Rainbow Image by Brandon Godfrey Work work work! via Flickr

We live in a very curious world; One that is recreating itself at the atomic level every second we breath. Our bodies are changing out cells with new ones, photosynthesis occurs in tree leaves to replenish oxygen in our atmosphere, and somewhere, right at this very moment, a child is marveling a rainbow. It is easy to overlook these things when we are wowed by technologies and innovations that make our lives easier. But where do those technologies come from? Understanding natural phenomena can:

• Help scientists better understand how to use natural elements in our everyday lives.

• It can help them learn ways to apply them to products that will make our lives easier and safer and more efficient.

• Help scientists better understand why things happen in nature.

It is the scientific process that accomplishes this result, and without it we would still be wondering what is in a rainbow.

A rainbow is an optical phenomenon that occurs when electromagnetic rays (sunlight) pass through droplets of water in the Earth’s atmosphere. The visual effect that is a result is the splitting of those waves of light into the different colors of the spectrum-red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet, always in that order. This is called light refraction. When the light enters into the raindrop, the speed at which it is travelling is slowed and it bends slightly until it travels through the back of the raindrop where the speed changes again and is bent again in the other direction. Rainbows are visible only when the incident light is behind the person viewing the rainbow. If you were on the other side of the rainbow looking towards the sun, you would not see it because by the time the light makes it through all the water droplets in the air, it has been scattered too much and it loses its intensity. How can this phenomenon be reproduced? Where else do we see this phenomenon happen? You can see little rainbows on the surface of bubbles or in the mist of a waterfall or in an opal gemstone. This can be reproduced in the Nano Science Kit chemistry experiment using silicon dioxide (silica).

This chemistry project illustrates:

• How a microstructure can cause light diffraction.

• How water molecules are arranged in the atmosphere when a rainbow occurs

• Changing the speed of light causes spectral light display

• Different wavelengths of light

The structure called a photonic crystal is designed to take light from the sun and split it into its separate parts. These separate parts are called wavelengths of light. Every color displayed is a different size, which is directly related to the size of the water droplet or silica sphere. The chemistry kit from Opalscience includes all the necessary components to recreate the same structure that creates a rainbow by using silica and water instead of water and air-Just add light.

It has long been theorized that the hidden mysteries found in gemstone opal could ultimately unlock a revolution in the computer chip world known as quantum computing. Recently a new chemistry project developed by NanoScienceKits.org has been introduced in a simple format that can be conducted by both scientists and novices alike. But first, we have to get back to opal. Opal is constructed in nature by the assembly of highly ordered silica nanoparticles. These particles, when fully assembled, have the ability of manipulating light in a manner that is found in few other creations on earth. It is this ability to manipulate that has long caught the eye of many a scientist.

The theory, explained in simple terms, is that by creating an inverse opal in a certain pattern one could create a computer chip that could use light as a vehicle to transfer information. This would cause information to be transferred exponentially faster than the worlds current computer chips have the ability to. The truth is, we may still be a long way off from bringing this idea out of the theoretical and into mass production. But make no mistake; the science community is making progress. One of the major roadblocks to turning this theory into a reality has been supply of the highly uniform silica needed to allow for the same self-assembly that occurs in opal.

Recently however, a new company has emerged in the silica nanoparticles business that has renewed the enthusiasm of scientists in this field. One of the first products to be developed with these particles is a kit that allows one conduct a science experiment that is relates to the self assembly needed to make one of these theoretical quantum computing chips.

The science kit allows the participant to watch a photonic crystal, or opal, grow in a test tube over a few of weeks time. After the opal has fully assembled itself, a brilliant play of light dances from the test tube as if were a magic crystal. This chemistry project allows for a rare glimpse into what may be transformational technology of the future.

A miner in Australia stands tired and alone next to a hole in the ground. He is surrounded by desolate plains of dirt. The sun is hot, there is no water, and the distance is distorted in all directions by waves of heat. With his back to the sun, he wipes hard dirt from an even harder stone until a shot of color pleasures his eyes. He sighs in relief and he would jump for joy if only he had the energy. On his journey home, bouncing down the dirt road, he places the opal on the dashboard to dazzle with light. He looks at it more than the road and he wonders how something so beautiful can be found in such an awful place.

