Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Finding Good Science...
...in the bathroom.
For four years, inventing a new toilet bowl freshener has been a sideline pursuit for Michael Lefenfeld, a 25-year-old graduate student in molecular electronics at Columbia. Mr. Lefenfeld's doctoral research focuses on the structure of molecules in nanoscale devices like transistors.I seem to recall solving several very difficult integrals while in that room in my college days. If this guy ever succeeds, might it result in a reduction in scientific productivity?
But his quest for a new freshener - a search inspired by his grandfather's wish for a quick way to neutralize smelly toilets - led to a surprising discovery, a way to encase sodium and other explosive alkaline metals in a powdered form of silicon gel, making them much safer to handle.
