California Institute Of Technology Research Articles

Electrification and Decarbonization of the Chemical Industry

Zachary Schiffer is currently a doctoral student in the Chemical Engineering Department at MIT. An NSF Graduate Research Fellow and an MIT Presidential Fellow, he is studying applications of electrochemistry to the nitrogen cycle in the Manthiram Lab. Zachary received a B.S.E. from Princeton University in Chemical and Biological Engineering with minors in applications of computing and materials science. As an undergraduate, he worked in Dr. Craig Arnold's lab studying the coupling of mechanics and electrochemistry in lithium ion batteries. Karthish Manthiram is an Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT. The Manthiram Lab develops technologies that enable modular and sustainable transformations of molecules. The lab is currently focused on the conversion of distributed feedstocks, such as air, water, carbon dioxide, and renewable electricity, into molecules that have an impact on our everyday lives. Examples include catalytic technologies through which farmers in developing countries can produce their own ammonia fertilizers and conversion of carbon dioxide into methanol to mitigate emissions that would otherwise contribute to global warming. Karthish received his bachelor's degree from Stanford University in 2010 and his Ph.D. from UC Berkeley in 2015, both in Chemical Engineering. Most recently, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the California Institute of Technology.

Factors Limiting Li+ Charge Transfer Kinetics in Li-Ion Batteries

To improve the power performance of Li-ion batteries, it is important to understand the factors that limit the Li+ charge transfer kinetics. Li-ion batteries comprised of graphite anode and lithium cobalt oxide cathode in an electrolyte made of 1 M LiPF6 in EC-DMC-DEC carbonate solvent mixtures could not deliver their room temperature capacity at a rate of C/2 at -30 and -40 oC [1]. When DEC was replaced by linear ester solvent, such as ethyl acetate (EA) or methyl butyrate (MB), the Li-ion batteries at -30 and -40 oC could deliver over 80% of their room temperature capacity at the same rate [2]. When the LiPF6 salt is replaced by LiBOB in EC-EMC (1:1 wt. ratio) carbonate solvent mixture, the impedance of graphite-electrolyte interface measured using graphite/Li half cells in the electrolyte with LiBOB is 3 times that in the electrolyte with LiPF6 [3]. These examples show that the electrolyte components play crucial roles in affecting Li+ charge transfer kinetics in Li-ion batteries. The Li+ charge transfer process starts from the solvated Li+ in the electrolyte to the reception of an electron (e-) from the electrode. This involves the de-solvation step of Li+ before entering into SEI and the diffusion step of Li+ through the SEI at the electrode and electrolyte interfaces before receiving an e- from the electrode at the electrode and SEI interface. Abe et al. [4-6] believe that the Li+ desolvation is the rate limiting step, which is supported by the results from the investigation of the electrolytes of different solvent systems using LiClO4 salt at HOPG, Li4Ti5O12 and Li+ solid conductors interfaces. The question is whether the de-solvation as a limiting step can be extended to the cathode-electrolyte interface. Jow et al. [7] examined the Li+ charge transfer kinetics at the graphite anode-electrolyte interface (SEI) and LiFePO4 (LFP) cathode-electrolyte interface (CEI) in a full cell, LFP/Gr, with Li as a reference electrode in 1 M LiPF6 in EC-DMC-MB with VC as an additive. It is found that the activation energy (Ea) at the graphite-electrolyte is about 67 kJ mol-1, which is much higher than 33 kJ mol-1 found at the LFP-electrolyte interface. It is concluded that the electrodes and their associated electrode-electrolyte interfacial layers are controlling the Li+ charge transfer kinetics. The impact of additives such as VC, LiBOB, and LiFSI, etc. on the impedance of the anode-electrolyte and the cathode-electrolyte interfaces in LiNiCoAlO2/Gr cylindrical cells in 1.0 M LiPF6 in EC-EMC-MP (20:20:60 vol %), where MP is methyl propionate, at low temperatures was studied by Jones et al. [8]. It is found that the additive impacts the impedance at the anode differently from that at the cathode. Further, we also found that the additives impact the Ea of Li+ charge transfer differently at the anode-electrolyte and the cathode-electrolyte interfaces. Different electrolyte components, including additives, result in different reduction and oxidation reactions during cell formation and cycling at the anode and cathode [9] and therefore, different and SEI and CEI layers. A discussion regarding the conditions in which the de-solvation step or the Li+ diffusion in either SEI or CEI layer is limiting the kinetics will also be provided. Acknowledgement Some work described here was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). References M. C. Smart, B. V. Ratnakumar, and S. Surampudi, J. Electrochem. Soc., 1999, 146(2), 486-492. S. Herreyre, O. Huchet, S. Barusseau, F. Peron, J. M. Bodet, Ph. Biensan, J. Power Sources, 2001, 97-98, 576. K. Xu, J. Electrochem. Soc., 2008, 155(10), A733-A738. T. Abe, H. Fukuda, Y. Iriyama, Z. Ogumi, J. Electrochem. Soc., 2004, 151(8), A1120-A1123. Y. Ishihara, K. Miyazaki, T. Fukutsuka, T. Abe, ECS Electrochemistry Lett., 3 (8) A83-A86 (2014). T. Abe, F. Sagane, M. Ohtsuka, Y. Iriyama, and Z. Ogumi, J. Electrochem. Soc., 2005, 152(11), A2151-A2154. T. R. Jow, M. B. Marx, J. L. Allen, J. Electrochem. Soc., 2012, 159 (5), A604-A612. J.-P. Jones, M. C. Smart, F. C. Krause, B. V. Ratnakumar, E. J. Brandon, ECS Trans., 2017, 75, 1-11. S. A. Delp, O. Borodin, M. Olguin, C. G. Eisner, J. L. Allen, T. R. Jow, Electrochimica Acta, 2016, 209, 498-510.

