to offspring from parents being all female or all male means that inbreeding is greatly reduced. The effects of inbreeding are very bad and can lead to a huge fitness loss. This is because it results in a reduction of genetic variation and so makes it more likely that two undesirable characteristics are brought together. There, however, has been little research into this theory, making it hard to know how much we can rely on it. There are also theories that TSD may not be an adaptation at all. This involves TSD coming up in evolution a long time ago and not conveying an advantage or disadvantage, this effectively neutral trait therefore was not acted on by negative selection and so still exists today. A problem with this theory is that TSD appears to have evolved multiple times; something which demands it to be advantageous. A proposal which makes more sense whilst also being accompanied with evidence, is that TSD may provide individual fitness benefits; in which particular temperatures are better for one sex. The Agamid lizards provide us with an example of this case; here eggs laid in the cooler early part of the year tend to be male-biased, this benefits the males as allows them to obtain more growth prior to hibernation. In this short-lived species this is essential as allows the males to reach reproductive maturity much sooner, and so be able to reproduce quicker and be more successful. So why does this all matter? Whether or not you are getting sick of the two seemingly most used words by scientists, politicians and even your local weather person; global warming is still striking up new-found problems. Warmer sand temperatures may result in a skewed female-biased sex ratio in turtle populations, causing problematic results of finding a mate or indeed reducing the variety to choose the best one. Global warming also causing climate change results in the reverse of the prior problem, which is that increased rainfall may have marked cooling effects on nests, fewer females therefore means fewer offspring can be produced. You may be thinking, yes turtle populations are known for their endangerment but also for the high amount of conservation efforts. Despite this being true, research has shown that little concern on the temperature of incubation has been given in artificial hatcheries. This has resulted in conservation practices producing highly skewed sex ratios. And so as the conservationists are beaming with smiles as the small ones propel themselves to the sea all due to their hard efforts, their minds are naively blank with the possibility that they may be doing more harm than good. Rather than throwing our hands up in despair, of what seems to be an endless circle of problems after problems, we may be able to draw a line of hope. What appears to be the answer is a combination of scientific and conservation work, and importantly communication between the two. By finding out the pivotal temperature of producing an even sex ratio we can be sure that our next photogenic release can have the snappy caption of ‘saving the world: one female, one male at a time’.
Issue 70 Science SPIN Magazine Page 11
MOURNE GRANITE But for all that I found there, [in London] I might as well be Where the Mountains o’ Mourne sweep down to the sea. P. French (1854-1920).
View of the Mournes, from Dundrum, showing Slieve Donard (approx. 852m), which is the highest peak in N. Ireland. [Photo: Mr. P. Millar, Belfast Geologists’ Society.]
General description This speckled, hard, light-coloured granite is the main rock forming the Mourne Mountains in Co. Down. In fact there are five types of this granite in the Mournes – but the differences are only slight. The overall colour of the five granites varies slightly and, because of the difference between their rate of cooling, their grain size is a bit different. The five granites also show minor differences in their chemical composition and mineralogy. A sample of fresh (unweathered) Mourne Granite. Mineralogy Like all granites, the component minerals are tightly bound to each other – giving a mosaic appearance – producing a hard rock which, when fresh, is difficult to split with a (geological) hammer. The main minerals present are called feldspars (there are two types), while the other conspicuous mineral is called biotite, which is black and shiny in appearance. Quartz, a glassy-grey mineral, also occurs, but in a smaller proportion than the feldspars and is a bit more difficult to distinguish. Some of the Mourne Granite, in situ, has a rusty-brown patina. This is caused by weathering of the rock – the brownish patches are due mainly to the presence of iron. Severely weathered specimens can be broken more easily than fresh ones.
A specimen of (cut and polished) Mourne Granite. In some of the Mourne Granite cavities can occur, and sometimes minerals, such as beryl, can be found in these. (Emerald is the gem variety of green beryl.) Radioactive Mourne Granite! Mourne Granite contains radioactive chemical elements, for example uranium and thorium. But, for those frequenting the Mourne Mountains: don’t worry! The radiation emitted, even though it can be detected, in situ, by a Geiger counter, is not at a dangerous level for those traversing the Mournes. The radioactive elements occur as trace elements. Recent analytical data, for some Mourne Granite rocks, show, on average, a level of around 20 p.p.m. (parts per million) for uranium and similar concentrations of thorium. If a chemical element has a concentration of 20 p.p.m. in a rock it means that in one million grams of the rock there are 20 grams of the element. Because it contains radioactive chemical elements, Mourne Granite can be dated. The latest dating gave a figure of approximately 56 million years old.
A prism of the mineral beryl (just right of the scaler) in a sample of Mourne Granite. Page 12 Science SPIN Magazine Issue 70
Dublin’s
industrial heritage
Tom Kennedy writes that for over a thousand years Dubliners have an unbroken record of making things.
L
ong before Dublin became a city, bronze, gold and iron were being worked in Ireland and even the demanding skill of applying glassy enamels to metals was well established. These traditions probably never really faded away, and Maurice Craig, author of the classic book Dublin 1660-1860, when writing about the gold and silversmiths of the 18th century thought it “not entirely fanciful to postulate continuity with the unsurpassed Irish work of pre-historic times.” Because the surviving objects are so pleasing to the eye we usually refer to them as works of art, but we should not forget that they are equally the product of industry. While producing beautiful objects was nothing new, trade in manufactured products began to take off with the arrival of the Norsemen. Superior technology, in the form of sleek clinker-built boats and advanced weaponry had brought the Vikings to Dublin and on settling, these northerners were obviously happy to absorb all that was useful in the old Irish craft traditions. The settlers by the banks of the Liffey produced for trade, and their growing town is known to have supported shoemakers, bronze smiths, blacksmiths, carpenters, tanners, coopers, weavers, potters and masons. Iron was smelted on the spot from ore, and the metal shaped into hammers, axes, knives, chisels, punches, awls, bits for boring, shears and saws. Furnace slag and baked clay crucibles, found under High Street, show that metal workers of the Grafton Street in 1878. ninth century were active in that area, and they were highly skilled. Brendan O’Riordain writing about his excavations at Wood Quay, said that “large numbers of bronze pins, some with traces of gilding and tinning have been found.” Some activities were of surprisingly large scale. Over one thousand leather shoe soles were recovered from one site, and this suggests an intense level of activity. Another prominent industry, for which Dublin seems to have become a centre, was comb making. Combs have been found in abundance, and as these were mostly carved from red deer antlers, it is thought that country dwellers must have collected these in late spring for sale to the Dublin comb makers. These country dwellers may well have been paid in silver. Coins were being minted in Dublin and the Old Dublin Society noted of its collection that “those issued between 995 and 1020 were a good imitation of the Anglo Saxon coins issued by Aetheired or Cnut.”
Page 14 Science SPIN Magazine Issue 70
In most cases the Irish coins were slightly lighter, but this did not prevent them being used in international trade, and an interesting feature is that they were marked with a cross. Not for religious reasons however, but to facilitate fracturing into halves and quarters, and hence the survival into modern pre-euro times of the half-penny.
Sihtric, king of Dublin from 989 to 1036 issued his own coinage.
As we now know, through the wealth of objects recovered through excavation, the settlement in Dublin rapidly became a busy centre for manufacturing and trade. If something had value it could be bought and sold, and these articles of commerce included young slaves, some captured, like Patrick, from our neighbouring isle.
