eCHEM 1A: Online General Chemistry
College of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley
http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/echem1a
Curriculum and ChemQuizzes developed by Dr. Mark Kubinec and Professor Alexander Pines
Chemical Demonstrations by Lonnie Martin
Video Production by Jon Schainker and Scott Vento
Developed with the support of The Camille & Henry Dreyfus Foundation
When tiny microbes jam up like fans exiting a baseball stadium, they can do some real damage.
UC Berkeley physicists found this out the hard way when the baker’s yeast cells (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) they were studying multiplied so prolifically that they burst the tiny chamber in which they were being raised.
When UC Berkeley postdoctoral fellow Morgan Delarue measured the force the growing mass of cells exerted as they pushed against one another, he calculated that it can be nearly five times higher than the pressure in a car tire — about 150 psi, or 10 times atmospheric pressure.
This is more than just a weird observation, said Oskar Hallatschek, a UC Berkeley assistant professor of physics and leader of the team. Budding yeast or other living cells, which split in two and grow exponentially in number, may well generate such mechanical forces to alter their environment, possibly in damaging ways. This may be even more important for cells like yeast that cannot move.
For full story, visit: http://news.berkeley.edu/2016/05/13/beware-of-microbial-traffic-jams/
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The STEM Career Showcase for Students with Disabilities is an educational event where attendees meet role models with disabilities who have thriving careers in STEM fields. The event provides opportunities to hear from different speakers, meet other students and families, and learn from hands-on science demonstrations. Learn about the many professional possibilities available and the inspiration to pursue STEM careers. Panelists at the UC Berkeley Lawrence Hall of Science’s showcase include Dr. Joshua Miele from the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute; Ronit Mazzoni, a genetics counselor at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center; Hoby Wedler, UC Davis PhD student in Computational Organic Chemistry and Akhila Raju, UC Berkeley undergraduate in Computer Sciences.