C&EN’s Talented 12

TALENTED 12 C&EN’s Talented 12 ShareShare onFacebookTwitterWechatLinked InRedditEmail C&EN, 2017, 95 (33), pp 40–41August 21, 2017Cite this:C&EN 95, 33, 40-41(Credit: C&EN/Shutterstock)Figure1of1Welcome to the third annual Talented 12 issue. It took us months of scouring the globe to collect all 12 of the rising stars in chemistry featured in the pages that follow.The dream team we’ve assembled is tackling some of the toughest scientific challenges facing the world today. These young scientists are battling the opioid epidemic, inventing new medicines and better ways to make them, and harnessing sunlight to make fuel and other useful chemicals.To find our 12, we called on a panel of esteemed advisers, C&EN’s advisory board, and Talented 12 alumni to nominate prospects aged 42 or younger who are pushing the boundaries in their fields. We also accepted nominations from readers through an online form. Finally, we researched and evaluated the more than 150 candidates amassed during this process to zero in on the path-paving individuals highlighted here.We’re certain these 12 will be scientific MVPs someday. You should collect their autographs now.Our advisers: Frances H. Arnold, California Institute of Technology; James J. De Yoreo, University of Washington and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; Anthony Estrada, Denali Therapeutics; Paula T. Hammond, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Sarah E. Reisman, Caltech; Tobias Ritter, Max Planck Institute for Kohlenforschung; Daniel Siegwart, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center; Alex Spokoyny, University of California, Los Angeles; Karen L. Wooley, Texas A&M University; Vivian W.-W. Yam, University of Hong Kong. In brief Profiles P.42–57 Talented 12 by the numbers P.46 Laboratory lovesP.52 Talented 12 alumni: Where are they now?P.58

Where is planet nine?

Michael E. Brown is often called "the guy who killed Pluto." But he takes the moniker in stride. Sitting in his sunny Pasadena office at the California Institute of Technology, Brown jokes that Pluto, which was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006, had it coming. The year before, Brown had discovered Eris, a frosty dwarf in the outer solar system more massive than Pluto and named, fittingly, for the Greek goddess of strife.

