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Public Lecture To Explore
Metals in Our Lives
By Linda DuShane White
Graham George
(University of Saskatchewan) will tell his audience how metals and the
molecules that contain them can help or harm us in the next SLAC Public
Lecture, ‘Metals, Molecules, Life and Death’ on Tuesday, August 31,
at 7:30 p.m. in Panofsky Auditorium.
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Image Courtesy of TechPubs |
Stories abound about
real or imagined health dangers caused by metals in our food, our
medicine and our environment, issues that affect all of us on a daily
basis. According to George, “[Metals are] essential for life. We need
them to do the chemical trickery that keeps us alive.”
This is a complex
subject, as George says on his Web site. “It’s not only the dose that
makes the poison, it’s the form …the metallic liquid mercury in
thermometers is relatively benign. Dimethyl mercury, on the other hand,
causes severe, permanent damage, especially to the nervous system.”
George is using x-ray
absorption spectroscopy at SSRL to study how metals function in both
their beneficial roles and when acting as poisons. He hopes to discover
an effective way to remove mercury poisons from the body. Other
potential applications include the removal of metal from drinking water
and decontaminating industrial sites.
Educated at the
Universities of London and Sussex, George visited SLAC as part of his
doctoral work at Sussex in 1983. He regularly returns to the Laboratory
to do research and to regale children at activities such as SLAC Kids
Day where he is known as Dr. Boom. He is currently Canada Research Chair
in X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy in the Department of Geological
Sciences at the University of Saskatchewan. For more information on
George’s work, see:
http://www.usask.ca/geology/nfaculty/gg/intro.htm
Speakers for the Public
Lecture series are chosen for their ability to bring scientific issues
to the public in a clear and entertaining way. The lecture is free of
charge and reservations are not required. Please bring a picture ID for
entry into the Laboratory.
For information on the
Public Lecture Series, see:
http://www2.slac.stanford.edu/lectures/info/2004_08_31.htm
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