But it seems that being integrated with sharks isn’t the only way for lasers to get some attention. Scott A. Stevenson of worldscott.com uses lasers to pop popcorn or explode fireworks–among other video stunts–all in the name of helping to popularize science and technology through informative and entertaining videos. After he posted a video using a laser to ignite a firecracker hanging inside a balloon, Wicked Lasers contacted Stevenson and sent him its Spyder III Krypton 750mW+ laser, which he used to attempt setting a Guinness Book of World Records, popping 100 single-file balloons with one laser beam. Happy Monday, folks!

• A former chemical hygiene officer guest-posted at ChemistryBlog and answered questions on Reddit
• Also via ChemistryBlog and Reddit, the marvel of a Sigma-Aldrich vending machine for NMR supplies. A robotic tray moves to the correct shelf to catch purchases.
• Chemjobber posted about the importance of a “Chembuddy” in troubleshooting process problems: “People with different and perhaps broader experiences may be able to see beyond the subtle processing effects that are too familiar for others to recognize.” I think the same could likely be said for doing risk assessments.
• CJ also commented on lab traffic flow problems. I’ll add that people trying to get through tight, narrow spaces with essential equipment are probably likely spill more stuff.
• Balancing security and right to know: Plan to publicize hazard information sparks new terrorism concerns
• The National Research Council released its report on “The use and storage of methyl isocyanate (MIC) at Bayer CropScience,” finding that:
  

  Bayer CropScience sought to reduce risks associated with the manufacturing and storage of the toxic chemical methyl isocyanate (MIC) at its processing plant in Institute, W.Va., says a new congressionally mandated report from the National Research Council. However, the company did not make an effort to incorporate all possible hazard control methods, and the report found that not all chemical manufacturing plants have adopted safer processes that aim to minimize or eliminate hazards.

• A French court found Monsanto guilty of chemical poisoning of a farmer, who argued that the company did not provide adequate warnings on the product label of its Lasso herbicide
• EPA fined Syngenta $102,000 “for mislabeling pesticides at facilities in Nebraska and Missouri”

Fires and explosions:

• Two Australian high school students were burned when a crucible exploded while being heated on a Bunsen burner

Leaks, spills, and other exposures:

• When a roofer fell into a vat of 40-70% nitric acid at Swepco Tube in New Jersey, his coworkers rescued him and suffered some injuries of their own
• An 8,000-gallon container of some sort of resin launched itself through the roofof a hot tub factory in California
• Three workers were sprayed with sodium nitrate at an Intel facility in Oregon
• 7,500 gal of hydrochloric acid spilled when a trailer exploded at a power plant in Missouri
• A malfunctioning flange cause a spill of 1,200 gal of sulfuric acid at Arcelor Mittal Steel in Ohio
• “Thousands of gallons of acid” spilled at Brenntag Pacific in Utah when workers were unloading a rail car and there was some sort OF “problem with the hose”
• A pump failure led to the release of phosphorus trichloride and hydrochloric acid at ICL America in Ohio
• Hydrogen cyanide was released at a Thomas & Betts factory in Canada; Thomas & Betts produces products for the electricity industry
• A man refining gold using electric heaters and “chromatic” (chromic?) acid in the back of a pickup truck triggered a hazmat response in California

Not covered: meth labs; ammonia leaks; incidents involving floor sealants, cleaning solutions, or pool chemicals; transportation spills; and fires from oil, natural gas, or other fuels.

Credit: Flickr user snelly23

Putting water on cereal is weird. Now there’s science to prove it. [Discoblog]

Buying your own wedding ring is for weaklings. This guy forged his from a meteorite. [io9]

Roadkill, it’s no longer just good eats. It’s doing science. [Wired]

Welcome to the age of social media: Hospital in Houston live tweets a brain surgery, with video and photos. Click to see the Storify-ed version. [Memorial Hermann/Storify]

Mathematician reveals how he beat the roulette wheel in the 1970s with wearable computer. [New Scientist]

When your parrot curses a blue streak, does it know what it’s saying? [Slate]

Overall, I think the “splash zone” video is a terrific illustration of why it’s important to always wear eye protection in labs, even when you’re not the one handling the chemicals. That said, the safety glasses featured in the video are really designed for impact protection, not splashes. For splash protection, people really need to use goggles.