Western Faculty Profile: Dr. Robert Hudson

Dr. Robert Hudson is a Professor of Chemistry, cross-appointed to Biochemistry. He has been at Western for 19 years, coming here from what he calls “the usual path”. Professor Hudson completed his postdoctoral research at California Institute of Technology in the lab of Professor Peter Dervan “one of the giants of bioorganic chemistry”, where he was for just over two years. Prior to that he completed his undergraduate education, Master’s and PhD at the University of Toronto. His free time is devoted to family, martial arts (something he has been doing for over twenty years), and travelling.

Profile of Raymond J. Deshaies

Protein homeostasis is crucial to the health of living cells, and dysregulated protein homeostasis can trigger diseases, including cancer. Biochemical cell biologist Raymond Deshaies has devoted his distinguished career to the analysis of protein homeostasis and the development of therapeutic approaches to counter diseases that result when homeostasis goes awry. Deshaies has served as a professor at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and as an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Over the years, in addition to devoting his attention to cancer research, he has launched two companies focused on developing cancer-fighting drugs. Recently, he accepted a leadership position at the pharmaceutical company Amgen, Inc. In 2016, Deshaies was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. However, despite his scientific accomplishments and accolades, Deshaies says science is something he “grew into.” Raymond J. Deshaies. Image courtesy of Paul Fetters Photography. One of four boys, Deshaies grew up in Waterbury, CT. His parents, both French-Canadian, owned a three-story house in the city. His father worked at local factories, and his mother, who only spoke French to him, sold beauty products and took care of the household. Deshaies’ father, who had grown up on a farm, kept a small garden in the yard. “He would spend an inordinate amount of time on this tiny little piece of land,” Deshaies recalls. By the time Deshaies reached high school, he, too, had cultivated a green thumb. He not only had taken over the gardening in the yard but also had started growing house plants and accompanying a neighbor on her searches for dahlias. As high school graduation approached, the family expected that, like his brothers, Deshaies would attend the University of Connecticut. However, following the advice of an acquaintance, Deshaies applied to the agricultural school at Cornell University and was accepted on …

Synergies between human space exploration and science in the asteroid redirect mission and the potential Italian participation in the asteroid redirect robotic mission phase⋆

In 2010, the study proposal called Asteroid Retrieval Mission (ARM) was selected by the Keck Institute for Space Studies (KISS) at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). ARM had, as its main goal, the ambition to give a feasible, and realistic from a budget standpoint, destination to NASA Human Space Exploration (HSE) after the International Space Station (ISS), fulfilling President Obama’s goal to have astronaut reach and interact with an asteroid (NEO) by 2025. ARM was formulated exploiting synergies between HSE and science, and with benefits also for technology development and in-space validation. In 2013, ARM, renamed Asteroid Redirect Mission, became a NASA program with the support of the White House. The Italian Space Agency (ASI) expressed interest to participate in the robotic phase of ARM, called Asteroid Redirect Robotic Mission (ARRM). This presentation, given at the XIII National (Italian) Congress of Planetary Sciences, had the goal to introduce ARM to the Italian scientific community to gather proposals for the possible Italian participation in NASA ARRM, such as ASI payloads that could be possibly hosted on NASA ARRM.

The Sixth Sense? [Microwave Surfing

For many years, scientists have known that certain biological organisms ranging from bacteria to birds possess the faculty of magnetoreception [3], i.e., the ability to sense the earth’s magnetic field. But do human beings also have this sixth sense? Recent research from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) offers some tantalizing clues. Let’s start with the bacteria, because their “magnetoreceptors are still the only ones scientists have definitely located and studied.” In 1975, Richard Blakemore at the Woods Hole Oceano graphic Institution in Massachusetts found that certain bacteria from Cape Cod marsh muds “harbored chains of magnetic crystals” and, “as swimming compass needles,” could follow the direction of the local geomagnetic field, which dips down at an angle of 70° toward the north pole. Blakemore’s work inspired Caltech geologist Joe Kirschvink to study magnetic bacteria in the southern hemisphere (actually in a sewage treatment pond near Canberra, Australia), and he found that “sure enough, they swam down toward the south pole."

