Cary – Agilent Technologies Blog

Agilent and the Jurassic Sea Monster

Russell Lee — Thu, 13 Dec 2018 15:30:48 +0000

Scientists have found a remarkably well-preserved fossil of an ichthyosaur, a marine animal that lived 180 million years ago. How well-preserved is it? The specimen still has its skin and blubber intact!

The ichthyosaur was an aquatic animal that resembled a porpoise with large teeth. But while porpoises are mammals, ichthyosaurs were reptiles.

The specimen was discovered in a Southwest German quarry, where many other Jurassic-era fossils have been found. An international team of researchers studied the fossil using equipment that included an Agilent Cary FTIR microscope, an Agilent HPLC and a Varian GC/MS.

“Both the body outline and remnants of internal organs are clearly visible,” said researcher Johan Lindgren. “Remarkably, the fossil is so well-preserved that it is possible to observe individual cellular layers within its skin.”

The skin is still flexible and shows evidence of the animal’s camouflage pattern. Even more remarkable, the specimen contains fossilized blubber, the thick layer of fat found under the skin of modern marine mammals. This indicates that the ichthyosaur was a rare warm-blooded reptile.

“This is the first direct, chemical evidence for warm-bloodedness in an ichthyosaur,” said researcher Mary Schweitzer, “because blubber is a feature of warm-blooded animals.”

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Agilent and the Solar Eclipse

Russell Lee — Thu, 17 Aug 2017 14:30:07 +0000

On August 21, areas of the continental United States will witness a solar eclipse. This occurs when the moon passes in front of the sun, creating the equivalent of a nighttime sky.

Interesting facts:

This will be the first total solar eclipse in the continental U.S. since 1979, 38 years ago. (There was also one in Hawaii in 1991). The next ones will be in 2024, 2044, 2045 and 2078.
This will be the first eclipse since 1880 that is exclusive to the continental U.S. (Other eclipses have also been viewable in other countries/territories.)
The “totality” (period of peak darkness) is different for every eclipse, depending on the relative positions of the Earth, sun and moon. The 2017 eclipse will have a totality of about two minutes, give or take, depending on your exact location. (The longest totality physically possible is seven and a half minutes, which won’t occur again until 2132.)
The center line of totality will pass through 12 states, but it will only cross one major city: Nashville, Tennessee.

Agilent is involved in just about everything that has to do with science, and the sun is no exception. SOLAR is a science observatory aboard the International Space Station. SOLAR’s instruments include an Agilent Cary UV-NIS-NIR, which measures the sun’s spectral reflection and transmission.

One interesting side effect of the solar eclipse will be its impact on America’s power grid. The U.S. solar energy infrastructure has grown by 68 percent a year in the past decade, with a current capacity of 45 gigawatts. The eclipse will dim solar radiation by 70 percent. (Vox) Fortunately, power companies are well prepared for the event.

Agilent’s corporate headquarters in California has one of the largest solar power installation in the city of Santa Clara. The 63,755-square-foot rooftop array contains 3,600 solar panels, providing the site with 30 percent of its electricity during peak sunny hours. Over the next 30 years, the system will displace 52 million pounds of carbon dioxide – that’s equivalent to removing 4,300 cars from California’s highways.

Agilent’s corporate headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif.

Internationally, Agilent has solar power installations in India, Germany and the U.K. The total 1,700 megawatt-hours of electricity produced reduce our carbon emissions by more than 450,000 tons a year.

I will be traveling north from California to Oregon to view the solar eclipse in person. I will blog about my adventure next week!

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The Story of Radiocarbon Dating

Russell Lee — Thu, 15 Dec 2016 15:30:10 +0000

I recently shared a story that included radiocarbon dating. By happy coincidence, December 17 is the birthday of Willard Libby, the American chemist who invented it.

The element carbon exists in several different isotope forms (carbon-12, carbon-13 and carbon-14), depending on the number of neutrons in its atom. Carbon-14 is constantly being formed in the atmosphere as cosmic rays interact with nitrogen gas, and it gets absorbed by every living thing on Earth. Because carbon-14 is mildly radioactive, it has a specific half-life (rate of decay).

