Erasing the Boundary Between Fantasy and Reality

      For as long as fairy tales have been told, the idea of an alchemist has been around. Typically an alchemist is a person who can change the matter of a substance of low value and alter it into a substance of high value, such as gold, using chemistry. At Princeton University, a chemist, Paul Chirik, has achieved the status of an alchemist as depicted in this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/16/science/modern-day-alchemy-has-iron-working-like-platinum.html?ref=chemistry&_r=0.

      Dr. Chirik has managed to alter iron, so it may function as platinum. By using catalysts and organic molecules known as ligands, Chirik is able to provide a shape for the molecule to form bonds ultimately allowing it to acquire properties of platinum. The amount of possibilities that can come from this research is limitless! If Dr. Chirik is able to change fantasy into reality, then who knows for certain what is or is not possible through further development in science. 

      One statement in this article that really stands out to me is when the author points out how a pound of platinum is valued around $22,000 whereas iron only costs around $0.50 per pound. Thus if chemists can ensure this altered form of iron does not rust, possibly construction workers could use this platinum replica to construct buildings saving an immense amount of money in supplies. Lower construction prices would ultimately help areas develop throughout the world. Another point is some resources on Earth are finite. Though this may not be the case now, there may be a point in the future in which humans will have to use this research to construct materials that have been depleted. At the end of the article, the author also mentions how Dr. Chirik's team is searching for a way to use catalysts to convert nitrogen in the air to other forms rather than using the Haber-Bosch method. Not only would this help in the production of nitrogen, but I wonder if it could benefit the environment. Currently, theories of global warming are constantly circulating in media. Thus I wonder if catalysts could possibly be used to extract green house gases, like carbon dioxide, from the atmosphere lessening the effects of global warming. It is not certain what this research is capable of, but clearly there are no boundaries to its potential.