Perhaps the Hiberno-Norse, as these settlers had become, were too successful for their own good, and when the Normans, with their next generation of superior weaponry came, Henry II had them banished into exile to Oxmanstown on the north side of the Liffey. In A model of a longship built in Dublin about 1042 AD. Hundreds of oak trees went 1171 the king granted the town to his into its construction and tree rings revealed that it had been built in Dublin. loyal and commercially astute subjects in Bristol. Three years later, as an added incentive to these new-comers, Henry II declared that Dublin’s products would be free from custom charges throughout his kingdom. Thus, Dublin officially became a city of those within and those without the walls. However, the Normans, like the Norsemen, were good mixers, so many of the old craft traditions would have filtered through the generations. Crafts certainly flourished, and by the 13th century areas of the city had become closely associated with certain trades. Castle Street was referred to as Lormeria, the lorimers being manufacturers of spurs and other small iron objects. In Croker’s Street there were potters, and at the upper end of Winetavern Street the wood turners made bowls, platters and staves. All of these activities were strictly regulated and over the following two centuries 28 separate trade guilds emerged. The guilds were powerful and so protective of their own interests that they make the modern ‘closed-shop’ seem positively benign. Before the manufacture of any item could be considered, the maker had to belong to the appropriate guild, and to become a member was impossible for a Gael, and not much easier for anyone else. When a boy, with the right kind of background, reached the age of twelve, his father would pay a master craftsman to take his son in as a servant. The boy would work and live with his master’s A decorated comb made of bone, one of the many such items recovered from family, and seven years later, having acquired a skill, High Street excavations dating from the 11th and 12th centuries. he would be free to travel and practice his trade. Later, when he had gained enough experience, the young journeyman would submit his masterpiece to the guild. The guild, however, was not always inclined to part with a share of available work, so a journeyman had no guarantee that his masterpiece would be considered acceptable. Every year, on the feast of Corpus Christi, the guild members paraded through the narrow streets. It must have been quite a spectacle, the St Patrick’s Parade of its day. As in all other matters, the guild masters laid down the rules and members were obliged to play out their designated roles in the annual pageant. The Irish, as might be expected, were not content to be just spectators, and were always willing to by-pass the system. The Gaels, Hiberno-Norse and other ‘mongrels’ infiltrated the pageant to such an extent that Issue 70 Science SPIN Magazine Page 15
the authorities became alarmed. In 1554 all men and women of ‘Irish blood’ were ordered to leave, but then, someone thought of what that mass exodus would involve, had second thoughts. Anyone who had lived in Dublin for twelve years or more was then allowed to remain. So the gesture of exclusion was made, and for most people life just went on as before. Struggles for power were not the only disruptions to trade. In 1575 so many people died of plague that grass grew in deserted streets. In a way it was lull before the storm, for when Dublin recovered from that catastrophe it did so with renewed vigour and the 17th century arrived with a burst of growth. By the end of that century the population had multiplied by a factor of five or six, and Dutch zeerovers, drawn by the rich pickings, lurked in the bay. The port had become the funnel through which flowed natural products and goods manufactured in Dublin. A silver groat coin issued during the reign of Edward IV with a cross to facilitate breaking into halves and quarters.
Many of these goods were made in or around the Liberties, the congested area around St Patrick’s. In 1685 manufacturing in this area was given a boost by the Huguenots. Driven from their homes in France by Catholic persecution the Huguenots fled to the Protestant security of places such as South Africa and Dublin. They were welcomes to Dublin by an Act, which had been passed in 1662 to “Encourage Strangers to Settle in Ireland.” These strangers came well equipped. Among the first to come were an apothecary, a banker, a chandler, curriers, periwig makers, sail makers, a surgeon, wool combers and six weavers. The Huguenots were probably horrified to find themselves among so many Catholics, but in spite of any misgivings, and gang fights which persisted into the next century, the new settlers got to work in a city that underwent an unprecedented age of prosperity. Although this was prosperity pock-marked by appalling poverty, weaving, brewing and other activities increased in scale and industries such as glass and paper making appeared. The earliest paper mill known in Ireland was set up in 1690 near Rathfarnham. As far as we know, this venture was not a success, but it was followed by others, and by the end of the century there were 24 paper mills around Dublin. Glass making became a substantial industry, partly because of an argument put forward by George Longe in the 1580s that Queen Elizabeth could hardly ignore. Glass making consumed a great deal of timber fuel, and as Longe pointed out, it was better to strip Ireland’s rebel-infested forests than denude the carefully tended woods of England. One glass house, he argued, would be as good a two hundred men in garrison, and as if this was not enough, glass shipped to England could be taxed. Whatever the outcome of Longe’s proposals, the earliest record of glass making in Dublin comes from the parish of St Michan on the north side of the Liffey. Glass making is thought to have commenced there about 1675 and the new industry was not without its hazards. In 1690 the parish records note the burial of seven persons burnt to death or killed by the fall of a glass house. Compared to many other activities, glass making was no simple or safe craft. Intense heat was required and the temperature had to be controlled. Prolonged heat produced green glass of inferior quality, and cooling had to be guided through several steps, otherwise the end product became too brittle. Establishing a glass making works was not easy. When John Pratt, Deputy Vice Treasurer of Ireland, attempted to start a glass making works his venture failed because the pans used to hold the molten glass could not survive the intense heat. In spite of any technical problems, Dublin’s glass houses seemed to thrive. In the early part of the century, sillybub glasses, bells, lanterns, glass globes breast sucking bottles, apothecaries’ bottles and specia glasses, together with funnels and tubes for scientific experiments were being offered by a variety of Dublin glass makers. In 1729 the Round Glass House in St Mary’s Lane advertised their products noting that “for encouragement to dealers ‘tis proposed to sell them much cheaper than they can import them from England or elsewhere.” Irish glass was competitive and customers with old or broken items could expect a discount. Glass making was just one of the various industries to undergo expansion, but while prosperity was welPage 16 Science SPIN Magazine Issue 70
come at home, industries in England did not care much for Dublin’s success. In 1746, by an Act of Parliament, export of glass from Ireland was forbidden. There was a penalty of ten shillings for every pound of glass exported. At the same time, imports were limited to glass from England. In spite of these restrictions the Irish glass makers maintained production, and as soon as the ban was lifted, new glass works were set up in Cork, Belfast, Newry and Dublin. In 1754 William Deane took over a glass house in Abbey Street, paying £800 for Stourbridge Clay, £30 for Irish clay, £15 for colouring, £10 for sand and £410 towards bringing in and settling 54 glass makers from abroad. His success can be measured by a report in the Dublin Journal of 1761 which stated that “the manufacture of glass bottles at the lower end of Abbey Street, opposite Ship Street buildings is arrived to such a degree of perfection that not a single bottle has been imported by any merchant in this kingdom for several months, either from Bristol, Liverpool or any other part of England. The proprietors have now brought it to such perfection that they can afford to and do sell their bottles for eighteen shillings cheaper than formerly imported from England.” English glass workers were not amused, and when news reached them that production of ‘Irish Crown Window Glass’ was to begin, saboteurs from Newcastle on Tyne forced their way into the Abbey Street works and smashed the glass making pots. Feelings ran high all round, for of the 60 employed, 50 were English, and they in turn refused to pass on their skill to the Irish. The continued expansion produced such heavy pollution that an “Act to Prevent the Pernicious Practice of Erecting Glass Houses Within the City of Dublin or Certain Distance Thereof” was passed in 1783. No glass house was to be erected continuous with the North Wall, nearer than 800 yards from the off side of the Circular Road, nor nearer than Ringsend on the south side of the Liffey, nor nearer to the Circular Road than three-quarters of a mile in any other part around Dublin. No chimney was to be under 50 feet and any glass houses erected within these limits could be pulled down and no compensation given. Not surprisingly, the glass makers resented these restrictions, and they petitioned Parliament to repeal the Act. The Williams brothers, William and Richard, protested that their works had been in place for thirty years and they employed 70 people. The glass makers moved to Ringsend, with works on Fitzwilliam Quay, and the Williams family, far from going out of business, continued production until the early 19th century Whyte’s glass making works in Ringsend, 1845. In spite of the restrictions, glass making was actively encouraged, with the Royal Dublin Society giving a £20 award in 1751 to Rupert Barber, a painter of miniatures who turned his hand to glass making, setting up a works at Lazer’s Hill. In 1755 the Irish Parliament gave a total of £3,500 in financial aid to two glass houses in Abbey Street.