• The National Science Teachers Association posted about Safety in the science lab
• The May issue of AIChE’s Process Safety Beacon focuses on mechanical integrity of tubing (pdf) and notes “Don’t forget about tubing just because it is usually small.” (lab scale chemists, pay attention!)
• California’s San Onofre nuclear plant may resume partial service in June. The shutdown is from problems with pipes leaking radioactive steam, but it turns out to be a mechanical rather than a chemical problem. According to the linked story, “The issue appears to be caused by the level of steam flow through the tubes, which causes certain longer tubes to vibrate and rub against each other.”
• A fire in March at New Jersey’s Sussex County Technical School turned out to be from zinc metal powder + wet paper towels in a trash can. “The fire caused heavy damage to the lab while seven other rooms, including four offices on the first floor, sustained smoke and water damage. The damage has been estimated at ‘over $500,000.’”
• Corden PharmaChem was fined $300,000 for a 2008 explosion that killed one worker and injured another at a plant in Ireland
• The University of Vermont was fined $19,660 for records violations relating to state hazardous waste regulations. “The inspector found that records of self-inspections in the sampled laboratories were not consistently maintained, that the records used for laboratory self-assessments were not those that are required, that some storage containers were mislabeled and that laboratories didn’t take adequate corrective actions after learning of violations.”

Fires and explosions:

• Fires in two reactors at a chemical plant in India killed four workers and injured an additional 15. “The blast was so big that it was easily heard even at a distance of 6 km, and so powerful that the pieces of reactors were found spread in fields up to a distance of 600 yards. The 50-kg cover of the reactor was also found nearly 300 yards away from the spot.”
• A fire at an Arizona Chemical plant in Florida started in a wastewater basin
• Diesel fuel ignited in a BNSF Rail Yard Chemical Testing Lab in Kansas when the ventilation system failed, resulting in a damage estimate of $75,000. There’s no mention in the story about what might have sparked the fire and whether the chemist doing the testing was injured.
• Some sort of explosion in a lab at New Zealand’s Canterbury University left two students with head and neck injuries
• “A small fire from a chemical reaction” burned one student at a high school in Wyoming
• Something involving silver nitrate flared up in a U.K. science classroom, burning a teacher on her hands and face

Leaks, spills, and other exposures:

• Butanol leaked at an Oxea plant in Texas
• A San Francisco VA Medical Center researcher died from infection by a bacterial strain he was studying, Neisseria meningitidis, which causes meningitis and septicemia. Added: ScienceInsider has some more details.

Not covered: meth labs; ammonia leaks; incidents involving floor sealants, cleaning solutions, or pool chemicals; transportation spills; and fires from oil, natural gas, or other fuels.

Ionic Cleansing Facial Steamer Credit: SkyMall/Hammacher Schlemmer

Thank you, SkyMall catalog. Not only do you provide distraction during seemingly endless flights to destinations around the world, you’ve also given me a good laugh on this humdrum Friday.

And thank you, Leverett Smith, a Newscripts reader from El Cerrito, Calif., for sending in the SkyMall advertisement that delighted me so.

SkyMall, not content just to sell fascinating specialty products like orthopedic dog couches and wall-mountable battle armor, is now reinventing science.

Behold, The Ionic Cleansing Facial Steamer! This device “produces ionic steam that penetrates deep into pores to provide deep cleansing that rejuvenates and refreshes skin,” the ad reads. “The unit emits steam molecules that are 1/8,000 smaller than normal
water molecules, allowing more moisture to reach deep into the keratin layer and remove impurities while elevating moisture and sebum levels to revitalize skin.”

For only $299.95, this miracle product can be yours, folks. And let’s not forget to get some chemophobia in there: “Eliminating the need
for harsh chemicals or costly soaps,” the ad continues, “the device uses ordinary tap water and its warm mist opens pores to remove dead skin cells, leaving skin soft and smooth, and improving its tone.” Yup, those costly soaps will definitely set you back more than this steamer, and those harsh chemicals, why, they’ll melt your face off.

Smith didn’t have much to say about the ad—it really speaks for itself—but he adds that “ ACS members will doubtless be able, on their own, to come up with a myriad of possible applications for those extra-tiny water molecules.”

In response to the death of UCLA laboratory researcher Sheharbano (Sheri) Sangji, the university instituted a number of safety improvements, including more thorough lab inspections, more flame-resistant lab coats, and additional special training in the use of safety gear and the handling of air-sensitive chemicals. UCLA also established a Center for Laboratory Safety (CLS). According to the CLS website, the center was created to “improve the practice of laboratory safety through the performance of scientific research and implementation of best safety practices in the laboratory.” The Center operates under the oversight of an advisory board, with technical support from the UCLA Office of Environment, Health & Safety (EH&S) and the UCLA School of Public Health’s Department of Environmental Health Sciences.

