November 14

No internship due to my misunderstanding upon scheduling rides with Ms. Biggins.

D-1

             On my first internship day (11/07/12), I finally was able to meet my mentor, Linda. Although this visit consisted primarily of introductions, I was able to get a peek of what I would be doing for all throughout my internship experience. Although my mentor is Linda, I soon found out that I would be, for the most part, working with a 4-year graduate student named Yolanda.

            While conversing with both Linda and Yolanda, I found out that their field of specialty was titled, “analytical chemistry”. They explained to me that for the past several years, they had been researching on how to separate DNA by sequences. In addition to this, I was also told where I would come into play within all this. I would be helping Yolanda with her current project on the very topic stated above (separating DNA [and RNA] by sequences). Whether it be measuring out ingredients, creating gels for the lab, or more, I was excited to do it all. Curious to know more about this particular field of science, I can not wait until my next visit—in which I will actually get the chance to take part in the research process!

The Quest for Science!

My first blog! ;)

Throughout my day at the UMass science event, I attended 4 very different classes, titled: "Unveiling the Hidden Universe", "From Capillary Origami to the Lotus Effect", "Funtastic Food Science", and "The Singular Science of Paper, and Everything Else."

Of these 4 classes, I particularly enjoyed the food science workshop because I was really able to get involved and experiment.  Here I was shown how to change melted ice cream into the more common and tasteful, creamy texture we know today. For this experiment, only two ingredients were needed: liquid nitrogen (LN2) and (most importantly) ice cream! <& for safety, gloves were a must> Mixing all these ingredients together in the blender, I learned that the secret to the creamy ice cream all has to do with the rapid freezing of the mixtures. The liquid nitrogen caused the fat and water particles to stay extremely small, giving the ice cream its fluffy consistency. The main goal was to avoid the ice crystals, which are similar to what one gets when making milk.

In short, I really enjoyed my day and through this event, I was able to—though very briefly—see the various pathways one can travel with solely the love of science.