Prosperity for some brought a boom in building, provoking Dean Swift to complain about developers buying up all the good sites while the old city fell into ruin. According to Peter Somerville Large, writing in his book, Dublin, up to a hundred firms in the city were engaged in decorative plasterwork, and there were 40 Issue 70 Science SPIN Magazine Page 17
coach making firms employing 2,000 people. Prosperous citizens like to read, and Maurice Craig noted that in 1697 a newspaper, An Account of the Chief Occurences of Ireland, Together with Some Particulars from England, was being printed as a weekly by William Binden. Binden had been king’s printer to Charles I, and subsequently official printer to Cromwell and Mayor of Dublin. Another title, Mercurius Hibernicus, followed for a while in 1663, published by Samuel Danier, one of the printers in Castle Street. In 1685 the Dublin News Letter was in existence, and in 1703 Pue’s Occurrences was coming out twice a week. A rising tide of imports and exports brought the old problems of Dublin port to a head. Where Vikings had slipped through the sandbanks, larger vessels came to grief. At low tide a bar of sand represented a major hazard for vessels entering the port and during stormy weather there were shipwrecks on Merrion Strand. In 1707 the Lord Mayor and Corporation petitioned Prince George for leave to carry out improvements. The Ballast Office offered to pay “yearly to the Lord High Admiral for ever hereafter for the said office, a hundred yards of the best Hollands duck sayle cloth as shall be manufactured within the realm of Ireland which will be lasting evidence of our holding the office under the admiralties tytle.”
Advertising Irish whiskey, but without the usual ‘e’ in the 19th century.
Whether the the Lord High Admiral was in need of sayle cloth or not, the request was granted, and shortly afterwards the great work of building the North and South walls began. Oak beams were driven into the sea bed and baskets of stones were dumped on top as a foundation for the granite blocks. It was a massive undertaking, and when the South Wall finally reached Poolbeg in 1762 it extended over four miles (almost 6.5km), unbroken except for the Dodder entrance. In Dublin, as Maurice Craig remarked, “luxuries have always tended to come before necessities, and before the Act of Union this was especially so.” In 1800 the army of traders, whose existence depended on providing fashionable society with its glitter, now found that the pickings had become much poorer, and even the weavers faced ruin. The linen, silk and poplin weavers found it hard to continue, and by 1825 there were 900 looms idle in the Liberties.
The copper stills of John’s Lane Distillery, satisfying a big demand and making a fortune for the distillers.
Poverty, never far away, spread and with it came squalor and typhus. Riots, when they broke out, were half hearted, and the grand houses,
Page 18 Science SPIN Magazine Issue 70
stripped of their fittings, became over crowded tenements. The brewers and distillers, however, were far from depressed. Aided by the ban on illicit poteen making, the officially recognized distillers and brewers never had it so good. A Dublin directory of 1804 listed 55 breweries, 30 of which were in the vicinity of James’s Street. The numbers continued to increase, and for every two breweries there was a distillery. Roe’s Distillery in James’s Street was one of the biggest, and at its John’s Lane Distillery was still producing whiskey in 1970. Tom Kennedy, Source Photogaphic Archives. peak was producing two million gallons of whiskey a year. Apart from having an enormous selection of spirits, Dubliners were getting their first taste of soda water. Augustine Thwaites, student son of a Dublin chemist, invented soda water, and in 1799 he advertised it in Faulkner’s Journal. His invention was a great success and a century later the Thwaites family could afford to pay William Hamilton £600 for the patent rights of his invention, a club shaped bottle. Like Thwaites, the club name on soft drinks is a Dublin survivor. Conditions for travelling around Dublin were not always easy, and even on the broad Georgian highways there was little light to guide the way at night. Whale oil and tallow provided uncertain illumination from about 6,000 street lamps, and a few enterprising individuals offered to light up Dublin with gas. Coal gas had been discovered a long time before by the Reverend John Clayton. Ending his career as Rector of St Michan’s, Clayton died in 1725. Almost a century passed before the practical men of industry took much interest in coal gas. The first attempts to produce clean gas were rejected by Dublin Corporation as “noxious” and they did not want the health and comfort of their citizens to be harmed or “the water conducted through the streets to be rendered unfit for use.” Four years later the Dublin Oil Gas works in Brunswick Street was set up by an Act of Parliament “to light the city of Dublin and environs with oil gas.” The venture was not a success, but the building, which served as a cinema until recent years still stands in what is now Pearse Street opposite the TCD Science Gallery. Gas quality did improve, and by the mid 19th century there were four competing producers in Dublin. These were then joined by another competitor, the Sunlight Gas Company of Wellington Quay. The proprietors boldly declared that their acetylene gas was cheaper, cleaner and brighter than coal gas. They were perfectly correct in making this claim, but they had been too slow to take advantage of Edmund Davy’s experiments at the Royal Dublin Society in the 1820s in which he produced acetylene from calcium carbide.
The tower of a giant windmill, topped by St Patrick, still dominates the Guinness brewery.
Gas was not initially seen as a source of energy, and industries were much more concerned with harnessing the power of wind and water. Wind powert was used extensively and the largest mill of all seems to
Issue 70 Science SPIN Magazine Page 19
have been one the one over Roe’s Distillery. The brick tower of this massive mill still stands as a prominent landmark, topped by a figure of Saint Patrick in the Guinness Brewery at James’s Street. When the Roe family bought the site in 1757 to establish their distillery, the mill was already in existence, grinding corn. There were other mills probably of similar size, one in Windmill Lane off Sir Rogerson’s Quay and in north County Dublin the restored mill at Skerries was one of a number in the area. Water power was more usual, and at Palmerstown the wheels at six calico mills, two oil mills, a lead and iron works were all kept going by the Liffey. Paddles in the masher, part of whiskey making process still in operation at John’s Lane
In the 19th century there were 27 mills Distillery in 1970. Photo: Tom Kennedy, Source Photogaphic Archives. along the Dodder, and as the owners found the fluctuating levels of water a nuisance, they commissioned Mr. Mallet, a Dublin engineer to find a solution. Mallet’s solution was to control the flow by building a reservoir. The mills and their iron, woolen, cutlery, cotton, calico and timber sawing operations are long since gone, but the reservoir remains as the Bohernabreena Waterworks. In the 1830s the first steam trains, hissing and puffing along at the speed of a running horse may have seemed like heralds of progress, but landowners, such as lord Cloncurry and Sir Lee did not care for this democratic mode of transport. It took bribery in the form of money, bathing lodges, a camera obscura tower and a boat slip to secure the right of way to Dalkey. In winning the contract to build the line, William Dargan probably had no idea that he would eventually become the uncrowned king of railway construction. It was a golden age for innovation, and as some enterprising engineers pointed out, why use a heavy One of the first steam trains on the Westland Row to Kingstown railway line shown in locomotive when carriages the Dublin Penny Journal of November 1834. could be drawn along by a vacuum. In 1839 Samuel Clegg and the Samuda brothers had given a demonstration of this on a short stretch of line at Wormwood Scrubbs in England. The Irish railway directors were impressed as was the Board of Works which supported a proposal to adopt this new technology in extending the line from Kingstown to Dalkey. The Board of works gave a loan of quarry rails and provided £25,000 towards the cost of construction. A 100 horse power steam engine was installed about half a mile north of Dalkey to produce the vacuum. A pipe of 15 inch diameter ran between the rails and the vacuum was sealed in with reinforced leather flaps. A projection from the first carriage passed through the flaps, and remarkably this system worked. Up to nine carriages could be drawn up the 1 in 128 slope to Dalkey. When first tested on Page 20 Science SPIN Magazine Issue 70
the 19th August 1843 the journey took four minutes. When opened to the public in the following March there were two trains an hour, three pence for first class and two pence for second.