James Gibson, UCLA’s director of EH&S and the executive director of the CLS, has been on the road constantly promoting the center as well as UCLA’s overall response to the Sangji incident. Also promoting the center everywhere has been Erike Young, the EH&S director for UC’s Office of the President. Young is charged with seeing that all of the UC campuses improve their safety culture. He pointed out during his 2010 talk at the National Research Council’s Safety Summit that most UC campuses do not perform “lab safety inspections”, although they may be inspected by individual programs for fire safety, biological safety, radiation safety, etc. Audits commonly find lack of safety training by PIs and research teams, lack of enforcement on PPE requirements, insufficient or improper safety equipment, and lack of follow-up on inspections.

Young said that UC’s challenge is to integrate safety management into the basic operation of research laboratories, a concept also championed by the ACS Safety Culture Task Force (pdf). If structure drives behavior, then it stands to reason that laboratory safety issues will more frequently be apparent at facilities without a strong safety culture. Unfortunately, Young noted that university EH&S lab safety is largely regulatory driven, not risk based. This is something the CLS is trying to change.

So what has UCLA done to fundamentally change its safety culture? Among other things, the University has appointed a new chemical hygiene officer (CHO), Petros Yiannikouros.

I had the pleasure of spending a number of hours with Yiannikouros during the recent ACS meeting in San Diego. I found him engaging, communicative, and fun to talk with (which makes him one of my new best friends). A native of the island of Cyprus, Yiannikouros is at UCLA at least partly because of its proximity to the ocean – he told me it is impossible for him to live more than an hour from water and an opportunity to fish. Upon a little research, I find that his background also includes serving as the Head Scientist in charge of Quality Control for the Carlsberg Brewery in Cyprus!

While he was unable to speak to the Sangji incident (it precedes his time at UCLA), Yiannikouros outlined some of the challenges he faces.  When asked what he believes makes a successful CHO, he stressed experience in the laboratory. Yiannikouros feels it is difficult, if not impossible, for a CHO to adequately manage safety in a research environment without clearly understanding the processes and procedures. With the emphasis at UCLA on the handling of reactive chemicals, Petros finds his experience in organic research to be invaluable, particularly in respect to the handling and use of organometallics.

The California Division of Occupational Safety & Health (Cal/OSHA) agrees with Yiannikouros. “A CHO should be able to interact with investigators as a peer and be able to understand what it is they’re talking about,” as well as know the various regulations involved, Cal/OSHA senior safety engineer Deborah Gold told my co-blogger Jyllian in 2010, when discussing why the agency felt a previous UCLA CHO was unqualified.

I certainly wish Yiannikouros luck at UCLA as he continues to help change the safety environment. It is clearly a challenge to get principal investigators to “buy in” to structured safety behavior, but it looks like Yiannikouros has the tools to do that at UCLA.

Credit: What We Do Media

Someone has actually clamped a frickin’ laser to the dorsal fin of a shark. Supervillains to take over Earth. [Wired Gadget Lab]

Smalleye pygmy shark groans in disgust. It already has a light-emitting belly and doesn’t need any frickin’ laser beam. [Christian Science Monitor]

Physics professor contemplates The Incredible Hulk’s energy requirements during his “getting angry” time, as well as whether he’d crack the pavement when jumping around NYC. [Wired Science Blogs]

Speaking of villains, polymer chemist admits to being the evil force who made snack bags so hard to open. [Gizmodo] via [It’s the Rheo Thing]

From the “Questions You Never Wondered About” files: What does one use to test a toilet’s flushing power? [Annals of Improbable Research]

The obesity epidemic has escaped into the wild, with fat pigeons, fat rats, and “genuine fat asses.” [Slate]

UMN is one of the universities benefiting from a program Dow announced last year in which the company is investing $25 million per year for 10 years in research programs at 11 academic institutions. The new safety program is independent of that effort but germinated in the relationship established between Dow and the university, says Frank S. Bates, head of UMN’s chemical engineering and materials science department.

The safety program also extends beyond research programs sponsored by Dow. Central to the effort is a Joint Safety Team (JST) made up of the safety officers from every chemistry and chemical engineering research group. “All of those safety officers will be interacting with Dow and working together to learn best safety practices” from the company, says William B. Tolman, chair of the chemistry department.

At a kick-off meeting a few weeks ago, representatives from Dow and the university agreed that their focus would be on building and sustaining a good safety culture. UMN already seems to have some good procedures and protocols in place, says Pankaj Gupta, senior strategy leader for research and development  at Dow. The task is how to raise awareness of those and how to share Dow’s best practices and adapt them to a university setting.