When an organism dies, it stops absorbing carbon-14, which then begins to decay. By measuring how much carbon-14 still remains in an organic compound, you can calculate how old it is. This method also works on some inorganic compounds, as long as they also assimilated carbon-14 during their formation.

Libby confirmed the accuracy of radiocarbon dating by comparing his results with the known age of tree ring samples. Libby’s 1947 announcement revolutionized our understanding of history, and he was awarded the 1960 Nobel Prize.

Radiocarbon dating is now a standard tool in archaeology. Ironically, archaeological bones are among the most difficult objects to date accurately. This is because bone is a composite material that includes both organics (mostly collagen) and minerals. Bone is also porous, so fluids and microbes can penetrate and destroy the precious collagen over time.

This is where Agilent technologies come in.

German scientists conducted systematic research to identify optimal preservation criteria for bone mineral in archaeological bones. They used an Agilent ICP-MS to obtain trace element concentration profiles on bone samples.

UK scientists investigated the most suitable techniques for extracting the highest-quality collagen from archaeological bones. They used an Agilent Cary FTIR spectrometer and an Agilent ICP-MS system in their analysis of various extraction methods.

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Do Humans Have a Sixth Sense? (No, not ESP…)

Russell Lee — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 14:30:49 +0000

Research has shown that many organisms possess magnetoreception. They are able to sense the Earth’s magnetic field. This has been observed in creatures ranging from bacteria to mammals. Pigeons and bats use the ability to orient themselves. Birds and insects use it to migrate. Deer and cattle graze along the north-south axis. Mice use it to build nests. Dogs even use it to poop. (That’s why they turn around in circles.)

There are two prevailing theories about how they are able to do this. One theory attributes it to cryptochromes, light-sensitive molecules found in the retina. The other theory credits magnetite, a magnetic iron material found in some cells.

Both cryptochromes and magnetite have been found in humans, but scientists are undecided whether humans possess this sixth sense. A researcher from the California Institute of Technology recently claimed that he has identified human magnetoreception, but his findings have not yet been reviewed or verified.

Can you “sense” directions without a compass? Now you know why!

Agilent technologies and solutions have been used to study magnetoreception, magnetite and cryptochromes.

Researchers in Poland used magnetic field stimulation on lupin to study its effect on the biochemical processes of plant tissues. They used an Agilent Cary UV-Vis spectrophotometer to measure chlorophyll photosynthesis.

Researchers in the U.S. and Canada studied how bacteria use subcellular magnetite crystals to orient in the Earth’s geomagnetic field. Their work included E. coli protein expression strains supplied by Agilent.

Researchers in the U.S. and Europe studied cryptochromes’ role in the circadian clock and major hormonal circuits of mice. They used an Agilent Bioanalyzer system to assess RNA purity.

And two separate research studies found that because cryptochromes regulate circadian timing and mediate hormone signaling, they can influence susceptibility to hormone-related cancers, including breast cancer. Both studies used Agilent whole-genome microarrays.

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Agilent and the Search for Life on Mars

Russell Lee — Thu, 01 Oct 2015 14:30:40 +0000

This week, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced evidence of liquid water currently flowing on the surface of Mars. Earlier, NASA had found evidence that an ocean of water may once have covered a quarter of the planet. These discoveries add to the exciting possibility that life exists – or once existed – on Mars.

Agilent technologies and solutions have long been a part of the search for life on Mars. NASA’s Curiosity rover is equipped with two Agilent J&W UltiMetal GC columns to sample soil and air in the search for evidence of life. An Agilent GC is being used to evaluate and analyze results obtained by Curiosity. Agilent (now Keysight) software tools also tested the communications equipment on the previous Spirit and Opportunity rovers.

Here on Earth, scientists are using Agilent technologies to test biological materials under conditions similar to the Martian environment. Researchers believe that three components are necessary for life to develop on any planet: liquid water, organic molecules and some kind of energy source(s).

Phyllosilicate minerals detected on the surface of Mars are a possible target in the search for organic molecules. French and Swiss scientists exposed organic phyllosilicate samples to a simulated Martian environment of ultraviolet light, temperature and pressure. The results suggest that phyllosilicates could preserve at least some organic molecules under Martian surface UV irradiation. UV absorption of the samples was performed using an Agilent Cary 60 UV-vis spectrometer.