He is not the only one who has wondered how a gemstone is made. Perhaps you’ve marveled how something so beautiful can be pulled from deep beneath the ground surrounded by common rock and dirt. There are thousands of different gemstones mined around the world. Everything from turquoise in Arizona, opals from Lightening Ridge to Diamonds from Zimbabwe is sought after and mined and sold and cut and sold again and again until some lucky person wears it in a piece of jewelry. But how are they made? There are many factors involved in the development of a gemstone: water, temperature, pressure, time and of course the main ingredient, which determines what type of gemstone you will have in the end. One particular gemstone that has raised interest in many parts of the scientific world is the opal.

Opals are very interesting to scientists because of their inherent ability to manipulate light.
When light hits an opal it is divided into the separate wavelengths that display the colors of the spectrum: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet. If you look at opal beneath a very powerful microscope, you will see a dull picture of tiny spheres stuck together in a very familiar pattern. They look like oranges stacked on top of each other in the supermarket. This pattern, it turns out plays a very important roll in the beauty that we observe in an opal. It is important to note that it is the pattern alone.

Opal doesn’t hold a color like a green leaf does or a blue car.
It has what is called structural color or color that is derived from light passing through a particular structure. There are other occurrences of structural color found in this world: the wings of certain butterflies, wings of hummingbirds, abalone shell, and pearls to name a few. These amazing phenomena are all due to one particular factor in their make-up—-their make-up.

There are three different ways this happens in nature.

1. The first one is part of genetic code. At the time they are grown or created, there is something in the hummingbird’s design that demands his wings to be made to diffract light and similarly the butterfly.
2. Secondly, the abalone is a shelled creature that lives in the ocean and makes its shell from calcium carbonate molecules found in ocean water. The abalone knows that his shell will be much stronger if it is stacked in a brick-like formation versus a random pattern of all different sizes particles. And it just so happens that this formation also diffracts light and is very beautiful.
3. Finally, opal is created deep in the Earth from a liquid mixture of silica and water. The silica is extracted from the soil by rainwater and is filtered through rock and into hollow pockets where it collects and inevitably settles into a hard, precious gemstone. It is the luck of the miner that determines if it will ever see the light of day.

Now there is a new way to display this incredible phenomenon in a science project from NanoScienceKits.org. In a classroom setting, for the first time, kids and teachers can grow an opal mimicking the way it is grown in the Earth. Starting with the same silica solution and a test tube, over a period of weeks, they can watch the progress of these tiny spheres stacking gently and deliberately in the that special structure. This Chemistry experiment is simple and amazing. It will inspire children to come away with an understanding of the beauty that has awed royalty and driven markets and prompted miners to blaze the Australian heat day after day for decades.

Image by Swami Stream via Flickr

Unless you have been living on a deserted island for the past few years you have no doubt heard the media report on the impending promise that lies in the realm of nanotechnology. The problem is if you are like most people, you probably don’t really understand what that means exactly. A new and relatively cheap science kit has been introduced to the market that offers to bridge the gap between this revolutionary science and our own limited understanding of it. But wait just a minute. Lets get back to nanotechnology.

Never before has there been one specific field of science that offers to change so many different scientific disciplines. In the medical field scientists believe that within the next decade they will be able create a blood filter using this technology that will have the capability of trapping cancer cells that are flowing through the blood of a human being. In the computing industry scientist speculate that will be able to create a computer chip that will have the ability to transfer information at the speed of light. In the battery industry they believe that they will be able to create a battery that will last more than ten times longer than the lithium ion batteries that are currently available. In the solar industry scientists believe they will be able to improve the efficiency of thin solar cells exponentially. It’s enough to leave the common man gasping for breath. That cheap science kit should start sounding fairly promising right about now.

The kit, which is comprised of extremely uniform silica nanoparticles dispersed in a simple solution, goes a long way in demonstrating the power that lies in the nano-realm. After the solution is emptied into a test tube the silica begins to self assemble, one of the most important and mind blowing attributes of all nano related sciences. As the silica self assembles a photonic crystal is formed over the course of a couple weeks which offers the participant a rare look into what scientists refer to as structural color. Both of these examples created by the experiment illuminate two of the phenomena found in nanotechnology. Although the specific applications that will be employed to change the world using this technology are significantly more complex than what the kit demonstrates, it the perfect introduction to this science for students young and old.