Christina Theodoris: Scientific Artist.

Christina Theodoris earned her BS in Biology at the California Institute of Technology and is currently pursuing her MD/PhD at the University of California, San Francisco, in Developmental and Stem Cell Biology. She is a student researcher at the Deepak Srivastava laboratory at Gladstone Institutes, focusing on gene regulatory networks and their disruption in cardiac disease to identify targets for network-correcting therapies. As an artist and a scientist, Christina endeavors to strike a balance between her 2 passions, using her experiences in art to move forward through the setbacks and missteps that are an accepted part of the scientific process as, after all, “there are no mistakes in art.” I was born and raised in Atlanta, where my parents immigrated from Greece. My parents initially came to the United States for graduate school—my father in electrical engineering and my mother in physical therapy. Growing up in Georgia, I always loved playing with my sister in the forest and really enjoyed nature and art. My sister and I were always excited for the daily math puzzle my dad would give us to figure out on the drive to school, and I was inspired by my mother’s compassion for her patients. For high school, I went to a public magnet school for art and science. Thanks to the mentorship of my extraordinary teachers, I was fortunate to be selected for the national Marie Walsh Sharpe art program, where I studied with artists Susanna Coffey and Chuck Forsman, and the national Earthwatch Institute program, where I researched signal detection theory with whiptail lizards in the Arizona desert. Experiences like these set me on the trajectory to pursue my passions in art and science. Christina Theodoris When I went to college, I knew I wanted to pursue a career in medicine; I loved pediatrics …

Toward a Triangular Aesthetics

Research Article| May 01 2017 Toward a Triangular Aesthetics Eric Gans; Eric Gans ERIC GANS is distinguished professor emeritus of French and francophone studies at UCLA, where he taught for 45 years. With The Origin of Language: A Formal Theory of Representation (California, 1981) he created the discipline of generative anthropology. His major recent works in that area are The Scenic Imagination from Hobbes to Freud (Stanford, 2007) and A New Way of Thinking: Generative Anthropology in Religion, Philosophy, Art (Davies, 2011). A new edition of his 1990 Science and Faith: The Anthropology of Revelation appeared in 2015, along with a translation of Baudelaire’s Les fleurs du mal, and his most recent book, written with Adam Katz, The First Shall Be the Last: Rethinking Antisemitism (Brill). Since 1995, he has edited the online journal Anthropoetics and produced over 500 online “Chronicles of Love and Resentment.” Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Trevor Cribben Merrill Trevor Cribben Merrill Translator TREVOR CRIBBEN MERRILL is lecturer in French at the California Institute of Technology. He writes a regular column for L’Atelier du roman, a French literary review, and authored The Book of Imitation and Desire (2013), a Girardian reading of Milan Kundera. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Contagion: Journal of Violence Mimesis and Culture (2017) 24: 5–22. https://doi.org/10.14321/contagion.24.1.0005 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Search Site Citation Eric Gans, Trevor Cribben Merrill; Toward a Triangular Aesthetics. Contagion: Journal of Violence Mimesis and Culture 1 May 2017; 24 5–22. doi: https://doi.org/10.14321/contagion.24.1.0005 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All Scholarly Publishing CollectiveMichigan State University PressContagion: Journal of Violence Mimesis and Culture Search Advanced Search This article originally appeared as “Pour une esthétique triangulaire,” Esprit, Nouvelle série, 429, no. 11 (Novembre 1973): 564–81. Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