The Rhynie Chert in Scotland contains well-preserved fossils of some of Earth’s earliest plants and animals, which developed in extreme prehistoric hot spring environments. British scientists studied silicified microfossils to see if evidence of life could be detected in similar samples from Mars. Compound detection of hydrocarbons was performed using an Agilent GC/MSD.

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Agilent Enlarges Our View of Individual Cells

Russell Lee — Tue, 07 Jul 2015 15:00:06 +0000

Last year, Agilent introduced two new microscopes with breakthrough capabilities. Scientists are now discovering what these powerful new instruments can accomplish in the lab.

Agilent’s bench-top Cary 610 and Cary 620 FTIR spectrometer microscopes offer new standards in spatial resolution, field of view and processing time. Previously, images at this resolution could only be obtained from a building-sized particle accelerator.

In a recent study, UK scientists were able to obtain infrared images of individual cells with a resolution of one pixel per micron (a millionth of a meter). This is the first time such images have been possible using a bench-top instrument.

The scientists examined two kinds of cells that are particularly challenging to analyze. Renal carcinoma cells (kidney cancer cells) suffer from strong scattering. Conversely, skin fibroblast cells (cells that produce collagen) deliver extremely weak signals.

Scientists can now examine the spectral profile of an individual cell using a bench-top instrument, enabling them to study biochemical changes at the single-cell level. This may help researchers to better understand and model drug-cell interactions, as well as develop new methods for high-throughput pharmaceutical testing.

Thermal images were captured using an Agilent Cary 670-IR spectrometer coupled with a Cary 620-IR imaging microscope.

From left: a photo-micrograph of three individual cells, thermal images at normal- and high-magnification imaging modes. (Images from www.rsc.org/analyst. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2015.)

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Have You Washed Your Hands Today?

Russell Lee — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 15:00:42 +0000

Chances are that you have never heard of Ignaz Semmelweis, a Hungarian physician who was born July 1, 1818. Yet if not for him, many of us might not be alive today… or might never have been born.

In the mid-1800s, there were two maternity clinics in Vienna, Austria. While one had a maternal mortality rate of less than 4 percent, the other’s was more than 10 percent. In other words, one in 10 women who gave birth in that clinic died after childbirth. Shockingly, even women who delivered in the street had a higher survival rate than those admitted to the clinic.

Semmelweis, an assistant at the clinic, wracked his brains trying to determine the cause of this puerperal fever (also known as “childbed fever”). Both clinics had the same climates, procedures, religious practices, and populations. The only difference was that this clinic’s doctors also performed autopsies, while the safer clinic employed only midwives.

Semmelweis argued that cadaverous particles left on the hands of the doctors were fatally infecting the women. He advocated that physicians wash their hands between examinations. Indeed, after he implemented this practice, the mortality rate dropped 90 percent.

But Semmelweis’ peers were furious. The concept of germs had not yet been discovered. At the time, disease was attributed to miasma and bad humours. The medical community refused to believe that the solution to high mortality rates could be so simple. Physicians throughout Europe were insulted and offended that they should have to wash their hands, which they didn’t normally do. Semmelweis himself could offer no scientific explanation for his recommendation.

Semmelweis lost his position and was ostracized by the medical community. (After he departed the clinic, hand-washing was abandoned and mortality rates jumped six-fold.) Semmelweis became increasingly obsessed with a hygiene crusade that fell on deaf ears, and he was ultimately committed to an asylum. Ironically, he suffered an infection after being beaten by guards and he died 14 days after being admitted, at the age of 47.

More than 20 years later, Louis Pasteur developed the germ theory of disease. Hygiene and cleanliness are now critical in medical care around the world. Today, Semmelweis is recognized as “the father of infection control” and a pioneer of antiseptic procedures. And the term “Semmelweis Reflex” refers to the human tendency to reject new knowledge that contradicts established beliefs.