To that end, in the next couple of weeks, Dow and UMN plan to survey chemistry and chemical engineering faculty, postdocs, and students to get their feedback on the current state of laboratory safety and what needs to be improved. Then the program will try to address those concerns by having Dow representatives visit the campus to work with members of the JST. Some or all JST members will also visit Dow, where they will be exposed to things like Dow’s training program, its laboratory audits, and how scientists approach experiments, Gupta says. Repeat surveys will help determine how the program progresses.

Gupta has already surveyed recently-hired Dow employees to get their input on the differences between academic and Dow safety culture. “The number one theme that came up again and again was awareness,” Gupta says, adding that other concerns included specifications for protective equipment, protocols, and pre-task analysis. “When our new employees come in, they spend about 30 hours in mandatory training before they can set foot in the lab to do an experiment,” providing an immediate lesson that safety comes first, Gupta says. Monthly safety meetings and pre-task analysis, in which peer groups discuss the hazards of new procedures and what to do if something goes wrong, also reinforce that safety is an integral part of laboratory experiments.

One of the things the pilot program will work on is creating an environment in which it is both expected and comfortable for people to raise questions and work with each other around hazard assessment, says Lori Seiler, associate director for environmental health and safety in research and development at Dow.

The pilot program will run through the summer. Then Dow and UMN will take stock of the effort and figure out how to proceed. Two UMN alumni now employed at Dow—one chemist and one chemical engineer—are on the core team working with the university.

Neither Dow nor UMN comes to the program with the expectation that the university will duplicate Dow’s safety program, Bates says. “But there’s a lot of room between what we’ve done in the past and what they do at Dow,” he says. “Our intention is to make things better in a university setting.”

Key to the effort is the JST, Tolman adds. “We decided early on that it would be actual students and postdocs who would lead the effort, since they’re the ones in the labs,” he says. And the interdepartmental nature of the team should strengthen it, by providing both a common goal and a wider range of experience.

The team should also help address the problem of high turnover in academic labs, Tolman says. Even as some JST members leave every year, their replacements will learn from and be supported by veteran members. And if the safety officers are trained well, they in turn will do a better job of training new research group members, Tolman says.

“My own safety officer from my group came in my office two days ago and she told me flat-out, ‘This is going to make my job easier,’” Bates adds. He hopes that the JST will add some professionalism to the safety officers and promote their authority in the research groups they serve. “And to have a partner at Dow who they can consult with and make contact with occasionally as a resource? That’s just fantastic,” Bates says.

Bates and Tolman say that their faculty members are enthusiastic about the program, even though it means a big time commitment for the safety officers. “We agree it takes time, but it needs to take time. This is important and a high priority for us,” Tolman says.

And although the safety officers may have some busy weeks ahead, in six months or a year from now, “it’s not going to take any more time. I think it will take less time and less concern on the part of the safety officers,” Bates says.

So, for what it’s worth, I’m reposting my feelings in 2008 from the 19th anniversary of my dissertation defense. (How quaint to see that I was using a Palm Treo back then!)

This post appeared originally on 13 November 2008 at the ScienceBlogs home of Terra Sigillata.

For whatever reason, I woke up really depressed and exhausted today – pretty much for no reason, I think.

I checked my schedule on my Treo – today marks 19 years since my dissertation defense.

I remember being really depressed throughout writing my dissertation thinking, “is this all I have to show for this many years of public support for my training?”

My defense was on a Monday so I spent most of Sunday practicing my seminar in the room where I’d give it – it sucked so badly that I couldn’t even get through it once.

When the time came, it was the most incoherent performance I had ever given or ever would.

I was a blithering idiot during my oral exam. There was a great deal of laughter in the room as I stood outside in the hall.

How in the hell did they give me a Ph.D.?

Several of my friends, and even those who were not exactly friends, said it was the best talk I ever gave.

One of my committee members took his turn during the questioning to note this was one of the clearest dissertations he had read in awhile. I picked him specifically because he was outside of my field but was a scientist who I respected greatly and continue to admire.

I was the first graduate student of my mentor – he was promoted with tenure six months later.

Funny, the difference in my perception and reality.

It still wasn’t great – I only got two papers out of it. One was in a pretty decent journal, although not Cell, Nature, or Science. I ended up with a few postdoc offers, several in great institutions that were also great places to live. Somehow I got a faculty position. Somehow I mentored a few folks to do the same.

I’m still feeling pretty miserable today, still not really knowing why, and I really didn’t celebrate or anything.

Instead, thinking about today 19 years ago reminded me how much anguish and self-doubt comes with doing a Ph.D.

It also reminded me how one’s view of oneself is not always how others see you.

How was it for you?