Printing featured in the Dublin Penny Journal, a popular paper in the 1830s.
The vacuum system only worked one way, and the downhill trip to Kingstown depended on gravity. Just before Kingstown, the line rises, and sometimes the carriages would roll to a stop before reaching the platform. This was not the only problem. Rats were drawn to the tallow, used as a sealant on the leather flaps, and without an adequate vacuum the trains could not run. In 1848 the directors accepting that the experiment was not a success, switched over to steam locomotives.
The commuters and day trippers who steamed to their homes and beaches were blithely unaware that the rural population was being reduced to starvation. The reality of the famines hardly touched suburban Dublin, and there was a reluctance to accept that the dreadful stories of mass starvation were actually true. After all, there was already plenty of poverty, disease and hardship in the old decaying city. For many, life had seldom, if ever been better. The railways, breweries and other industries created thousands of jobs. By 1880 the railway workshops of Broadstone and Inchicore were employing 1800 men, many in skilled jobs. Already, by 1856 the small, and almost forgotten Grand Canal works, just south of Westland Row, had turned out nine locomotives, and by 1886 Guinness’s had become the largest brewery in the world. The narrow gauge railway that wound its way through the 60 acre brewery was built by Spence Engineering of Cork Street, just a short walk away from the Byrne’s bell making foundry in Thomas Street. Byrne’s, Spence’s and Mallet’s just off Parnell Street were just a few of the industries in this part of Dublin. Mostly forgotten now, but all part of an industrial tradition stretching back for over a thousand years. Maguire and Patterson’s Friendly matches,
This article was originally published in Technology Ireland during 1988 to mark the Dublin’s Millennium celebrations.
a Dublin product advertised in 1927.
Issue 70 Science SPIN Magazine Page 21
CAREER PROFILES Supported by
Brian Quigley Senior In-Process Control Chemist Bristol-Myers Squibb What are the main tasks, responsibilities and skills required?
I test in-process samples in real-time. This means that when we manufacture the active ingredient for our medicines, and any problems occur, I make suggestions for possible fixes. You need to be very organised in my job, able to multi-task many situations at once, be able to react quickly to problems and think on your feet. You need to have excellent communication skills and be able to work in a team environment.
Describe a typical day?
At the start of my shift I check on all the production units and plan out what tests I will receive into the laboratory. I am then able to set up the instruments and run off the samples as they come in. At the end of my shift I summarise the production status for the next shift crew.
What’s cool?
Being part-responsible for millions of dollars / euros worth of chemical products each time I am in work is exciting, as well as being a serious responsibility. Also, being involved in the transfer of new medicines to production as they are developed.
What are the main challenges?
Shift work can be very tiring – the body just doesn’t function the same at 4 o’clock in the morning!
Who or what has most influenced your career direction?
My parents took a huge interest in my education and encouraged me to work hard and study a subject that would lead to a good career. My science teacher at school made the subject interesting and accessible and so was another big influence.
Does your job allow you to have a lifestyle you are happy with?
Yes. Shift work in particular allows for an excellent work-life balance and I have plenty of time to spend with my family and pursue my hobbies when I am not in work.
What subjects did you take in school and did they influence your career path?
Chemistry, Economics and Physics were my option subjects for Leaving Certificate. Taking Chemistry encouraged me to study it at University level.
What is your education to date?
I attended Presentation Brothers in Bray between 1981 and 1987. I studied Science then from 1987 to 1991 at Trinity College. In 2014 I completed a Post Graduate Certificate in 3rd Level Education and Learning.
What aspects of your education have proven most important for your job?
All the Organic Chemistry modules touched on aspects of drug-manufacture reaction and synthesis and these are things I have always used in my career.
What advice would you give to someone considering this job?
Focus on getting a science qualification and at the same time develop your ‘soft’ skills such as teamwork, communication skills, organisational ability and presentation skills.
What kinds of work experience would provide a good background for this position?
Try to pick a course that offers a work-placement in the industry. If this isn’t possible try to get a summer vacation job in the industry.
For more STEM career profiles visit www.SmartFutures.ie
Page 22 Science SPIN Magazine Issue 70
CAREER PROFILES Supported by
Sinead McCool Product Innovation Officer Pharmapod Sinead McCool, a qualified pharmacist, talks to Maria Delaney about her diverse career.
What is Pharmapod1?
Pharmapod is a cloud-based platform that allows you to document any error or near miss that occurs during dispensing and preparation in a pharmacy, such as misreading a doctor’s handwriting or dispensing the wrong dose of medication. Recording and addressing errors allows pharmacists to prevent them happening again. Pharmapod also helps pharmacists to meet legal and regulatory requirements in this area.
What are your main responsibilities?
The product is well established in Ireland and we are pushing to move into the UK. I am liaising with pharmacy groups there, running pilots and looking at customer feedback to keep improving the product. I’m trying to make the system as user friendly and intuitive as possible.
What subjects did you take in school and did they influence your career path?
I was always interested in science and did biology and chemistry for the Leaving Cert. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do when I was finished but pharmacy was suggested to me and I’m delighted I studied it.
What did you do after school?
I did a degree in pharmacy in the University of Sunderland2 in the UK. Then I completed a year of training in a community pharmacy to become a qualified pharmacist. I wanted to work in the clinical side of things so I completed a clinical pharmacy diploma in the University of Strathclyde3 in Glasgow. A few years later, I did a masters in medical education in Queen’s University Belfast4.
Can you outline your career path?
After my clinical pharmacy qualification, I worked in a hospital just outside Edinburgh. Then I worked in Tallaght hospital in Dublin5, followed by a hospital in Kilkenny. I also taught at the School of Pharmacy in Trinity College6 and worked for the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland7.From there, I began working with the School of Pharmacy in University College Cork (UCC) as course coordinator for their Masters in clinical pharmacy8. Working with Pharmapod is quite different, but the skills I have from clinical pharmacy and medical safety in hospitals help me with my job.
What advice would you give to someone considering this job?
If you like science, pharmacy is a really interesting degree that combines biology and chemistry. It’s a broad science degree but it includes a lot of patient-focused areas and the range of things you can do once you’re qualified is huge.
What inspires your love of science?
I tend to ask ‘why?’ a lot. Science usually gives me the answers.