At Agilent, we pride ourselves on our ability to see beyond the limits of the possible. Some of our greatest technological innovations have resulted from breaking the boundaries of accepted science, including:

The Agilent Cary 620 FTIR Spectrometer Microscope, which replaces a building-sized particle accelerator with a bench-top instrument
The Agilent 5100 ICP-OES, which runs 55 percent faster on 50 percent less gas by running axial and radial analyses at the same time
The Agilent 4200 MP-AES, which runs entirely on air

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Agilent Reinvents the FTIR Imaging Microscope

Russell Lee — Thu, 13 Nov 2014 16:00:56 +0000

Agilent has introduced a technological breakthrough in microscopes and chemical imaging systems. The Agilent Cary 610 and Cary 620 FTIR spectrometer microscopes offer a triple combination of the highest spatial resolution, with the largest field of view, in the shortest period of time. The instruments are designed for use in a wide range of applications, including biomedical, materials, polymers, food, forensics, pharmaceutical and chemical.

The Cary 610 is a single-point FTIR microscope, while the Cary 620 is a Focal Plane Array (FPA) based chemical imaging FTIR microscope.

FTIR stands for “Fourier Transform InfraRed.” FTIR spectroscopy is a technique in which information about a sample is collected over a wide spectral range – in this case, an infrared spectrum. Fourier was a French mathematician whose mathematical process is used in the data conversion.

FTIR imaging techniques often require you to choose between (1) how much area of the sample is measured (the field of view), (2) the level of detail obtained (the spatial resolution), and (3) the amount of time it takes. The new Cary 600 Series instruments can provide clear, highly detailed images that would normally take hours to measure… all in a matter of minutes.

For comparison, a Linear Array detector-based FTIR imaging system collects only 16 spectra in a time-consuming single measurement, with a pixel resolution of 6.25 μm at best. The Cary 620 can collect up to 16,384 spectra in seconds, with a pixel resolution as low as 1.1 μm. (A micron is one millionth of a meter.)

Until now, the only way to obtain high quality, high spatial resolution FTIR chemical images has been at a synchrotron – a building-sized particle accelerator. Agilent’s announcement has brought the power of synchrotron-based FTIR imaging to the laboratory benchtop.

The Cary 620 matches the power of a state-of-the-art synchrotron

“The new high magnification optics enable visualization and quantification of the biochemical content of individual cells,” says Professor Kathleen Gough of the University of Manitoba, Canada. “This analysis is possible with a thermal source instrument for the first time, because of the high magnification and bright illumination in the Agilent system.”

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The Invention of Nylon

Russell Lee — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 15:00:04 +0000

September 4 is the birthday of Julian Hill, who was born in 1904. Hill was a member of the Du Pont research team led by Wallace Carothers tasked with investigating polymers. Polymers are large molecules created by chaining smaller molecules together.

At the time, researchers could not synthesize a polymer with a molecular weight of more than 4,200. In 1930, Hill shattered that record by creating a 12,000-weight polyester substance. The new substance could be stretched and pulled into long strands that were remarkably strong. Unfortunately, Hill’s material had a very low melting point. Carothers’ team was able to make a more stable version four years later.

(Sadly, Carothers never saw the success of his achievement. Believing himself to be a failure, he committed suicide in 1937.)

“Nylon” was introduced at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. Originally used for toothbrush bristles, it became so critical for parachutes that it was restricted to only military use during World War II. Nylon also became an industry-changing substitute for silk stockings. When nylon stockings were first offered for sale in New York City in 1940, more than four million pairs were sold within a few hours. Women gladly paid a premium for the superior material.

Du Pont executives originally considered the material useless. By the time they got around to registering the name, “nylon” was so widely used that it could no longer be trademarked. (Shortly before his death in 1991, Hill declared that “the human race is going to perish by being smothered in plastic.”) Today, nylon is in everything from clothing to cars, making up two-thirds of the world’s luggage.

Research into new materials is an increasingly critical field for science and industry. Agilent offers several analytical solutions for materials testing, manufacturing and R&D, including its award-winning Cary 7000 Universal Measurement Spectrophotometer.

Working with new materials also requires highly sensitive measurement capabilities. Keysight Technologies (Agilent’s electronic measurement business) recently introduced a new series of femto/picoammeters and electrometers for materials science. The B2980A Series can measure currents as low as 0.01 fA (or 0.01 x 10^-15 of an ampere), as well as resistance as high as 10 petaohms (PΩ or 10 x 10¹⁵ ohms).

“Evaluating new materials often requires highly sensitive electronic measurement,” says Keysight’s Masaki Yamamoto. “With the new B2980A Series, engineers and researchers can trust their test results and improve their development speeds.”

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