Atavisms of Acetic Acid

As you all know, I am a chemist. I spent quite some time on studying the art of modyfing matter. What may be unbeknownst to at least a few of you is that I like to study languages as well. What I mean is that I of course enjoy expressing myself in a foreign idiom, but my interest goes well beyond that. I have been intrigued for a long time by the relationship (as well as the lack thereof) between the languages I am familiar with. That is why I so much enjoyed reading an article on the relationship between German and English. Please go ahead and read it for yourself here (in English). More specifically, it is about how native speakers of English are amused by German words. English, due to its history, is a hybrid of a Germanic root, to which Latin and French influences were added over the course of time. Now, that is not breaking news, but as a consequence speakers of English are equipped with a lot of synonyms. As it is common with synonyms, they mean the same thing, but as they are still different words, they are not fully identical. Typically the word of Romance origin is more sophisticated than its Germanic counterpart. I'd like to mention that on the other hand I'm stunned by how the grammar of German and Latin alike are highly regulatory for the use of verbs ("conjugation"; e.g., ich esse, du isst etc.), but English as the hybrid of both is not (I eat, you eat etc.). Now, the source of humour for English native speakers comes from the fact that German does not makes use as extensively of Romance words as English. Thus a concept or an idea that is actually sophisticated and would call for a Romance word is likely to be expressed by a Germanic one in German. The said article presents hydrogen as an example (a good one, in my opinion). Although it is actually Greek and not Latin, it is very illustrative. Literally it means "water maker", as anything hydro- is connected with water, and -gen is an abbreviated form of to generate. In German, however, hydrogen is called Wasserstoff. Due to its homophony with "water stuff", it makes a joke. The homophony is somewhat misleading, as Stoff and stuff are not exactly identical. While they are obviously connected etymologically, Stoff can mean cloth as well as matter, while stuff is a rather casual, if not derogatory word for item. In a more abstract way, the two words are of course still related, as an item that is not further specified is essentially just ... matter.
This is as far as the article goes. I would like to add that not only a misperceived level of elaboration may be a source of humour, but generally any example where two originally identical languages have diverged. A favorite example of mine is the German word Geist, which must be case-sensitively translated as ghost, mind, or spirit, respectively. But in essence a ghost is just a disembodied mind.
A better punchline, however, is the German expression for standing in line, which literally means standing in a snake (imagine the line beig so long that it meanders like a snake). Another funny example stems from a personal experience of mine. A few years ago I joined my then-colleague (now-still-friend) Neetha from the U.S., who was at the time living and working in Berlin, for a night out, along with her husband and some of his colleagues. At some point we were discussing a topic that I have forgotten now, but I do remember this reply of mine, "I am too phlegmatic for that". Neetha accused me of using big words, as she did not understand what I was saying. Indeed, the word "phlegmatic" is of Greek origin, meaning literally covered in "slime" or "saliva". Hence the English connotation of "phlegmatic": sick. Someone who is phlegmatic has their nose full of snot and is suffering from a cold. The German connotation, however, has shifted a bit: a sick person has dampened spirits, and in German "phlegmatic" ("phlegmatisch") denotes someone who is too laid-back to be upset or excited.
Since at the outset I stressed on the fact that I am a chemist, I would like to conclude with another chemical example. Similar to hydrogen/Wasserstoff, oxygen is called Sauerstoff in German. Both speakers of English and German will immediately recognize the root "sauer", or "sour". It reflects the (later falsified) view that oxygen be necessary in molecules of acidic compounds. Given this it is quite ironic that one modern-day definition of acids relies on the presence and exchange of hydrogen atoms, our previously discussed example. (Nevertheless, oxygen-bonded hydrogen atoms are particularly easily exchanged, so there was at least some truth to it.) - Obviously a thing called acid in English is called Säure in German. While the German word relies on the flavor as such, the English word is derived from the Latin word for vinegar, acetum. Conceptually, this means acids are perceived as the essence of vinegar. As really the reverse is true (the essence of vinegar is one acid), vinegar essence was later specifiec as acetic acid, literally vinegaric vinegar essence (Essigsäure in German).
Finally, you may have wondered why I called this "atavisms" of acetic acid in the first place. Well, an atavism is some genetic information that is no longer expressed in further evolved species, but is still inherited from earlier ones in the genetic code. I thought this is a good metaphor for the topic presented here, plus it alliterates nicely with the rest of the title, don't you think?
PS: I just remember another good example of how words from diverged languages can be a sense of humour. I have been to the Netherlands once, which is inhabited by a serious cycling nation. Of course this results in a vast number of traffic signs referring to the bikes. The funny thing is the Dutch word for bicycle: "fietsen". A Dutch bike is a "footie", because you use your feet to make it move. But it gets even better than that: a motorized bike is a "bromfietsen", "brom" being just an onomatopoetic (i.e., "soundpainting") reference to the noise of the engine. This casual description is very delightful ("cute") to my German ears. - I count on the understanding of all potential Dutch readers and/or their affiliates. Maybe they would like to contribute as well in the comments section?

John Hancock Center

I took too many photos on my two trips to the skydeck of the John Hancock Center ("it would be the nicest bird view of the city - if only the birds could fly that high") to publish them here. Instead I did the 360° tour with my camera. That should give you an even better impression of the scene. I hope you like it. I certainly do!
As I said above, I did two trips to the Hancock. There is the option of buying a Sun and Stars ticket, which grants two admissions within 48 hours. Thus you can experience the view at two different light conditions. And that was only slightly more expensive than the single ticket, so that was my best choice. I did the daytime trip on Saturday afternoon, and I came back for the nighttime view on Sunday night. I should have maybe come back already on Saturday night, as I missed Superbowl XLIII - but I had to charge the battery of my camera, along with that of my body. I do hope that I will get another chance to watch a Superbowl game while being in the U.S., though. I also couldn't resist buying a whole lot of touristy memorabilia, including a Chicago Bears cap. At least I'll have my gear when the next Superbowl comes up.
... It just occurred to me: referring to the name of this blog, you might say, "the owl missed the bowl". (See the very first entry for an explanation why I called this blog The Owl's Nest.)

