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Education

Djerrasi Honored on Austrian Stamp, Pokémon Invades Science Classes, Progress on the Chicken-feather Plastic Front

by David J. Hanson
March 21, 2005 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 83, Issue 12

Djerrasi honored on Austrian stamp

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Credit: PHOTO: COURTESY OF ÖSTERREICHISCHE POST AG
Credit: PHOTO: COURTESY OF ÖSTERREICHISCHE POST AG

The 1-euro stamp was issued this month and features Djerassi on the perforated stamp surrounded by a larger border that includes another portrait of the chemist. According to the Austrian Post, the design for the face in the background is unique, made up of microscopic chemical formulas for the hormone progestin, which Djerassi synthesized. That synthesis became the basis for the active ingredient in the first human contraceptive pill.

Djerassi was born in 1923 in Vienna, and his stamp is part of an Austrian series of renowned Jewish personalities from politics, medicine, science, and the arts. Dejerassi, professor emeritus of chemistry at Stanford University, was cited for his many scientific honors and awards and his work as an author "examining the human aspect of natural sciences and the personal conflicts scientists face."

The U.S. Postal Service has a policy of not putting images of living people on its stamps, but it has issued a number of stamps over the years on chemists and chemistry. The latest honored Percy L. Julian in January 1993.

Pokémon invades science classes

The National Aeronautics & Space Administration has gone over to the dark side. Hoping to make elementary school science teachers seem "cool," the space agency has teamed up with the latest Pokémon trading card game, called EX Deoxys, as a way to promote science, math, and engineering for students.

Deoxys EX is the latest variant of the Pokémon trading card phenomenon. These cards create a fantasy world populated with "pocket monsters" with wild powers. Approximately 13 billion cards have been traded and collected by millions of children worldwide. NASA apparently sees an opening for some education as well.

The science connection comes from the fact that the monster Deoxys is a virus that arrived on a meteor and was mutated into a Pokémon by a laser beam. Its physical appearance has arms that resemble two strands twisted into a double helix--like the deoxyribonucleic acid from which the character's name is derived.

From this starting point, NASA can provide teachers with materials that will help students learn about viruses, extraterrestrials (as microscopic creatures), meteorites, the ozone layer, and DNA.

To see the Pokémon activity pages, visit NASA's Kids Science News Network at http://ksnn.larc.nasa.gov/pokemon.

Progress on the chicken-feather plastic front

Department of Agriculture scientists have applied for a patent on a process to use chicken feathers as feedstock for plastics on a laboratory scale. Research chemists Walter F. Schmidt and Justin R. Barone developed the process at the Agricultural Research Lab's Environmental Quality Laboratory in Beltsville, Md.

Using standard plastic processing equipment, the chemists use cleaned and chopped chicken feathers and other naturally derived materials to make a plastic that is said to have properties similar to polyethylene and polypropylene. USDA says that the feather-derived material can be used for packaging or other applications where high strength and biodegradability are desired.

This advance follows up on earlier work by Barone and colleagues using chicken feathers to strengthen composites, previously noted by C&EN reporter Bethany Halford (C&EN, Sept. 6, 2004, page 36). Her story from the Philadelphia ACS meeting shows there is more to feathers than just pillow filling.

USDA points out that approximately 4 billion lb of feathers are generated each year from poultry production, and they are a huge agricultural waste problem.


This week's column was written by David Hanson . Please send comments and suggestions to newscripts@acs.org.

 

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