Hi again. I was cruising the news the other day and found a couple of articles that might be of interest to the undergraduate student. The article on the molecular machine is particularly interesting to me. Some day in the very near future, “old-fashioned” I/O chips will be a thing of the past.
The theory behind it is simple: In computer chips now, you have a voltage gate (a little wire) which if on is a “1” and if off is a “0”. In molecular computers, the wire is replaced by a chiral molecule. If the molecule is in the “R” configuration, that is a “1”. Shine a light on it or pass a current through it and it goes to the “S” configuration which would be a “0”. Presto, you have a computer that takes up a fraction of the space that the ones today do. Read more below.
“Green Chemistry” (environmentally friendly) at the U of Oregon
The Downside of Getting High on Cough Syrup
5.5 Million Euro Project for Molecular Machine Research
Dr. Michael Pa
Dr. Michael Pa got a bachelors degree in chemistry from Binghamton University, a masters degree in organic chemistry from the University of Arizona and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Arizona. His research focus was on novel pain killers which were more potent than morphine but designed to have fewer side effects. There may even be a patent or two that came out of it. Prior to all of this, he was a chemist at Procter and Gamble. After all of that, he (briefly) worked as a post-doctoral assistant at Syracuse University, working on novel organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). In between, he did NOT compete at the 1996 Olympics, make the Atlanta Braves opening day roster, or become the head coach of the Indiana Pacers, as he had intended. #fail During this entire time, he always loved helping students, especially if they were struggling with organic chemistry. In 2006, Dr. Pa founded AceOrganicChem.com in order to make learning organic chemistry fast and easy. 14 years and about 60,000 students later we are still helping students to learn organic chemistry one reaction at a time at https://www.aceorganicchem.com
