Diatom Beams: Naturally Strong Silicious Honeycomb Architecture Posts

     "Beams made of sawn diatom shells and poked with a diamond-tipped probe until they cracked have revealed that the microbial armor has the highest strength-to-weight ratio of any known biological material. According to the scientists who conducted the study, the remarkable toughness of this material is likely due to its honeycomb-like architecture and flawless silica build." SEM images of diatoms include ones like these:

      Diatoms are marine algae that come in a wide variety of shapes. Those with honeycomb shapes are especially strong.

     "The scientists studied the shells – called frustules – of Coscinodiscus, a hamburger-shaped diatom. Like all diatoms, it bears two frustules that fit together like the halves of a petri dish. The shells are perforated by pores."

        Further details of the study are described in this link. Some of these pores occur in Fibonacci patterns (similar to sunflower seed whorls) as in this SEM of another diatom.

        A closer look at the microstructure is seen in this diagram:

   

       Mighty perforated tiny organisms with great natural strength occurring in Fibonacci patterns and packed together in hexagonal groupings--anything familiar here?

          Anyone else reconcile Fibonacci numbers and hexagons by noting 6 is made of two sets of three? Other thoughts?

Diatomaceously yours,
Steph

Beware today, 3/15:

Nautilus, Phi, and Carbon Ion Radiotherapy for Mass Tumours in Colorado

     Who isn't fascinated by Fibonacci numbers and the golden ratio of phi (1.6180339887) in the spiral of the chambered nautilus?

     The nautilus' growth ratios of squares of 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21 and so on in the successive phi ratios are echoed in cabbage:

coneflowers:

   and chamomile buds:

   
      
      These famous spirals were on my mind while driving to my annual physical appointment yesterday.  I listened to this Colorado Public Radio piece on a proposal to bring carbon ion radiotherapy to CO.

Carbon Ion Radiotherapy: Equipment the Size of a Large Building

      I shared the salient parts of the research with my doctor. He completely pooh-poohed the idea. [So annoying.]  I was intrigued as impressive survival results were reported in Germany and Japan in patients with tumour masses, especially for those with pancreatic cancer. (The carbon ion radiotherapy does not work in leukemias.)

        This March 2014 article discusses the excellent results as well as the high costs ($120 million for the equipment or gantry) plus $40 million for the accompanying facility:

March 2014 carbon ion radiotherapy results

     Radiation therapy is the medical use of ionizing radiation to treat cancer. In conventional radiation therapy, beams of X-rays (high energy photons) are produced by accelerated electrons and delivered to the patient to destroy tumour cells. Using crossing beams from many angles, radiation oncologists irradiate the tumour while trying to spare the surrounding normal tissues. Inevitably some radiation is deposited in healthy tissues.

     When the irradiating beams are made of charged particles (protons and other ions, such as carbon), radiation therapy is called hadron-therapy. The strength of hadron-therapy lies in the unique physical and radiobiological properties of these particles; they can penetrate the tissues with little diffusion depositing the maximum energy just before stopping. This allows a precise definition of the specific region to be irradiated. The peaked shape of the hadron energy deposition is called the Bragg peak, the "symbol" of hadron-therapy. With the use of hadrons the tumour can be irradiated with less damage to healthy tissues.

     Less damage to healthy tissues is particularly important in pediatric patients as those healthy cells are still developing.

        It is of personal interest to me because my dad survived over four years with pancreatic cancer before his death a decade ago. He had a wonderful positive attitude, drank the special goo my mom made for him daily, and worked out with weights often. I imagine he would have been happy to give carbon ion radiotherapy a go.

      Here's my dad (on the right) in a German beer garden in the early 50's:

  
    He sure looks hoppy ;-)

     Here's to you, Dad, and your open attitude to exploring new things! (Dad and me):

      I am quite curious about your thoughts on carbon ion radiotherapy and pancreatic cancer; nautilus, flowers, and cabbage; and, of course, the great hops we grow here in Colorado.

Hoppily,

Steph

(Word Woman)

       Another gardener and I did not marmalade, but plum jammed with stevia and sugar.

Roosters, chickens, ducks and eggs including green eggs (and no ham) and a double yolk egg in front:

       The roosters' plumage was especially wild and fun. . .Sorry about the low light. We had to wait until dark for them to come home to roost from their free range day. 

And, lastly, the Semiotics of Maizie:

In the Mobius Strip of Life, A Little Twist is Needed

 

     This is Math Month with 14 brilliant kindergarteners. We've gone from Fibonacci Numbers to Golden Spirals to Mobius Strips. The kids watched the following jaw-dropping, 3-minute video linking a Mobius Strip to the music of J. S. Bach:

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUHQ2ybTejU

     They watched the Jos Leys video transfixed. I heard more than one soft "Whoa!"

      The kids then drew on and cut their pre-made Mobius strips in half length-wise to learn more about the amazing looping properties of the Mobius strip. Then I created one more extra-long Mobius strip, expecting to cut one-third of the way into the strip creating one long loop intersecting with a shorter loop.

     I got two disconnected loops of green construction paper.

     Hysterical laughter ensued as Ms. Steph had forgotten to twist the loop. 

     It was GREAT!

     It looped perfectly into a discussion of scientists making mistakes and to the wonderful book I am reading (thanks, Jan!): Brilliant Blunders by Mario Livio (2013).

 

     

     

      In the preface, Livio starts by noting his standard answer to what his book was about: "It is about blunders, and it is not an autobiography." So far, it is a finely-woven quintuple helix of the biggest mistakes of Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Fred Hoyle, William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) and Fred Hoyle. Rosalind Franklin (see October 29, 2013 Partial Ellipsis of the Sun blog post here:  Rosalind Franklin: DNA Photograph 51) and her contribution to the discovery of the DNA double helix (not triple helix as Pauling hypothesized) are discussed in great detail. There are photos, letters, journal notes, and diagrams detailing the errors of these scientists. One reviewer wrote, "Even Einstein was no Einstein sometimes."  

      The word "blunder" according to Merriam Webster is from the  Middle English blundren, probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse blunda to shut one's eyes, doze, Norwegian dialect blundra.Here's hoping that you will open your eyes to the beauty of these holiday Mobius strips:

and to this very creative person, Jos Baldwin, who blended (and surely blundered along the way) to this creation of 36 Mobius strips creating a Chambered Nautilus:

 

 

 

There are more photographs of this Mobius Nautilus here: Mobius Nautilus

      My world is looping back on itself as I remember the thrill of reading a first-year (ok, we called it freshman) English book that connected with my Geology 101 textbook. A chambered nautilus made of Mobius strips? W h o a . . .
 

     Wishing you all a good holiday (whichever you celebrate--or not) and winter filled with colossal mistakes, many children, and much laughter. . .and, perhaps, a Mobius tree:

 

 

 I look forward to our loopy conversation. (Sorry about the lack of an umlaut over the "o" in Mobius; I know you'll pronounce it Mer-bius not Moh-bius. . .)

Posting on a Monday this week, back to Tuesday next week,
Word Woman (Scientific Steph)