Excerpts
from IFS and Bits
Newsletter of the Institute of Fundamental
Sciences
Newsletter No 31 17 October 2000
Edited by: Terri M Palmer
Index
Messages
from the Acting Head of Institute
Getting
Excited by Light
9th
Annual Massey/Victoria Chemistry Graduate Student Seminar Day
Congratulations
Justin Nairn
Conference
This
Month's Puzzle
Answers
to Last Month’s Puzzle
MESSAGES FROM THE ACTING HEAD OF INSTITUTE
MURF Grants
Congratulations to the following staff who have received MURF grants in the
recent round: Eric Ainscough, Len Blackwell, Andrew Brodie, Tony Burrell, David
Harding, John Harrison and Robert McLachlan. The grant to Eric and Andrew included
provision for a postdoctoral fellow. Well done, everyone!
Marsden
Medal
I'm sure IFS colleagues will join me in offering congratulations
to Professor David Penny (IMBS) on his being awarded the Marsden Medal by the
NZ Association of Scientists for his research achievements. David's work on evolutionary
models using DNA sequence analysis has involved interdisciplinary collaboration,
in particular with Mike Hendy and several students, over the years and we rejoice
with them on this occasion.
Dean Halford
Our most recent Chemistry Teachers' Meeting, held on Friday 13 October 2000, was attended by around 40 teachers from the central and lower North Island. The theme of the meeting was Getting Excited by Light and started with a brilliant multimedia power point presentation by Tony Burrell, entitled Artificial Photosynthesis: Chemistry Lighting the World. Tony gave an overview of the conversion of sunlight into energy, linking it into the porphyrin group's research. The teachers were most impressed by this hi-tech presentation. Eric Ainscough followed with a presentation, Making Light from Chemical Reactions: An Illustrated Talk with Demonstrations which went down well and filled the Marsden with smoke as he finished with some spectacular light emitting experiments. Ken Jolley, in the few minutes left to him, gave an enthusiastic and positive view of chemistry at Massey and made the point that we are still offering a strong chemistry major. The teachers enjoyed the time to relax and network at Wharerata over dinner and I was told that they appreciated having an hour and a half rather than just an hour. The only problem was we had about five extra for dinner but the staff club people found some extra chairs and there was plenty of food.
After dinner we returned for a hands-on-lab session looking at food dyes and how you can identify them using spectroscopy. Denis Watson, from Rathkeale College brought an small spectrophotometer that he has persuaded his school to fund. The point he made was that schools are putting thousands of dollars into computers so chemistry teachers should also be putting the case for some larger pieces of equipment. Judy Edwards had adapted information that I had found from an internet search, including molecular structures in Chime, of the food dyes and these are now on the IFS home page for teachers and high school students to access (along with other interesting things - you should have a look).
Thanks very much to all who helped to make this evening a great success - the speakers Tony and Eric, Tracey Royds for the administration and filling up the information packs, Judy Edwards for sorting out the information to go onto the computer, Geoff Jameson, Slavica Pavlinic, Eric Ainscough and Ken Jolley for helping in the lab and Donna Macpherson and Patricia Sheilds for setting up the lab. It is important we get a good IFS staff turn out for these functions as the teachers like to talk to us. As always the teachers' response was very positive - it always amazes me that they come from as far away as Taranaki, Wellington and the Hawkes Bay.
Andrew Brodie
Early on a bleak, Saturday 30 September 2000, five lonely souls gathered in the science car park. From there the "Cow Shit Express" (really stinky van from IVABS) hurtled toward Wellington in gale force winds and driving rain.
In Wellington we were greeted by the traditionally garbed (Bad Hawaiian shirts) Victoria students. After a caffeine break, I kicked things off with some crystallography, followed by a diverse and excellent range of chemistry and biochemistry presentations. All the presentations were well received by the audience of mainly Victoria Students.
At the conclusion all present went off down town for some refreshments and dinner at a very nice little Malaysian restaurant down Courtenay Place. At this point a mutiny occurred and I was dispatched off back up the hill to retrieve the "stinky van" and return to collect everyone. Upon my return, approximately 45 minutes later, I copped a hail of abuse for taking too long. We returned to Massey in weather even worse than in the morning with the added bonus of it being dark.
All and all a very good and positive day, with all who attended having an enjoyable and informative day. All the students who attended the meeting wish to thank our supervisors for their support both in the lead-up and on the day. With plans for the 10th meeting here at Massey already afoot, I hope to see all of the chemistry staff and students participating next year.
Julian Adams
The Institute would like to congratulate Mr Justin Nairn (Supervisor: Simon Hall) who recently received his MSc in chemistry with Second Class Hons (Division I). Well Done!!!
Andrew Brodie
Manifesto for Research, Science and Technology: Planning New Zealand's Science and Technology Infrastructure
A Conference Sponsored by the Academy Council of the Royal Society of New Zealand
This conference will build on the previous two Royal Society Academic Council Conferences and will cover specific aspects of the research, scientific, and technological sectors. The aims of the conference are:
- To provide a critical review of the development and structure of the research, scientific, and technological sectors.
- To identify major needs for the development of these sectors for them to become not only viable but to play a leading role in New Zealand's development.
- To outline frameworks for the role that the sectors could play; and propose solutions which are constructive, and pragmatic given the constraints of a small vulnerable and isolated country and its existing research, scientific, and technological sectors.
- To produce a Royal Society charter (up to five salient points) to take to Government and the private sector to promote and drive the development of the research, scientific, and technological sectors.
- Setting the scene
- Human capital
- Human resources
- Physical Instrastructure
- The interface between science and business
- Wealth-generating sciences
- Evidence-based science for policy.
Extracted from notice from George Petersen, President, Academy Council, 4 October 2000 Paul Andrewartha (Viard College, Wellington) and Michelle Ayling (Sacred Heart College Napier)
What do you see?
There is a face ... and the word Liar.
Bob Parsons
Answers
to Last Month’s Puzzle
Give and Take The right-hand digit of a positive integer N is taken away and put onto the left-hand end. If this process increases the number by 50%, find a value for N. Robert McKibbin
Suppose the number has n digits, and call it 10x + y, where x has n-1 digits and y is from 1 to 9.
We are given:
3/2 (10x + y) = x + 10n-1y.
Rearranging,
28x = (2.10n-1 - 3) y
The left hand side is divisible by 7, so the right hand side must be too. In fact, the first factor on the right must be divisible by 7. (Otherwise, we'd need y=7, but that would make the right hand side odd, while the left hand side is even.)
Now if you remember the test for divisibility by 7 (add up blocks of 3 digits from the right with alternating signs, and test the resulting sum for divisibility by 7), you can check that 2.10n-1 - 3 is divisible by 7 only when n is a multiple of 6. Its quotient after dividing by 7 must be odd, so y must be divisible by 4, i.e. y = 4 (in which case x = (2.10n-1-3)/7) or y = 8 (in which case x = 2(2.10n-1-3)/7). The two smallest solutions are for n = 6, namely 285714 and 571428.
Robert McLachlan