For more STEM career profiles visit www.SmartFutures.ie 1 - http://www.pharmapodhq.com/
5 - http://www.amnch.ie
2 - http://www.sunderland.ac.uk/courses/appliedsciences/undergraduate/pharmacy/
6 - https://pharmacy.tcd.ie
3 - http://www.strath.ac.uk/sipbs/postgraduatestudy/masterscoursesinsipbs/clinicalpharmacy/
7 - http://www.thepsi.ie/gns/home.aspx
4 - http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/mdbs/pgd/PT/CE/
8 - http://www.ucc.ie/en/ckx03/
Cpl Science, Engineering & Supply Chain is unique in that we have strategic partnerships with the majority of the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies in Ireland and globally. As a result of our reputation for quality, excellence, delivery and understanding of our clients’ needs we are also the first port of call for any new scientific business ventures that are considering setting up in Ireland.
Cpl truly appreciates and values finding the “perfect technical match” and we provide candidates and clients with an individualised, quality service, carefully tailored to meet the specific needs of our customers.
CPL Resources plc, 83 Merrion Square, Dublin 2, Ireland. Phone: +353 1 614 6000 Email:info@cpl.ie www.cpl.ie
Issue 70 Science SPIN Magazine Page 23
Picture: Lucas Bustamante / AFP / Getty Images
Weird and Wonderful Animals Sive Finlay introduces us to a shapeshifting punk.
Picture: Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society Page 24 Science SPIN Magazine Issue 70
Sive Finlay is a zoologist and Science Communicator at TCD @SiveFinlay
H
ave you ever wished that you could just blend into the background? Perhaps when you’re feeling shy or if you want to avoid being picked out of a crowd? From the motion-dazzle effects of a zebra’s stripes to the would-be musical statues champion talents of stick insects, animals use many different camouflage strategies to hide in plain sight. Now a new discovery from South America has identified animals that hide themselves using unique, shape-shifting tactics.
Husband and wife research team, Tim and Katherine Krynak discovered a new species of frog in the Andean cloud forest of Ecuador. Christened “the mutable rainfrog” (Pristimantis mutabilis), it is the first amphibian species identified as having shape-shifting capabilities. Over a period of about five minutes, these tiny frogs can change the texture of their skin from pointy and bumpy to smooth and sleek. This remarkable ability is thought to be an adaptation to allow the frogs to blend in with their surroundings and hide from predators. The discovery was published in the April issue of the prestigious Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. The new species was first found at the Reserva Las Gralarias in north-central Ecuador. The Krynaks have been studying the biodiversity at the Reserva for the past 10 years. On a misty night in July 2009, they spotted a spiny, finger nail-sized frog sitting on a mossy leaf. They hadn’t seen this animal before so they captured it in a small cup for later identification, nicknaming it “punk-rocker” because of the spines covering its body. The next day, the pair retrieved the frog from the cup and set in on a white sheet of plastic to take a photograph. But now they found a smooth-skinned frog in the punk’s place. Assuming that they must have collected the wrong frog the night before, they put it back in the cup along with some moss to make it comfortable before its later release. But the tiny hopper had a few surprises in store. As Katherine Krynak described in a press release accompanying the paper, “The spines came back… we simply couldn’t believe our eyes, our frog changed skin texture!” Then, when they returned the animal to the white sheet of plastic, the frog’s skin became smooth again. Their series of photographs show the shape shifting progress occurring in just a few minutes. In the years following their exciting discovery, a team of scientists have studied the new species in detail. They used DNA analyses to prove that P. mutabilis was a unique species and behavioural studies showed that the frogs use three different songs that distinguish them from their relatives. Continued fieldwork found another population of the species as well as a larger relative, Pristimantis sobetes, which also possesses the shape-shifting capability. With these exciting discoveries, the team have suggested that there might be other “transformer” species awaiting identification. This information affects how biodiversity is monitored and classified. Traditionally, species were identified based on their appearance and museum collections might house only a few specimens as examples. But, when animals like these frogs can change their looks so dramatically, taxonomists might have miss-classified the creatures if they identified smooth and bumpy-skinned frogs as separate species. The findings raise lots of exciting possibilities that the already rich biodiversity of tropical rainforests could be hiding even more secrets than previously imagined.
Issue 70 Science SPIN Magazine Page 25
FamilyScience
As summer approaches and the weather improves, thoughts of holidays and beaches come to mind. The beach, mostly thought of as somewhere for adults to relax and for children to play is also an area of great scientific interest and a fantastic place for exploring and experimenting.
Beaches differ from other landscapes in their rate of change. One year a beach can be sandy and the next it can be covered with pebbles. Sand banks shift, resulting in changing sea depths and swimming conditions. Daily changes are also visible with the changing tides and weather conditions.
Manmade debris, particularly plastic, is a big issue in the sea. The plastic doesn't biodegrade. It just breaks up into small pieces. Movement of the oceans means that these tiny pieces of plastic accumulate into large masses. There is a place on the pacific ocean where there has been a huge accumulation of this plastic. The area of this plastic "island" is now similar to the area of the UK. It is thought to be over 1km deep. It isn't solid like land; just a great volume of water with plastic particles suspended in it. We need to be mindful of this when we dispose of our refuse and make every effort to ensure we don’t further contribute to this phenomena.
A visit to a beach after a windy period can be like a visit to a treasure trove. Drift wood, seaweeds, shells, jellyfish, starfish as well as manmade debris will be plentiful. So from a scientific point of view what is sand? Well, the definition of sand is sedimentary particles in the size range between 0.0625 (1/16) mm and 2mm in diameter. Coarser particles are called granules, while finer particles are known as silt. The sedimentary particles are the result of erosion of rocks by wind and rain.
At first glance sand seems the same the world over, but is that really the case? Recently I came across a photo and was fascinated to discover that it was a photo of sand magnified 300 times. It contained many different coloured, different shaped particles. It started me wondering what the sand on our local beaches would look like so I collected some samples and looked at them under the microscope.
Brittas Bay
Rosses Point
I expected that the sand around the coast of Ireland would all be similar but in fact I found that the two Irish sand samples I have are quite different. Through further research I discovered that sand varies from beach to beach even over a small distance. Background image: Playing in the surf. Porto Covo, Portugal - photo: Joaquim Alves Gaspar
Page 26 Science SPIN Magazine Issue 70
Some experiments for the seaside What is the best sand/sea water blend to make good sand castles? Everyone knows damp sand is best – too dry and the castle crumbles; too wet and it won’t come out of the bucket so what is “just right”.
Christine Campbell christine@anyone4science.com
You will need: • Buckets • Sand • Sea water • Spade • Adult supervision What to do: Start with dry sand. Fill a bucket. Make a sand pie and assess it. To dry sand add 100ml water and mix thoroughly. Fill a bucket. Make a sand pie and assess it. Continue adding water in 100ml lots and repeat. Analyse the beach Near the water’s edge draw a 30cm square. Record everything that is in the square. Well away from the water’s edge draw another 30cm square and record everything that is in that square. Compare the contents of the 2 squares. There is a science teacher in the US who is interested in sand – he looks at the particle shapes and divides them into particle types, he sorts the sand samples through a series of sieves to get a particle size profile for his samples and he takes a photo of each sample under the microscope. He is working on building a profile of sands from the length of the American Atlantic coast. If you send him a sample of sand from an American Atlantic beach he will analyse it and add it to his collection. I think it would be interesting to build a similar profile for Irish beaches.
