Ep. 23: That’s a hell of a lot of explosive material
10/18/19 • 35 min
Rocket propellant research had its heyday in the mid-20th century, when the space race and the Cold War meant chemists had plenty of money and long leashes. Few of their most interesting ideas ended up in working rockets, but they charted new areas of chemical space, some of which, like boron chemistry, have proved useful in other fields. Geopolitical shifts, along with a growing emphasis on health, safety, and the environment, dampened propellant chemistry in the last decades of the 1900s. But the need for high-performance propellants hasn’t gone away, and neither has chemists’ interest in pushing the envelope. In this episode of Stereo Chemistry, we hear from chemists who lived through the heady days of the ’50s and ’60s and the ones carrying rocket chemistry’s torch today.
A script of this episode is available here.
Music credits:
“Leaving Earth” by Stanley Gurvich
“Plain Loafer” by Kevin MacLeod
Rocket launch sound illustration adapted from NASA audio
Image credit: NASA
Rocket propellant research had its heyday in the mid-20th century, when the space race and the Cold War meant chemists had plenty of money and long leashes. Few of their most interesting ideas ended up in working rockets, but they charted new areas of chemical space, some of which, like boron chemistry, have proved useful in other fields. Geopolitical shifts, along with a growing emphasis on health, safety, and the environment, dampened propellant chemistry in the last decades of the 1900s. But the need for high-performance propellants hasn’t gone away, and neither has chemists’ interest in pushing the envelope. In this episode of Stereo Chemistry, we hear from chemists who lived through the heady days of the ’50s and ’60s and the ones carrying rocket chemistry’s torch today.
A script of this episode is available here.
Music credits:
“Leaving Earth” by Stanley Gurvich
“Plain Loafer” by Kevin MacLeod
Rocket launch sound illustration adapted from NASA audio
Image credit: NASA
Previous Episode
Ep. 22: I didn’t know they were going to be worth billions—A conversation with John Goodenough
Without fail, the name John Goodenough crops up during Nobel Prize season. Many scientists believe he’s deserving of chemistry’s top honor. The University of Texas at Austin materials scientist is credited with developing a material that led to mass commercialization of lithium-ion batteries, the technology that powers our smartphones, laptops, electric vehicles, and other gadgets big and small. Though Goodenough, aged 97, hasn’t yet won a Nobel Prize, he’s not mired down by what could have been. He is renowned for his scientific accomplishments, warm personality, and infectious laugh. In this episode of Stereo Chemistry, C&EN reporter Mitch Jacoby joins cohost Kerri Jansen to tell the story of how a former meteorologist with a background in physics came up with a key material that enabled an electronics revolution and how he continues to pursue big questions in electrochemistry today.
Register for C&EN’s Nobel Prize predictions webinar at bit.ly/nobelwebinar19.
UPDATE: We're happy to announce that Goodenough, along with fellow battery pioneers M. Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino, has won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Read our coverage of the award and these scientists' contributions to lithium-ion batteries at C&EN.
CORRECTION 10/23/19: The material Akira Yoshino used for his seminal battery anode was petroleum coke, a graphite-like material derived from petroleum. Researchers, including Samar Basu, had previously worked with graphite but found that it broke down in the battery’s electrolyte. Also, estimates for the voltage of Stan Whittingham’s TiS2 battery vary. This podcast episode refers to a 2.4-volt battery; some sources estimate the voltage at 2.5 V.
A script of this podcast is available here.
"Shir Hama’alos” is by Even Sh’siyah, provided courtesy of Mitch Jacoby.
“Plain Loafer” by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under CC BY 3.0.
Image credit: Mitch Jacoby/C&EN
Next Episode
Ep. 24: Kids are happy to get to ask whatever they want
For its latest episode, Stereo Chemistry handed its recorders over to kid journalists interviewing grown-up chemists about cutting-edge research. Listen in as the children get answers to questions about DNA, environmental clean-up, and even C-H activation. The kids’ reporting was part of an outreach event called Science Storytellers that took place during the American Chemical Society National Meeting in San Diego in August. Science Storytellers empowers kids to ask questions as they interact, one-on-one, with real scientists. In this episode, you’ll hear from the creator of the Science Storytellers program, Jenny Cutraro, to learn how this outreach activity is designed to break down barriers between scientists and the public.
For a full transcript and additional resources, visit our website.
And here's our Facebook Live event from the ACS Kid Zone.
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