YAY BERNIE

4/3/22

When parents just don't understand

Me: Mom, this song made the whip dance popular because it says "watch me whip" Mom: Is the guy really good at the whip? Me: Well it's not really a hard dance to do Mom: Then why should we watch him?

"Old friend" is a gayass thing to call someone

The Genius of Marie Curie

Growing up in Warsaw in Russian-occupied Poland, the young Marie Curie, originally named Maria Sklodowska, was a brilliant student, but she faced some challenging barriers. As a woman, she was barred from pursuing higher education, so in an act of defiance, Marie enrolled in the Floating University, a secret institution that provided clandestine education to Polish youth. By saving money and working as a governess and tutor, she eventually was able to move to Paris to study at the reputed Sorbonne. here, Marie earned both a physics and mathematics degree surviving largely on bread and tea, and sometimes fainting from near starvation. 

In 1896, Henri Becquerel discovered that uranium spontaneously emitted a mysterious X-ray-like radiation that could interact with photographic film. Curie soon found that the element thorium emitted similar radiation. Most importantly, the strength of the radiation depended solely on the element’s quantity, and was not affected by physical or chemical changes. This led her to conclude that radiation was coming from something fundamental within the atoms of each element. The idea was radical and helped to disprove the long-standing model of atoms as indivisible objects. Next, by focusing on a super radioactive ore called pitchblende, the Curies realized that uranium alone couldn’t be creating all the radiation. So, were there other radioactive elements that might be responsible?

In 1898, they reported two new elements, polonium, named for Marie’s native Poland, and radium, the Latin word for ray. They also coined the term radioactivity along the way. By 1902, the Curies had extracted a tenth of a gram of pure radium chloride salt from several tons of pitchblende, an incredible feat at the time. Later that year, Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel were nominated for the Nobel Prize in physics, but Marie was overlooked. Pierre took a stand in support of his wife’s well-earned recognition. And so both of the Curies and Becquerel shared the 1903 Nobel Prize, making Marie Curie the first female Nobel Laureate.

In 1911, she won yet another Nobel, this time in chemistry for her earlier discovery of radium and polonium, and her extraction and analysis of pure radium and its compounds. This made her the first, and to this date, only person to win Nobel Prizes in two different sciences. Professor Curie put her discoveries to work, changing the landscape of medical research and treatments. She opened mobile radiology units during World War I, and investigated radiation’s effects on tumors.

However, these benefits to humanity may have come at a high personal cost. Curie died in 1934 of a bone marrow disease, which many today think was caused by her radiation exposure. Marie Curie’s revolutionary research laid the groundwork for our understanding of physics and chemistry, blazing trails in oncology, technology, medicine, and nuclear physics, to name a few. For good or ill, her discoveries in radiation launched a new era, unearthing some of science’s greatest secrets.

From the TED-Ed Lesson The genius of Marie Curie - Shohini Ghose

Animation by Anna Nowakowska

Tryptophan’s first ever ep, A Deep Breath, is now out on all streaming platforms! Stream it, add it to your playlists! Link in bio! I feel so incredibly lucky to be playing and making music with some of my best friends in the world. Here’s a little album description I wrote: a deep breath, to us, is a chance to stop and calm our nerves, whether it be at the bar you frequent where they always forget your name, when you are waiting for happiness to return, or when you can't quite seem to heal. however, a deep breath is also a moment of gratitude. a moment to take into consideration the small things that make us human and make our lives meaningful. a grassy day in june, a paper coffee cup, and a gentle rustle in the leaves. https://www.instagram.com/p/CY_4LgkFnAL/?utm_medium=tumblr

days like these      4/17/21

and it’s days like these 

that i find myself at peace 

surrounded in you 

Na Pali Coast | agpfoto

Me on a date: What's your favorite musical?

Them: Haha oh no, I don't like musical theatre.

Me, shoving breadsticks into my purse: It well may be

That we will never meet again

In this lifetime

i want to write about these people

Art by François Bourdin