Grand Canaria
Australia
Arabian Desert
Issue 70 Science SPIN Magazine Issue 27
LIGHT
Margaret Franklin
We need light from the sun to sustain life. Without sunlight, we would have no food. Green plants have a pigment called chlorophyll in their leaves, which absorbs energy from sunlight. The energy is used to combine carbon dioxide, which plants take in through tiny pores on the underside of their leaves, with the water that they draw in through their roots. This chemical reaction, called photosynthesis, produces glucose, which is converted to complex carbohydrates, providing the energy needed by living organisms. The other product of photosynthesis is oxygen, which is released to the atmosphere and is the life-giving gas we take in with every breath. Photosynthesis harnesses the Sun’s energy. Scientists are developing new materials that also absorb energy from sunlight. Rather than store this energy in chemical bonds, they convert it to electric current, using photovoltaic cells. So far, the technologies are rather inefficient. With further research, it is hoped that solar power will supply a significant portion of our energy needs.
The International Year of Light. This year, 2015, is The International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies. The opening ceremony was held at the UNESCO Paris headquarters in January. Throughout the year, events will be held in many countries to raise awareness of the science of light and the importance of its applications in our modern society.
In prehistoric times, human activities were largely confined to the hours of daylight. But once fire was discovered, it was noticed that flames produce light as well as heat and could be used for lighting at night. Flaming torches, candles and oil lamps were used for centuries, until electricity was discovered and Thomas Edison invented the electric light bulb in the late 19th century. However, while this gave better artificial light than ever before, it also produced a great deal of heat and so was inefficient. CFL (compact fluorescent light) bulbs are a considerable improvement on the incandescent bulb. They are more efficient and therefore save energy. CFL bulbs contain mercury vapour, which is excited by the electric discharge and emits ultra-violet light. This in turn stimulates the fluorescent coating on the inside of the bulb to emit visible light. But the fact that CFLs contain mercury, which is a toxic substance, is a cause for concern. Used CFL bulbs need to be recycled, not dumped with ordinary rubbish.
COLOUR Wavelength 102 1 metre
What we see as light is just a small part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Extract from ‘Colour - what we see and the science behind sight’
10-2 10-3 10-4 10-5 10-6 10-7 10-8 10-9 10-10 10-11 10-12 10-13 10-14
W
hen light passes through a transparent body, such as water or glass, it slows down, so it is bent, or refracted. The different wavelenghs pass through the medium at different rates so they separate out into different colours. We perceive these colours as red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. When light passes through a convex lens the rays are refracted in much the same way as in a prism. Thus the shorter waves of violet are refracted more than the longer waves of red. Convex lens, as in a magnifying glass, or our eye, brings the rays from an object into focus to make an image. However, because reds are refracted more than violet, the colour image has no clearly defined plane of focus. In a camera such a simple lens produces images with a halo or fringe of colours, known as chromatic aberration, so a second lens element, concave on one side, is cemented onto the first to provide correction. The eye does not have this correction, so it is not possible to focus sharply on a violet and a red object at the same time. We are never aware of this halo because in perception chromatic aberration is simply ignored.
Refracting Visible light is just one tiny band within the electromagnetic spectrum which ranges from waves longer than a metre used for broadcasting to the extremely intense X rays and high energy Cosmic rays
780
nm
380
nm
37
Page 28 Science SPIN Magazine Issue 70
A futuristic photovoltaic sunshade harvesting power from the Sun for electric cars. Constructed as an Urban Design and Innovation project at Les Sables d’Olonne in the Pays de la Loire Region, France. Photo by Talmouss.
In recent years, a new type of light source has been developed, the LED, (light-emitting diode). These are more efficient than CFLs and do not contain mercury. They use a variety of semiconductor materials, which emit light when a voltage is applied. Different materials emit light of different colours. To produce white light, a combination of three colours is needed, red, green and blue. Red and green LEDs were developed first and it was only after the blue LED became available that white light LEDs could be made. In recognition of the importance of this invention, the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to three Japanese gentlemen, Akasaki, Amano and Nakamura, for inventing the blue LED, an efficient and environment-friendly light source. This is just one example of a new technology, based on light, which is being celebrated this year.
Optical fibre is another application of light-based technology. Light signals are sent through a solid plastic cable by total internal reflection. This allows a beam of light to bounce back and forth inside the cable, since it is more optically dense than the surrounding medium. The signal can be transmitted over large distances. As most people are aware, light travels at an enormous speed (300,000 km per second) in a vacuum. It slows down when travelling through optical cable, but nevertheless, it is an extremely fast way of sending a signal and facilitates modern communications via the Internet.
Optical fibres have been speeding up communications.
Issue 70 Science SPIN Magazine page 29
For centuries, scientists argued over the intrinsic nature of light. In the 17th century, Sir Isaac Newton used a triangular glass prism to show that white light could be split up into all the colours of the rainbow. He was able to re-combine this colour spectrum, using a second prism, inverted with respect to the first, to produce white light again. Newton believed that light consisted of a stream of tiny particles, which he called ‘corpuscles’. He was able to explain the reflection of light from a mirror and the refraction of light through a prism on the basis of his corpuscular theory. However, in 1803, Thomas Young demonstrated diffraction and interference of light, which could only be explained if light travelled in waves. In the early 19th century, scientists believed that all waves needed a material medium, and so they postulated something called the ‘lumeniferous ether’, which was supposed to pervade all space and which carried the light waves. But then, in 1865 a Scottish scientist, James Clerk Maxwell, came up with a new theory. He showed that light is an electromagnetic wave, consisting of oscillating electric and magnetic fields. It needs no medium. Moreover, the visible light that our eyes can detect was shown to be just a tiny portion of the whole ‘electromagnetic spectrum’. This includes radio waves, microwaves and infra- red waves, all of which have wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It also includes Ultra-violet rays, X-Rays and gamma rays, whose wavelengths are shorter than those of visible light. All of these electromagnetic waves travel through empty space at the speed of light. They differ in their wavelengths and therefore also in frequency, since, for any wave: Speed = Frequency X wavelength. Higher frequency means higher energy. Gamma rays are the most energetic, while radio waves have the least energy. Within the visible part of the spectrum, blue light has a higher frequency and therefore higher energy than red light.
Just when the wave theory of light seemed to be firmly established, a new discovery called that theory into question. This was the photoelectric effect, which is the ejection of electrons from the surface of certain metals, in response to light. But it was found that increasing the intensity of the light did not result in increasing the kinetic energy of the ejected electrons, which is what would be expected if light behaved as a wave. Instead, the energy of the electrons depended on the frequency of the incident radiation. It was Einstein who resolved the dilemma, by proposing that light can behave as a particle, or ‘quantum’ or electromagnetic energy, which can collide with an electron and knock it out of an atom. His theory was consistent with the new ‘Quantum Theory’, which was being proposed by Max Planck. It is interesting to note that it was his explanation of the Photoelectric Effect that earned Einstein his Nobel Prize. However, he is best remembered for the Theory of Relativity. It is now accepted that light has a dual nature; it can behave as a particle, but it also has wave properties. The study of light is fascinating and its applications are numerous. In a short article, it is only possible to touch on some aspects of light. For more information, you are invited to visit the official website of the International Year of Light: http://www.light2015.org/Home.html.
Dual nature Scientists have been puzzled by the dual nature of light which exhibits the behavior of particles and waves at the same time. As Einstein remarked, “we have two contradicting pictures,” adding that “neither fully explains the phenomena, but together they do.” Recently, researchers at the Ecole Polytechnique Fedérale de Lausanne (EPEL) in Switzerland, using an elaborate array of equipment, succeeded in taking the first “snapshot” of light both as a particle and as a wave. The team, led by Fabrizio Carbone, sent a pulse of light at a metallic nanowire. This made charged particles travel along the wire, and where they collided, a standing wave was produced producing light. Using an ultrafast microscope the researchers were able to visualize the standing wave. As the researchers reported, this experiment has produced the first direct evidence to show both the wave-like and particle aspects of light. In explaining what’s going on, the scientists said that as the electrons pass close to the standing wave, they strike the photons and the abrupt change in speed results in a release of “energy packet’ quanta. Commenting on the significance of the results, Fabrizio Carbone said that “this experiment demonstrates that, for the first time ever, we can film quantum mechanics — and its paradoxical nature — directly.”