Open data

The availability of data supporting scientific publications is becoming more and more critical to the ecological community. Some ESA journals already require that the primary data supporting an accepted paper be made available, and this may eventually be true for all of them. This change parallels a movement in science generally encouraging – and increasingly insisting – that data be publicly accessible. The move toward open data began in a few disciplines where archiving data became customary, and these fields were joined by NASA, which instituted early policies supporting the free and open exchange of scientific data. While scientists often either accept the notion of open data, or resist it personally for a variety of reasons, the motivation for scientists to provide data in support of their publications is not unidimensional. For ecologists, the desire to test theory against larger data compilations is a powerful motivating factor, as each ecologist's individual studies at a particular site may be representative of a more general principle, or may reflect idiosyncratic site conditions. Ecologists are more and more interested in using larger datasets to complement field studies, or even depending on them as their primary research tool. Transparency is also critical, adding credibility to controversial findings because skeptical or supportive colleagues can inspect the data and draw their own conclusions. This is closely linked to the notion of replication. Many ecological studies are difficult or even impossible to replicate when, for example, the result reflects a particular set of environmental conditions, a sequence of weather events, or a disturbance that is not within the researcher's control. In these cases, the goal of replication may be accomplished by another ecologist repeating the analysis, perhaps using a different theoretical framework, but the same data. In Ecological Applications, papers are often used to support management or policy decisions, and this is not uncommon in the other ESA journals, particularly Frontiers. In such cases, the fact that the data underlying a paper are available for scrutiny can greatly strengthen the credibility of the study. In the most contentious decisions, availability of data can be critical, and unavailable or poorly documented data can have serious consequences. Here, careful archiving and documenting of data and metadata can help prevent serious difficulties and legal complications. There are various challenges associated with open ecological data, some unique to our discipline and others that are common across many fields. Data on endangered species are often shielded to some degree by law, and common sense, and journal editors must accommodate this reasonable restriction. Many ecologists make use of data – collected by management agencies – that are partly protected for privacy and commercial concerns, such as fisheries landings or forest data on private land. Usually, this information can be shared after some degree of processing, or after the original request for raw data is properly modified so as to ensure that confidentiality isn't compromised. In the international realm, some nations share environmental data for research but do not allow redistribution of the raw data, and again, in such cases, additional documentation may be required to allow future replication. Documentation and metadata are crucial. Without adequate description, archived data are just so many bits, and with large, complex datasets, researchers are increasingly taking advantage of technology and informatics to document these datasets. While ecologists use a wide enough range of data, from genomics to geophysics, such that no single standard of documentation applies, many groups are working to define and refine documentation and metadata standards, and applying common sense to questions regarding what a future researcher might need goes a long way. When the analytics are applied to the data, or when the raw data are transformed into an analyzed product, it is as important to archive and document those analytics, and the Society's journals also encourage or require this. Open data is an exciting development for ecology. It opens a number of doors for us as researchers, allowing studies across huge areas, creating more context for field studies, and building credibility with the broader public and with each other. It does add an extra set of requirements, which creates another task for already busy researchers, but at the same time it creates opportunity. Key requirements for open data include appropriate repositories, clear standards, and financial support for the additional effort, and these requirements are increasingly being met. Any author who has concerns about depositing data and analytics in support of an ESA journal paper should contact the relevant Editor-in-Chief. David Schimel Editor-in-Chief Ecological Applications Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA

Evaluation of Commercial High Energy Lithium Primary Cells for Wide Temperature Range Aerospace Applications

