This year, Year 12s and 13s had the amazing opportunity to attend the Chemistry in Action study day hosted at University College London on the 17th of November. The stimulating and engaging programme introduced us to some of the newest cutting-edge research on Nanotechnology and even the future of Green Energy Materials. We explored the science behind beer, the wonders of Mercury, and not to mention a crash course on using Poison for Murder!

Now, having just read that, you might be thinking to yourself, ‘Ha, what a joke! Surely they never actually got taught how to murder with poison’, but, prepared to be surprised for the majority of Year 12 now know the lethal dosage of arsenic trioxide needed to kill an unsuspecting victim (which by the way is about 2/300 mg)…and how to get away with it!  That is, if we were in the 18th Century of course. Thanks to Dr. Kathryn Harkup, author of the book ‘A is for Arsenic’, we discovered that many of the compounds which we now identify as poisons today were once found on pharmacy shelves and prescribed as medication by doctors. She examined and explained four such ‘medicines’ and divulged into some of the killer case studies associated with those substances, which both fascinated and struck fear into the very minds of some of us.

After that incredibly interesting, yet somewhat disturbing talk, we moved swiftly onto the next speaker who explained some of the newest developments related to Green Energy Materials.  Prof. Saiful Islam used 3D atomic-scale modelling, enhanced by the 3D glasses we all wore, to explain how current lithium batteries worked. He then compared this to the new crystalline materials they were researching on at the University of Bath.

The next speaker, Melissa Cole, revealed the science behind the fermentation and flavour of beer. She went into depth about how our taste buds and palate worked and how our sense of taste was strongly dependent upon our sense of smell. Being an expert in beer tasting, she also explained how despite having similar brewing methods, different grain from different areas of the country affected the way beer tasted.

Dr. Andrea Sella began his talk with a humorous story about his first encounter with Mercury, which involved him being caught with his entire forearm stuck in a vat of the liquid metal. He explained how this immensely dense metal was his favourite of all the elements on the periodic table, going through many of its properties one of which was that Mercury is the only metal which can amalgamate with Gold. He even explored the possibility of bringing mercury ‘to life’, which, I’m sure, appealed to many of the science fiction fans in the audience.

Finally, we were introduced to the very tiny world of nanoscience where Dr. James Gallagher explained some of the most exciting new research in the field. He displayed developments in drug delivering nanomaterials by first demonstrating how impractical mini robots would be using a life-size drone which he flew around the stage, which was thoroughly entertaining. He then went on to demonstrate how much more effective and practical a nano-sized gold fullerene would be at delivering drugs using a giant spherical contraption.

All in all, the highly entertaining, memorable and thought-provoking presentations inspired and encouraged us to go further and widen our knowledge in the topics that really interested us. We thoroughly enjoyed the day.

By Nabihah Rahman, Woodford County High School