Love Cry

So I'm going to New York (whoop whoop) for a week.  Hopefully loads of cool stuff will happen to me and it'll be like an episode of friends but better.  I'm going to take loads of photos so hopefully I'll have loads to put up when I get back.

I've seen this happen in other people's lives, now it's happening in mine...

So it's my second day off research this week, check me out.  The whole office have gone to Go Ape, I can't go with them because I have to work at Gap tonight.  In an effort to feel like I've actually done some chemistry this week I've been looking at sciencey stuff online.  I've had the periodic table song inflicted upon me about a hundred times and I hate it, this is way better.




Yeah I'm a geek and I just don't care.

I'm obsessed with the mess that's america...

I've got the day off research today, as it is a bank holiday.  I'm slightly relieved seeing as I've spent the past two weeks making up solutions, and on friday someone told me I need to start again with a different polymer.  I was pretty gutted when I got told. Sadly I do still have to go and fold some clothes later on at Gap so it's not all fun and games.

To make it a not completely wasted rare day off, I've been shopping hitting up the charity shops in hammersmith.  I bought a cute little velvet skirt in one for 7 squids which I'm pretty happy with. 

At the moment I am pretty obsessed with Marina from Marina and the Diamonds.  I've been wanting a Letterman jacket for ages, and I found this picture of her and now I want one even more.

Gold Lions Gonna Tell Me Where The Light Is...

It's CARNIVAL time

So I'm off to nottinghill carnival today.  Am MEGA excited.  Hopefully it'll be something like this

Am seriously loving the colours going on here.


In honour of carnival time, I've made a fringe out of my hair, it's looking interesting.

I'm not really sure about it, but I'm bored waiting for my friend Emily who overslept so I'm having dress up time. 

Here's to the carnival being awesome, I can't go on adult's day tomorrow as i've got work at Gap :( so it's kids day for me.  Quite fitting really.

I got inspired to start a blog whilst I was at one of my jobs last week.  This summer I decided I wanted to do something chemistry-ish, so I've been doing research at my uni.  I've been working for one of my lecturer's who does research into organic semiconductor solar cells. I've decided when talking about chemistry I'll give a layman's description of what I'm actually talking about, so if you already know what stuff is you'll have to excuse me.

A solar cell is the basic constituent of a solar panel.  The problem is those sorts of solar cells are made from silicon, which is expensive to make into solar cells and is not very practical.  The plan with organic semiconductor solar cells is to use a semiconducting polymer to replace the role of silicon in a solar cell.  It would be much much cheaper and they'd be more viable as an actual contender to replace fossil fuels.  Problem is, at present, they aren't all that efficient.  The research group I am working for is basically investigating different ways to improve this efficiency, amongst other things.

I've been working for them for almost 4 weeks now.  It's good.  I've learnt quite a lot, and it's been really good to work with people doing PhDs and see what I could potentially be doing, properly, in a years time.  Last week I got given a little mini project to work on, there's a fair bit of waiting around, so I sneaked my phone into the lab and took loads of pictures of what I've been doing. 

My lab book, and to the top some of my cheeky little samples in their little boxes

The fume hood, whenever I use it I feel like I may die

 

 

Making up my samples, this fumehood has destroyed all my dreams several times over.  I keep dropping my samples and knocking solutions over in it :( sad times.

Me looking sciency using the glove box.  Don't be fooled, glove boxes are a bitch.

Me looking sciency in my lab coat

I've not really discovered anything yet.  At the moment all I seem to be doing is making up solutions, making films on glass with them, then taking a UV/vis spectrum of it.  It's pretty soul destroying doing it all day then finding out, once again you've not done what you wanted to do.  Maybe next week though *fingers crossed*.

Hello, I'm Alex.  I am a chemistry student at Imperial College London and about to start my final year of my undergraduate degree.  I don't really see myself as a typical Imperial student, for a start I'm female.  What I mean is I'm not geeky in the traditional sense, I love fashion and going out and the things people don't expect you to be into if you do science.  I just love the chemistry.  This blog is going to be about things I love, so mostly science, but it'll have clothes and music and other fun things in too.