As NASA missions become increasingly demanding of robust, lightweight, and compact power sources, there is a need to develop long-life and high-energy battery systems. Lithium-ion batteries have been developed at JPL over the last two decades and have been successfully integrated into a number of NASA missions [1] in conjunction with solar arrays and radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) power sources. In the case of short-term missions in extremely harsh conditions (i.e., thirty days or less and/or at temperatures reaching -40 °C) without an active thermal management system, lithium primary cells may be considered for their high specific energy, especially in environments where recharging secondary cells would be challenging [2]. The icy moons of the Jovian system, for example, offer little sunlight for photovoltaic power and Jupiter’s intense magnetosphere leads to constant potentially damaging radiation.Many types of commercial lithium primary cells are available, reportedly offering high specific energies of ~500 Wh kg-1, with some designed specifically for low temperature operation. These commercial cells must be validated for space missions with extensive testing to demonstrate their performance, safety, reliability, and suitability for space environments. Radiation tolerance is also an important consideration, both as a method of sterilization for planetary protection and for survival in high radiation environments.In the present study, we have evaluated a number of commercial lithium primary cells (ranging from AA to DD+ sizes) of varying chemistries (with CFx, MnO2, SOCl2, SO2, and FeS2 cathodes) and manufacturers for possible future use in NASA’s deep space missions. We have assessed various performance characteristics of these cells, including low temperature energy, rate capability, and tolerance to radiation exposure, which will be reported here. Acknowledgement The work described herein was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and supported by the NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate Game Changing Development Program.

The Use of Ester Co-Solvent Based Low Temperature Electrolytes in Experimental and Large Capacity Prototype Graphite-LiNiCoAlO2 Lithium-Ion Cells

The 2003 Mars Exploration Rover (MER) and the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity Rover utilize a large capacity rechargeable Li-ion batteries that have been manufactured by EaglePicher-Yardney Division (Yardney). The cell chemistry adopted for these missions consists of mesocarbon microbeads (MCMB) anodes, LiNixCo1-xO2 cathode materials, and a low temperature ternary all-carbonate-based electrolyte developed at JPL1,2,3 encased in a hermetically sealed prismatic can. The attractiveness of this system is that it displays long life, high specific energy and the ability to operate over a wide temperature range, including charging and discharging at -20oC. Due to favorable performance characteristics and the heritage established, this cell chemistry has been used on other NASA missions, including the 2007 Phoenix Lander, Grail, and the current Juno mission to Jupiter. To meet even more challenging performance requirements, including the ability to be charged and discharged at -30oC, the Mars InSight lander, which is a spacecraft being built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, will utilize the next generation LiNiCoAlO2 (NCA)-based chemistry, which incorporates a JPL developed ester containing low temperature electrolyte. 4,5,6 In the context of supporting possible future missions to the distant icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn, we are currently evaluating the potential of this system to operate at very low temperatures.7 To enable the exploration of the surfaces of these icy moons, one will require power systems that can potentially operate at ultra-low temperatures (down to -180oC) in high radiation environments. To meet these challenging requirements, we are currently developing ultra-low temperature rechargeable batteries with high specific energy and long life and with the ability to operate over the temperature range of +40oC to -60oC. It is preferred that the cells are capable of continuous operation at very low temperatures, so an emphasis has been focused upon demonstrating efficient charge characteristics over a wide temperature range. In this context, we have investigated a number of electrolytes that contain methyl propionate (MP) as a co-solvent, as well as various additives, to determine their influence upon the low temperature capacity (i.e., down to -65oC). In addition to evaluating the charge and discharge characteristics over a wide temperature range in large capacity prismatic cells and prototype pouch cells, experimental graphite - LiNiCoAlO2 three-electrode lithium-ion cells were used to determine the influence of electrolyte type upon the electrode kinetics over a range of temperatures. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The work described here was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and supported by the Ocean Worlds Program Office. REFERENCES 1. M.C. Smart, B.V. Ratnakumar, and S. Surampudi, “Electrolytes for Low Temperature Lithium-Ion Batteries Based on Mixtures of Aliphatic Carbonates”, J. Electrochem.Soc., 146, 486 (1999). 2. M. C. Smart, B. V. Ratnakumar, L. Whitcanack, S. Surampudi, J. Byers, and R. Marsh, IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine, 14: 11, 36-42 (1999). 3. M. C. Smart, B. V. Ratnakumar, L. D. Whitcanack, K. B. Chin, S. Surampudi, R. Gitzendanner, F. J. Puglia, and J. Byers, “Lithium-ion Batteries for Aerospace”, IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine, 19:1, 2004, pp. 18-25. 4. M.C. Smart, and B.V. Ratnakumar, L.D. Whitcanack, K.A. Smith, S. Santee, R. Gitzendanner, V. Yevoli, “Li-Ion Electrolytes Containing Ester Co-Solvents for Wide Operating Temperature Range”, ECS Trans. 11, (29) 99 (2008). 5. M. C. Smart, B. V. Ratnakumar, K. B. Chin, and L. D. Whitcanack, “Lithium-Ion Electrolytes Containing Ester Co-solvents for Improved Low Temperature Performance”, J. Electrochem. Soc., 157 (12), A1361-A1374 (2010). 6. M. C. Smart, S. F. Dawson, R. B. Shaw, L. D. Whitcanack, A. Buonanno, C. Deroy, and R. Gitzendanner, “Performance Validation of Yardney Low Temperature NCA-Based Li-ion Cells for the NASA Mars InSight Mission”, NASA Aerospace Battery Workshop, Huntsville, Alabama, November 18-20, 2014. 7. M. C. Smart, F. C. Krause, J. –P. Jones, L. D. Whitcanack, B. V. Ratnakumar, and E. J. Brandon, “The Use of Low Temperature Electrolytes in High Specific Energy Li-Ion Cells for Future NASA Missions to Icy Moons”, 229th Meeting of the Electrochemical Society, San Diego, May 29-June 2, 2016.

