DAY 79: Woo Woo

As the first images came from the scanning electron microscope, Omar started laughing, loud enough to catch the lab's attention.
He was analyzing samples sent in from Arjun, a former colleague who had abandoned his masters program a semester early, to accept an engineering job.  In press releases, he merited a benevolent mention, a testament to the kind of opportunities the Chemistry program could attract.  In the hallways, it was seen as a mercenary decision: the college already possessed a significant percentage of the patents Arjun had acquired as a student, and were legally interested in whatever developments he would manage in the immediate months following his exit.  In an attempt to throw shade upon Arjun's reputation, someone remarked that he 'wasn't interested in being a real scientist anymore, just being an engineer.'  After that, in his absence, whenever his name was brought up in the lab, his former labmates would call out "Woo woo!", yanking an imaginary train whistle.  The intention was entirely up to interpretation.

Arjun had been working on MOF's, molecule-size architectures that allowed crystalline analysis of things that don't usually have a crystal form (carbon dioxide, for example.)  It was the work that got him the genius label; it was the research that got him the job.  The lab had split the MOFs he left behind; half the team were finding new gases and compounds to use, and the other half were reverse-engineering the MOFs, to figure out how to make their own.  Clandestinely, one of the guys had contacted Arjun, to reconnect and gain insight on his research.  That was a month ago, and this package had been the response.

Eddie made it to Omar's station first, helping Omar off the floor.  He saw the images, and let out "Woo Woo!"  That brought the entire lab over, just as the printer let loose the last of the pictures.
To the naked eye, the frameworks are a fine powder, a disguise of their intricate construction.  At the molecular level, MOFs are hollow blocks latticed together into intricate filters.  For industrial purposes, it was sufficient to weave them into layers, stacked like a lasagna.  For his colleagues' amusement, Arjun had managed a replica of the campus in crystalline form, with a railroad track along the perimeter.  Spelled out below, the words read, "Woo woo..."



inspired by Discover Magazine article, "New X-Ray Vision for Chemists"