Subatomic Particles
Chemical Pioneers
Ptable
Biochem
Biomimetics
200
A Dirac fluid exists when these small, negatively-charged particles belonging to graphene begin to move like a fluid one hundred times less viscous than water.
Electrons
200
Antoine Lavoisier named this chemical element crucial to respiration.
Oxygen (O)
200
Aside from bromine, this metal is the only element that is a liquid at room temperature.
Mercury (Hg)
200
Phosphorus levels in this jumping insect are gauged by measuring the nutrient's presence in its frass, or excrement.
Grasshopper
200
The aerodynamics of jets and airplanes were inspired by the wings of these animals.
Birds
400
These particles are accelerated to 60% the speed of light, or 114,000 miles per second, and fired at tumors as a form of radiation therapy.
Protons
400
This creator of dynamite had 355 patents to his name when he died in 1896. A prize named for him has been awarded to Barack Obama, Malala Yousafzai, and, most recently, María Corina Machado.
Alfred Nobel
400
Ingesting as little as half a gram of tellurium can cause one's breath to smell like this bulbous plant for up to 30 hours.
Garlic
400
Acetylation is one way that these biological catalysts affect reactions.
Enzymes
400
Due to its nutrient-seeking nature, this sometimes-single-celled organism may be used to inform the plans of future transportation networks.
Slime mold
600
The electron was discovered with the help of this device, a vacuum that houses a beam of negatively charged particles.
Cathode ray tube
600
This process of heating a liquid to kill harmful microorganisms is widely used in the dairy industry.
Pasteurization
600
This element's use in biomedical implants stems from its high tensile strength and ability to fuse with bone tissue.
Titanium (Ti)
600
This scientific discipline is the study of changes in gene expression that occur without altering the DNA sequence.
Epigenetics
600
The Eastgate Centre in Zimbabwe uses natural airflow patterns to cool its interior, similar to the nests of these insects.
Termites
800
J.J. Thomson proposed that the atom was a field of diffuse positive charge with negatively-charged electrons embedded throughout—sort of like this British dessert.
Plum pudding
800
This chemist discovered the structures of penicillin and vitamin B12 using X-ray crystallography.
Dorothy Hodgkin
800
Likely discovered while creating weapons in the midst of the Cold War, this element was named for a town in Russia.
Dubnium (Db)
800
During the depolarization period of an action potential, channels in the membranes of neurons open to let positively-charged sodium travel this direction.
Into the cell
800
This bird's beak inspired Japanese engineers to reimagine the shape of the Shinkansen.
Kingfisher
1000
The Super-Kamiokande, a massive water tank under Mount Ikeno, was built to detect these "ghost particles".
Neutrinos
1000
This "father of nuclear physics" used gold foil to discover the atomic nucleus.
Ernest Rutherford
1000
Radium, polonium, and actinium were all discovered in this mineral, also known as uraninite.
Pitchblende
1000
Fasciculin is a class of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors within this protein superfamily found in snake venom.
Three-finger toxins (3FTx)
1000
The microtexture of this plant was used to create a paint that stays surprisingly dirt free.
Lotus