Griffith observatory: Hollywood’s celestial theater

Hollywood has always been about seeing and being seen and Griffith Observatory, perched on Mount Hollywood overlooking the Los Angeles metropolis, is the perfect stage set for a cosmic drama. In this article, the authors show how the Observatory’s form and function are uniquely Southern California productions. Since Griffith J. Griffith bequeathed funds for a public observatory in 1919, the astronomical community at the California Institute of Technology and the Mount Wilson Observatory have informed the selection of instrumentation, programming, and exhibitions at Griffith Observatory. Meanwhile, thanks to the Observatory’s studio connections, it has always been able to call upon the skills of some of Hollywood’s best artists, model makers, and scriptwriters to translate the latest astronomical discoveries into spectacular audiovisual experiences. In turn, the Observatory has featured prominently in hundreds of programs on radio, television, and film, becoming a celebrity in its own right. Aerospace contractors have kept the Observatory connected to the practical applications of astronomy. Displaying artifacts from Lockheed, Rocketdyne, and NASA, no other planetarium offered a better front row seat on the space race. The union of the astronomy, Hollywood, and aerospace communities under the vision of strong Observatory leadership continues to bring Los Angelenos and visitors from around the world closer to the heavens.

Biology leads the race to turn sunlight into fuels

A bacterium can be harnessed to do the job, but can that process be scaled up?

Catalyst: On Organic Systems Chemistry and Origins Research

Yitzhak Tor is a professor of chemistry and biochemistry and the George W. and Carol A. Lattimer Professor at the University of California, San Diego. He earned his doctorate degree at the Weizmann Institute of Science (1990) and was a postdoctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology (1990–1993). His research focuses on the chemistry and biology of nucleosides, nucleotides, and nucleic acids as well as the development of cellular delivery agents and fluorescent nucleoside analogs. He is the editor-in-chief of Perspectives in Medicinal Chemistry and Organic Chemistry Insights .