If you haven’t already heard, nanotechnology is getting ready to change the world. In fact, in many ways it already has. Just recently scientists were able to create a lithium ion battery using silicon that holds up to 10 times the charge of a traditional battery. So what could all of this have to do with a new science kit set to hit schools around the country soon? Well, everything. As nanotechnology grows in both use and demand the educational system in the United States finds itself in a precarious position. How do the nations schools educate our children about a science of such great importance and promise when so few people truly understand it? Enter the new science kit.

SiO2 Image via Wikipedia

This new science kit contains silica dioxide (SiO2) nanoparticles that are dispersed in a simple water solution in a small test tube. Over the course of couple days the student gets to observe as a photonic crystal starts to form at the bottom of the test tube. This crystal is formed by the phenomena of self-assembly, a key ingredient in nanotechnology that is employed in the process of creating these new super batteries. In fact, the crystal that is grown in the test tube is an exact replica of what the earth produces naturally when it manufactures gemstone opal in places like Australia.

By watching the crystal grow the student is given the opportunity observe nanotechnology in action. In addition, the instructor has the ability to explain the revolutionary science in simple and understandable terms breaking down the mystery behind this science and make it both approachable for the student as well as less intimidating. As our nations children grow older they are going to need to understand the world that are growing into. This new tool for educators is fantastic way to explain this cutting edge field of science.

Image by Armando Maynez via Flickr

The Morpho butterfly has long been a fascination to scientists around the world. The dark blue hues of its wings are striking to anyone who has the good fortune to see one of these delicate creatures. This color however, is not generated from pigment. Nearly all colors that are produced in nature are the result of some sort of pigmentation. Not the Morpho butterfly. The color that is visible in the wings of this rare insect are the product of one of natures greatest feats, structural color. The structural color found in the wings is the result of microscopic scales that cover the wings that reflect incident light. This causes the colors produced to vary depending on the viewing angle. The main characteristic that allows for such a phenomena to take place is the highly ordered nature of the microscopic scales. The order of these scales is comparable to the order found in a photonic crystal that is composed of silica nanoparticles.

Photonic crystals, also a phenomena found in nature, have until now been very difficult to study. The reason is that the only true photonic crystals that match up to the structure found in the Morpho’s wings are found in very expensive gemstone opal. These gemstones, which sell for as much as $200,000 per piece are rare pieces of highly ordered silica nanoparticles which occur naturally in the earth’s crust. Recently a chemistry kit has been manufactured by Opalscience that has the capability of demonstrating this phenomena.

The chemistry kit is comprised of highly mono-disperse silica (Sio2) that has the natural ability to self assemble in the bottom of test tube to create a photonic crystal. After the assembly has been completed a perfect representation can be seen of the structural color. The demonstration put forth by the Opalscience product allows the participant to have a rare look into the science behind the Morpho butterfly’s truly complicated beauty. By conducting this relatively simple experiment the participant is given the chance to personally recreate something that baffled mankind for centuries.

Image by Doramon via Flickr

In the last few decades, American schools have fallen in rank in comparison to schools in other countries around the world. Math and science scores have plummeted in the same comparison. Today in the U.S., 6 out of 10 engineering doctorates are awarded to foreign students. It is a problem when 30% of all undergraduate degrees in America are in the fields of math and science whereas; in China it is 60%. These are the consequences of the American elementary school system.

Because of standardized testing mandated by the government, children are forced-fed information. They are inundated with homework and class work to the point that they don’t have time to let their brains absorb the data. They resort to memorizing and regurgitating the information at the time of the test without the comprehensive understanding of the lessons. This is starting our children off behind in the world scope and teaching them that science is tedious and frustrating. In the end, the one thing they do learn is that they don’t like science, and that is the sad part.

Science is one of the only subjects that will allow children to get their hands dirty doing chemistry experiments. It is one of the only subjects that don’t always rely on the text in the book to teach a lesson as it does on fire and chemical reactions from a science kit. These physical displays of science are what children understand. When faced with the option to understand and remember words like endoplasmic reticulum or watch a cell network in action under a microscope I think we all know what would fascinate a child more.

