Week #1 - Junie Kim

We began this week learning about carbon, graphene, and graphite, as well as drawing graphite structures. Of these structures we also studied hexagonal patterns in nature. I found it really interesting that nature has a way of creating such beautiful geometric patterns without any assistance from human kind. Hexagons seemed to be a very popular shape that occurs in nature. Upon further research, I found that hexagons are special in that it "best fills a plane with equal size units and leaves no wasted space" (Sullivan, LabRoots). The structures of "hexagonal packing also minimizes the perimeter for a given area because of its 120-degree angles. With this structure, the pull of surface tension in each direction is most mechanically stable" (Sullivan, LabRoots).

While drawing structures, I focused on the sound of my pencil etching along my paper. Learning about the origins and intricacies of the pencil has made me realize how interesting seemingly mundane, everyday objects actually are. I write with a pencil, but what is a pencil? What is the element producing these lines on my page. It has been interesting to ask myself deeper questions such as these. Analyzing the graphite tip of my pencil was also very interesting, as I have used them a lot while sketching but never really studied the tool itself. Graphite is a "commonly found mineral and is composed of many layers of graphene," and graphene is "simply one atomic layer of graphite" (AzoNano, Graphenea). I saw that a layer of graphite was a "layer of sp2 bonded carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal or honeycomb lattice," (AzoNano, Graphenea) which was another example of that shape in nature. 

On our visits outside the classroom we went to see the Advanced Microscopy Lab at UCLA's California NanoSystems Institute and the Birthplace of the Internet in Boelter Hall. At the lab in CNSI, we saw many microscopes and other tools. It was very cool to see, especially because I had never explored that part of campus. The mission of the CNSI is to "provide consultation, services and support for the application of novel microscopic and spectroscopic methods and advanced image analysis techniques for the study of macromolecules, cellular dynamics and nano-scale characterization of bio-materials" (CNSI). Learning that UCLA was the birthplace of the internet made me feel very honored to be a student here. Knowing that years ago this school was the origin of a tool that I use at the very same space now. The internet was born in Boelter Hall when "Professor Leonard Kleinrock at UCLA sent the first message to Stanford" (Bhattacharyya, UC IT). The system that they used was called "ARPANET, the precursor to the modern Internet" and was "sponsored by the Department of Defense for new technologies. Four universities were connected to the ARPANET: UCLA, Stanford, UC Santa Barbara, and the University of Utah (Bhattacharyya, UC IT). This campus is home to and continues to create new technological innovations. Talks with the workers in CNSI proved how many great, innovative, and talented minds are here at UCLA.

Sources:

https://alms.cnsi.ucla.edu/

https://cio.ucop.edu/ucla-birthplace-of-the-internet/#:~:text=In%20an%20office%20in%20Boelter,Internet%20message%20was%20%E2%80%9CLO.%E2%80%9D

https://www.labroots.com/trending/videos/10939/ever-wonder-why-there-are-so-many-hexagons-in-nature#:~:text=Hexagons%2C%20in%20particular%2C%20are%20often,eyes%20also%20form%20hexagonal%20patterns.

https://www.azonano.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=3836