S. Jonathan Singer: A man who loved ideas and detested walls

S. Jonathan Singer, “Jon” to one and all, died February 2, 2017, at the age of 92. Educated as a physical chemist, he transitioned gracefully by way of protein and immunochemistry to become a cell and molecular biologist of huge renown. His initial bout with fame came in 1949 when Jon was a postdoctoral fellow with Linus Pauling at the California Institute of Technology and, together with Harvey Itano, showed that sickle cell hemoglobin differed from normal hemoglobin by Tiselius electrophoresis (1). The years at the California Institute of Technology also led Jon into the antibody field by way of a collaboration with the immunologist Dan Campbell, something that would stand him in good stead later. After his postdoctoral stint, Jon was appointed to the faculty at Yale in the Department of Chemistry, where he remained until 1961. At that point Jon joined the microbiologist David Bonner, who was leaving the Yale School of Medicine, to set up an innovative department of biology at a new branch of the University of California, La Jolla in San Diego (UCSD).

Erik M. Conway. Exploration and Engineering: The Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Quest for Mars. (New Series in NASA History.) viii + 405 pp., figs., app., bibl., index. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015. $34.95 (cloth).

Erik M. Conway. <i>Exploration and Engineering: The Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Quest for Mars</i>. (New Series in NASA History.) viii + 405 pp., figs., app., bibl., index. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015. $34.95 (cloth).

Ahmed Zewail: A force for Egyptian science

Undoubtedly, Dr. Ahmed Zewail, who passed away on August 2, 2016, had a strong, positive impact on science in the Middle East and in the West. I knew Zewail as one of his mentors and close friends. Zewail wanted to come from Egypt (Alexandria University) to get his PhD in my group at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Unfortunately, I was away on sabbatical and thus did not see his letter of interest, and my secretary answered him, advising him to apply for admission to get his PhD at UCLA first and then to come talk to me when I returned from overseas. He came to the United States and received his PhD working with the late Professor Robin Hochstrasser at the University of Pennsylvania and was doing research in chemical physics, which was very close to my own research at that time. Ahmed Zewail. Courtesy of the Archives, California Institute of Technology. We became very close friends, and he always used me as a sounding board during the successful rise of his academic career. He was very bright, highly motivated, and very hard-working, and he had an excellent sense of humor. Because Hochstrasser and I overlapped greatly in our scientific research interests for a long period, it was natural that Zewail and I frequently … [↵][1]1Email: melsayed{at}gatech.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1

Layered Double Hydroxides: Tailoring Interlamellar Nanospace for a Vast Field of Applications

Fifty-eight years ago Fenman, during an American Physical Society meeting at the California Institute of Technology, anticipated the problem of modifying and governing the world of the infinitely small. He said: “What I want to talk about, is the problem of manipulating and controlling things on a small scale… What I have demonstrated is that there is room—that you can decrease the size of things in a practical way. I now want to show that there is plenty of room. I will not now discuss how we are going to do it, but only what is possible in principle… We are not doing it simply because we haven’t yet gotten around to it.” Useless to say how profound his sensibility for science was. We’ve just begun to walk in this enormous field, toward the assembly of devices atom by atom. What we did till now is still rudimentary. Anyhow we believe that Layered Double Hydroxides could play a role in manufacturing these nanometric equipments. Layered Double Hydroxides (LDHs) are 2D ionic lamellar nano-materials belonging to the group of anionic clays. Their structure consists of positively charged brucite-like layers and intercalated anions. The layered structure, together with the flexibility to intercept different anionic species in variable compositions, both inorganic and organic, has attracted increasing interest. In order to meet specific requirements in very distant fields, considerable efforts were made to tailor the physical/chemical properties of LDHs and to design engineered LDH for several applications, ranging from anticorrosion coatings, flame-retardants, catalysis, to water treatment/purification, and biomedical applications. Furthermore they have been applied in energy harvesting and conversion, thanks to the possibility of substituting the composing metals with transition metals. Within the framework of this contribution, we first briefly review the development of synthesis processes (§1). In Paragraph 2, examples of the LDHs applications are reported. We will than focus on our laboratory experimental activities, showing the growth of the structures either on printed circuit tracks for applications of LDHs as gas sensors and biosensors. One more application is in nanostructured-modified textiles.