The equipment, incorporating an ultra-fast microscope, used by the researchers at EPEL to record the dual nature of light.
Page 30 Science SPIN Magazine Issue 70
a short shot of science - How It Works
Gunshot Noise
When propellant gases expand from the small barrel chamber into open air, the rapid pressure and temperature change creates the characteristic loud gun-blast sound.
Suppression
Silencers reduce gunshot noise by giving gases a larger, contained space to dissapate and cool before exiting.
Added Benefits
Internal baffles [1] divide the silencer into various expansion chambers [2] for maximum efficiency.
Recoil reduction
Muzzle flash reduction
For the first time scientists have been able to film quantum mechanics in action.
Increased accuracy
Hearing safe
Margaret Franklin, former lecturer in Chemistry at Athlone Institute of Technology is President of the Institute of Chemistry of Ireland and Co-author of Colour - What we see and the science behind sight
Available
now at www.spinstore.eu
Issue 70 Science SPIN Magazine Page 31
Inspired by the birds O Tom Kennedy
ne morning, Patrick Sweeney, before getting out of bed, lay there listening to the birds. It struck him that one of the songs was just like a traditional Irish jig. Could this just be a coincidence? He thought it might not be, so he became curious to know what influence singing birds might have had on music.
The song he had heard came from a migratory swallow, and that got Patrick thinking about a well-known theory among musicians that Irish Sean Nós (unaccompanied but highly-ornamented singing) has a close connection to African music. Thus, another question sprang to mind. In summer, swallows spend their time in Ireland, but in winter they migrate to Africa, so could they be responsible for the musical link? After all, if humans had been responsible, we would expect Irish traditional music to be more akin to the music of Spain rather than Africa. Like two other students at Carrick-on-Shannon Community school, Cloe Daniels and Anette Moran, Patrick is an accomplished and keen musician. “We all play Irish traditional music,” he said and the apparent link to bird song made them curious to know more. Their teacher, Jackie Walsh, encouraged them to follow up their investigations, so they prepared a project for SciFest. Encouraged by the interest shown by the SciFest judges, the team went on to enter an award-winning project in this year’s BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition. Patrick, Cloe and Anette were presented with the runner up group main award and they also won the Irish Research Council award. Once they began to investigate, the more it seemed to make sense that birds had, in effect laid down the tracks for musicians to follow, and one of the strongest pieces of evidence to support this view came from no less a composer than Beethoven. Everyone, even if they have no particular interest in classical music, is immediately familiar with the powerful opening ‘daa daa daa dooo’ notes of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony. As it happens, Beethoven had a pet wood wren. Note for note, the wren’s song is a perfect match for the opening of Beethoven’s 5th. On the African link, Patrick explained that its not just a similarity in notes, but in rhythm and, as in Sean Nós singing, a single syllable is held over different notes. Birds, he said, are likely to have given us structure as well as song, and to investigate this, the students compared the audio traces made by computer when recording or playing music. When music is played through a program such as freely-downloadable Audacity the sounds appear on screen as a graph as they play. Thus, said Patrick, “You can not just listen, but you can look.” That makes the whole business of comparing the patterns made by bird song with different types of music less subjective and more scientific. Graphically, the similarities that can be detected by ear can be shown as a series of matching peaks and troughs. The students found evidence to show that birds have a strong local influence. The Irish blackbird, for example, with its complex and melodious song, said Patrick, is giving us a typical Irish jig. If we did not have blackbirds and migrating swallows, the music we play might be quite different. This might explain, said Patrick, why the music of China is so different from the music of the western world. Between east and west, he said, there are geographical barriers which birds do not cross. As Patrick remarked, this for him is, as yet, unknown territory. However, he said this project has far to go and he’s all set to tune into native bird songs around the world to find if the links to music are universal.
Issue 70 Science SPIN Magazine Page 33
Insect farming
Tom Kennedy reports on a project to put crickets rather than beef on the menu
“Waiter, there’s a fly in my soup!” We don’t expect the waiter to respond with a friendly smile, remarking “yes, the cook put it there.” In this part of the world most of us would recoil in horror at the idea of swallowing an insect, but as Kevin Carew, a sixth year student at Midleton College, Cork, observed, that attitude is hard to understand. Eating insects and other creepy-crawlies, he said, is perfectly normal in many parts of the world. While Irish youngsters might grab a bag of crisps, their Asian cousins would take delight in crunching through a more nutritious helping of fried crickets. Kevin said he became interested in insects as a possible solution to global food shortages. Beef farming, he said, is very inefficient and it demands a lot of space, so producing enough food for a growing world population is becoming more of a challenge. Insect farms, he said, could meet that demand, and in countries such as China and Thailand, such farms are perfectly normal. Almost all insects are edible and many can be farmed, but for some unknown reason they went off the menu in Europe. Elsewhere, people continued to enjoy their mixed and varied meals that include ants, spiders, scorpions, locusts and silk worm larvae. In Australia, the larvae of the Bogong moth is just one of more than 50 insects that are part of the traditional Aboriginal menu. In Thailand there are over 200,000 officially registered insect farms. As Kevin thought, if it can be done elsewhere, why not here? So he decided to set up an experimental cricket farm in the boiler room at school. Kevin fed his crickets with a mix of cat food and porridge oats and, in their warm one cubic metre environment, the insects thrived until they were ready for harvesting. By withdrawing oxygen, the crickets, “just went to sleep, and, as Kevin explained, “it was the most peaceful way I could think of.” Kevin wanted to determine what sort of value the crickets had as food. “I focused on protein,” he said, and to measure this he first ground the crickets into a powder and set off to Cork Institute of Technology to carry out an analysis. The staff there were very helpful, he said, and after chemically extracting the protein he found that the insects were indeed very productive, especially when kept in a warm environment. On the basis of his experiments, Kevin estimated that it would be possible to have about 32,000 0.25m2 mini-cricket farms on the same area that would be required to support just one cow. From this area, said Kevin, it would be possible to generate 5.6 tonnes of cricket matter. On top of this, the digestible content from crickets would be much higher than beef. “You can digest 80 per cent of a cricket against about 45 per cent from a cow,” he said.
The reason why insects are so productive, explained Kevin, is that they need to expend less energy for growth. “If you look at cows, pigs and chickens, they are warm blooded,” said Kevin. “They need extra energy just to keep the body temperature high.” The difference this makes in converting feed input into food yield is quite startling. With beef, 10kg feed ends up as 1kg of edible meat. With pork, 5kg feed becomes 1kg, but with crickets 1.7kg of feed becomes 1kg of food we can eat. There is nothing wrong about eating insects, commented Kevin, and in fact it could mean switching over to a much healthier diet. Who knows what’s in a lot of the food we currently eat. “Do people know what’s in chicken nuggets?” he asked, and would they be so keen to tuck in if they were better informed? The only barrier, he observed, is cultural. Try to imagine what it would be like suggesting pork from pigs for the first time, he said. “They roll around in the mud, people might think it horrible.” For people in most of the world, eating insects is not a problem, so, with numerous species to choose from, insect farming is seen as an ideal solution for communities that have been reduced to starvation through lack of land, wars and poverty. As for Ireland and the rest of the western world, there are some developments that suggest that a change in attitude is on the way. In restaurants as far apart as Denmark and Australia the more adventurous cooks have begun to use ants as a substitute for lemons, and locusts, more usually associated with famine as they devour all before them, are now being referred to as “prawns in the sky.” With good reason, Kevin, who received a Senior Individual Award at this year’s BTYST exhibition argues that instead of thinking of insects as pests to be sprayed out of existence, we would be better off looking at them as an untapped resource.