More Music

After a successful time in the lab, we experienced what everyone in the UHV community goes through occasionally: a downtime. Right before the last series of experiments that ought to complete the data for the upcoming publication, a tiny cable came loose in the ultra-high vacuum (UHV) chamber. For the non-scientists among the readers of this blog, I shall explain UHV quickly. I study surfaces, with respect to their chemical performances (i.e., reactivities). This kind of experiments requires the use of the so-called ultra-high vacuum or UHV, which means a pressure level at the equivalent of outer space. Essentially the chamber is empty, and as a consequence, the gas phase contained in it is negligible. Hence, the surface in question will adsorb contaminations only very slowly. As you can imagine, obtaining such an environment is technically demanding. Other than good pumping, a procedure called bake-out is required, in order to remove moisture from the air that gt into the chamber, when it was opened the last time. - Therefore the loose wire is quite annoying, because it means a downtime from the experiments for several days, until the repairment is carried out and the vacuum is fully restored. Unfortunately the screw that was supposed to hold and connect the wire got stuck in its hole, and I was unable to move it at all. Eventually I even broke its head off, which means the mechanical workshop will have to remove the remainder and make a new screw for me. Estimated downtime: one week.
Back home in Berlin, this would have affected my mood quite a bit. But since I do not have to pass an exam at the end anymore, I see it a lot more relaxed. In fact, I decided to use the free time on Saturday to finally do some sightseeing, which I have been neglecting in the past. From one of the earliest posts in this blog, you might remember that you can see the Sears Tower (the tallest building in North America) quite well from the L station close to my work. It has been luring me into a visit ever since my arrival - but since I also needed to do some shopping, I decided to give the John Hancock Center a visit.
Named after a highly successful businessman, it is the fourth-tallest building in Chicago, after the Sears Tower, the Trump International Hotel & Tower (topped out in 2008 and currently being finalized), and the Aon Center (in descending order). For the sake of completeness, it be mentioned that the Chicago Spire is planned to be the new second-tallest building in town ina few years from now, but the current financial crisis has stalled further work for now, and it might even kill the project altogether.
Anyways, I did pay "Big John" a visit, and while making a connection from the blue to the red line at Jackson on the way there, I could enjoy some more music. Check it out - and make sure you don't miss the crazy guy in the audience!

Funny Hats and Nightshifts

As requested by Elyse, I shall dedicate this entry to this season's headwear in Chicago, among other topics. The winter in Chicago is colder than in Germany, and this time it is cold even for local standards. As a matter of fact, we had the coldest day in the past decade just recently. No wonder people use all kinds of fashionable and not-so-fashionable-but-hey-at-least-it's-warm kind of hats to protect themselves against the bitter cold. As for myself, I try to blend in ... and I'm not afraid of being ugly!
In the third row from the top you see sundown in Chicago. As I was playing around with the features of my camera, I discovered it has a setting particularly for sunrises and sundowns. It does add a lot of red, but that does not make this shot less scenic. Now you might think that I would be on my way home from work when I took this picture, but I was actually going there. In mid-january I had one week in which I started only in the afternoon, but finished in the early morning hours. I felt quite comfortable with that schedule; apart from my first experience at BESSY (the synchrotron light source in Berlin) this just might have been my most intense week ever, and also a very efficient one. Fortunately there is a 7-eleven within walking distance from my lab, which is open 24/7. A basic level of supplies is granted even at the strangest hours. - I am very happy with the outcome of this work, and so are the two professors involved in this - they are very keen to publish these results. What more can you ask for as a scientist?
Well, you could ask for warmer temperatures. As you can see in the lower half of this image, there was one entire day below zero. In Fahrenheit, that is, which means below -18°C. The incredible -17°F, which correspond to -27°C, have been my personal all-time low so far. Along with the temperatures you see the time - I came home at 3:39 am, went back to work at 12:44 pm and returned home again at 4:06 am. The latter was particularly painful; not due to the early hour, but because of the cold. My train was supposed to arrive at 3:25 am at the station close to the university, and I was there five minutes early. I even waited in the lab, as not to stay outside in the cold for too long. Unfortunately the train was late by 20 min, and that can be a long time at those harsh conditions. Yet I made it home, even without a frostbite, and I was rewarded with a physical proof that I had just experienced my record low temperature as of now. But honestly, I feel no need to have a reprise.
But there is more to tell. After the week of the extreme cold, I have been assigned to train a new graduate student. I feel very honored by the trust my boss puts in me by this. The student is actually from the group of our collaborator, himself being also ultimately responsible for my staying in Chicago. She is from Iran - I must admit that I was surprised that despite the notoriously bad relationship between the U.S. and Iran academic exchange is taking place. Well, within certain limitations, that is, as she was originally supposed to work at Argonne National Laboratory, but there is no way for Iranians to work there. Hence, instead of working with X-ray light, she has to put up with me. I wonder which yields the better vibes - the alternating E/B field of the X-rays or me ... Her name is Homa, by the way, which is also the name of a bird in Persian mythology. This bird designated the new king by landing on his shoulder. It seems Homa will provide me a noble time - in turn I will of course do my best to train her, so as to make her stick with her choice ...