Chemistry kits and chemistry experiments help the child to actually see what is happening instead of reading about it. They get to mix chemicals, start fires, and see things change before their eyes. Then they have to figure out what happened and why. There is no substitute for a physical example no matter how understandably it is written or vigorously tested.

We are realizing this problem a lot too late. Standardized test have pulled children from the lab to their desks and science has been handed to other countries. This problem has been noticed by many states around the country and currently there is legislation to mandate lab time in Elementary through High school grades. As a country, in the broad scope, we are behind but it is not too late to make the changes needed to be back on top. One day our children will be competing for a job and we need to make sure they are the most qualified and the most prepared.

As we discovered, the kind of hand warmers we were investigating contained iron powder, which quickly began to rust when exposed to air. Ignoring the warning (!) and opening the packet lets in more oxygen and speeds up the reaction, creating so much heat that your iron mixture will start to smoke. (Since we didn’t have lab glassware, we did our experimenting in a small canning jar designed to be heated.) After the reaction cooled down, we also played around with the iron powder using a magnet, which made it act a little bit like ferrofluid.wired.com, What’s That Stuff? The Chemistry Behind Everyday Products, Jan 2010

Neat little experiment performed by Wired.com people. You should read the whole article. Check out our nano science kits for cool stuff like this.

How do your opal crystals look?

Here at NanoScienceKits.org, we have a really good lesson learned nugget to pass on.

When you set your opal science kit into motion and begin to watch your photonic spheres settle and the opal crystals start to grow in the bottom, it is really important to use the right light to give you the best show.

Let me explain.

The photonic spheres in the nano science kit will only let a certain wavelength (or color of light) through. If you shone a red light at spheres in the range of 150-250nm diameter, then you would not see red light. The reason being is that the 150-250nm diameter range only allows the blue-green colors through. But if you shone the red light at spheres in the 250-250nm diameter range, you would see some red light appear to bounce off the photonic crystals in your test tube. That is all well and good but the people at NanoScienceKits.org want you to have the best play on color possible. How do you do this? Simple. Use white light. Yes, I know this sounds simple but if you go to the local hardware store and pick up a flashlight, more often than not they are LED flashlights. The problem with an LED flashlight is that it only shines predominantly blue/white light so when you shine it on the photonic spheres, you will see mostly a blue hue come back to you. This is because you are not using a true white light. As a test, grab an LED flashlight and a white light flashlight and shine them one after the other at your test tube that has opal crystals growing in the bottom. See the difference? There is a lot more color to see when you shine the white light. Bottom line, check on the box of the flashlight before you buy it and make sure it isn’t an LED.

Or if you really want to have your photonic spheres blow your socks off, use pure natural light. Take it from me, ask your teachers to wait for the nanospheres to finish settling. Wait for a sunny day. Carefully take the NanoScienceKits.org test tube outside and hold it in the sunlight.

You are welcome!!

Self-assembly alone is by no means a novel idea. Human beings are self-assembled for starters. That’s right, back when you were still in the womb your body, in a quite miraculous manner, simply knew how to assemble itself. And it doesn’t stop there. The earth is self-assembled. The universe is self-assembled. Even our galaxy is self-assembled. So what’s all the fuss over nanotechnology? If self-assembly has been around through the ages then why are scientists so laser focused on it? To put it simply, until now nature was only the patent holder on the self-assembly. Not anymore.

Scientists have been tinkering with particles on the nano-scale for decades but it wasn’t until recently that major breakthroughs made the idea of self-assembly possible. In tandem with these major breakthrough a new science kit has been created to allow students across the country see it for their own eyes. The science kit is a perfect window into the phenomena of self-assembly. Over the course of a couple of weeks the student will be able to view tiny silica nanoparticles build a photonic crystal at the bottom of a test tube similar to way nature makes opal in the earths crust.

This is important stuff. By watching the photonic crystal grow students will be introduced to man’s early attempts at manipulating nature’s oldest trick. The possibilities are endless and the lesson plan is very timely. It is important that schools across the nation start introducing this new technology to our nations youngsters now as it promises to revolutionize the way we live and they way we progress technologically. Nanotechnology is a big word about a very small science and the sooner we educate our nation about both it’s simplicity and it’s functionality the better. The clock is ticking.