Issue 70 Science SPIN Magazine Page 35
Young Scientists Take Home Geology Prize Anthea Lacchia reports on how three students came up with a winning project about an earthquake that shook Ireland in 2013
J
ames Barry, Tadhg McCarthy and Luke Henderson from Kinsale Community School were this year’s proud recipients of the Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI) prize at the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition. Their project, entitled “Earthquakes in Ireland! What’s shaking us”, started off with a simple observation which led them to surprising conclusions. “I felt an earthquake in my home in Timoleague on 4th December 2013,” said James. “I didn’t actually know what was happening at the time: I was having my breakfast and heard a really loud bang, which was followed by shaking. My family and I speculated that an explosion might have happened or even that something had hit the house.” Within the next couple of hours, James and his family heard on the radio that the source of all the commotion had actually been an earthquake of 2.6 magnitude, often referred to as the “Timoleague/ Barryroe earthquake”. When James told Tadhg and Luke what he had experienced they decided to set up a project in order to find out what exactly had caused this unusual event. The first step was to gauge local people’s perceptions of the event, so they came up with a survey to hand out to people in the area of Timoleague and Barryroe in West Cork. “We collected results from about 152 responses and found that over 50 percent of people thought the cause of the earthquake was oil-drilling off the coast.” This cause, however, proved to be unlikely, as they soon learned. Their quest for the earthquake’s trigger led them to several Irish research and industry centres, such as the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS), Cork City Library, Providence Resources Plc and University College Cork (UCC). “Dr Bettie Higgs from UCC taught us how to read seismic traces and helped us identify P (primary) waves, S (secondary) waves and surface waves. Then, by simply looking at seismic traces, we were able to distinguish different events, from nuclear explosions to seismic events.” In fact, earthquakes generate three types of seismic wave: P-waves, which are longitudinal waves where the vibrations are along the same direction as the direction of travel (they arrive at the seismic detector first); S-waves, which are shear or transverse waves where the vibrations are at right angles to the direction of travel (they arrive at the seismic detector second); and surface waves, which travel just under the Earth’s surface and can be very destructive.
Seismologists calculate the time it takes seismic waves to travel through the Earth and reach a detector, known as P- and S-wave arrival time, and use this information to locate the epicentre of an earthquake. By following this procedure, the students were able to pin-point the likely epicentre of the Timoleague/Barryroe earthquake just above an ancient fault. "Not only did the project show that Ireland is seismically active, but it also highlighted a huge number of faults along the coast," said the students. As to the public perception of oil drilling as the cause of the earthquake, the students were able to show this was not the case: "we located the area where the oil-drilling was taking place on an atlas and saw that the likely epicentre of the earthquake, directly above an ancient fault, was 40km away from the drilling. Having concluded that fault movement caused the earthquake, the students went even further in their investigation: “we found that this was caused by compression related to the north African plate pushing up into the southern Europe plate,” they explained. So it is clear that this project is a geological study in its own right. The three winning students, currently in transition year, were guided through this ambitious project by their teacher, Shaun Holly. When asked whether they now wish to study geology at university, they say it’s definitely an option they will consider. And with this year’s prize from the GSI coming in the shape of a strikingly beautiful Devonian ammonite, they may well be inspired to pursue palaeontology, as well as seismology and geophysics, in their future studies!
Anthea Lacchia has just won a Nature Jobs competition to cover a career expo in Boston. Anthea is a postgraduate researcher at the Department of Geology TCD.
Page 36 Science SPIN Magazine Issue 70
How a Fuel Cell Works
Electricity
The seperated electrons are diverted along an external circut, creating an electrical current
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is pumped into the cell through a flow plate.
Oxygen
Outside oxygen is pumped into the cell through a flow plate.
Anode: hydrogen molecules split
At the anode (point where electrons flow out of the device) a platinum catalyst splits hydrogen molecules into positive hydrogen ions and negatively charged electrons.
Cathode: molecules combine
Another catalyst at the cathode (point where electrons enter a device) causes the negatively charged electrons and positively charged hydrogen ions to combine with oxygen to form water (2 Hydrodgen molecules + 1 Oxygen molecule => H20)
PEM (Polymer Electrolyte Membrane) The polymer electrolyte membrane only allows the positively charged hydrogen ions to pass, forcing the negative electrons along an external circuit.
Water
Fuel Cell Stack
Oxygen combines with hydrogen molecules to make water, which exits the cell.
A single fuel cell generates about 1 volt. To generate sufficient voltage to power a vehicle, hundreds of fuel cells are stacked. The combined electricity from the stack of fuel cells powers an electric motor. The stack can be easily scaled up or down dependent on the vehicle size.
Fuel cell stack
The fuel cell stack and accompanying devices reside in the engine compartment like a normal petrol engine
Standard 12-volt battery
Assists in starting and powering general vehicle systems.
Vehicle Layout A fuel cell vehicle appears and drives like a normal car. Here’s a look at the underpinnings that help the fuel cell function
Electric motor
Propels the vehicle.
Hydrogen tanks High capacity battery Double-insulated, torture-tested hydrogen tanks sit
A high capacity battery stores excess generated electricity and can assist with acceleration when needed.
underneath and behind the back seat. They take up room normally occupied by a fuel tank plus a little more.
Jacob O’Neal
A designer based in Portland Oregon obsessed with solid, hiqh-quality research and design presentation.
www.animagraffs.com
Issue 70 Science SPIN Magazine Page 38
What is STEM? Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths
Ren ewable Energy En gineer
You could help protect the environment
Games and App Developer
European app economy is worth over€ 10 billion and employs 800,000 people
Why study STEM subjects? Studying subjects like Physics, Chemistry, Maths, Biology, Technology and Engineering can lead to working in exciting jobs like...
Sport Science
Improve human health and athlete performance
Create new products for use in the medical field
Design new materials and processes
Benefits
Irish STEM Industry Facts 80 Jobs
Global opportunities come with STEM qualifications especially if you have language skills
Starting Salaries 31K
9 of the top 10 global pharma-companies are in Ireland
Medical Device Developer
Food and Beverage Manufacturer
Engineers
Pha rmaceutical Chemist
Science & Tech
24K
86,000 People
announced per employed in week in ICT physics-based Jobs
The top 10
Lab technicians are needed in biopharma, multinational tech companies food and medical devices industry are in Ireland
STEM graduates needed
STEM employers are struggling to fill positions! So if you’re interested in what STEM has to offer, then visit:
www.SmartFutures.ie Sources: National Skills News Bulletin 2013 CPL Recruitment – Dublin IOP in Ireland Annual Report 2013 http://www.hea.ie/sites/default/files/ict_action_plan.pdf http://www.idaireland.com/business-in-ireland/life-sciences-pharmaceuti/ http://www.steps.ie/students/16-18/faq-s.aspx#How_much_do_engineers_earn_ http://www.digitaltimes.ie/mobile-app/european-app-economy-worth-over-e10-billion/
SCIENCE SPIN Issue 63 Page