epidation, mindful of the possibility that they could be the ones facing the music in that courtroom. So far there is only one certainty about this evolving drama. It is tragic for everyone involved. A young woman with great promise for the future is gone, her parents’ lives now dominated by weekly visits to the cemetery. A distinguished professor’s life is shredded as he faces a possible prison sentence.
Dr. Patrick Harran is a researcher and teacher with a stellar record of awards and publications. One of his interests is appetite suppressant drugs and it was in this connection that twenty-three year old Sheri Sangji was performing an experiment in his laboratory on December 29, 2008. Sangji was equipped with an undergraduate degree in chemistry and had been working for a pharmaceutical company when she was hired by Harran as a research assistant. The particular reaction she was working on required the use of t-butyl lithium, a notoriously pyrophoric compound, meaning that it bursts into flames on contact with air. Obviously it requires special handling..
In the scientific community we are fond of saying that there are no safe or dangerous substances, only safe or dangerous ways to use them. And so it is with t-butyl lithium. If the detailed instructions provided by the manufacturer are properly followed there should be no problem. One method of transfer uses a syringe and it was the one followed by Sangji, but unfortunately not according to the instructions. The bottle wasn’t clamped, the syringe was too small for the amount being dispensed, and the needle used was too short, requiring the bottle to be tilted. Although the exact details are murky, Sangji accidentally pulled the plunger out of the syringe allowing the liquid to escape. It instantly burst into flames, igniting her nitrile gloves and synthetic sweater. She was not wearing a lab coat. In her panic Sheri did not run towards the safety shower in the lab, and by the time a fellow lab mate managed to extinguish the flames she had suffered extensive burns. In spite of care at one of the best burn centers in the U.S. Sheri Sangji tragically passed away three weeks later.

As would be expected, an immediate investigation was launched not only by the university but by California’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Investigator Brian Baudendistel carried out extensive interviews with everyone connected with the case and put together a report accusing both the University and Harran with laxity in implementing proper safety procedures. He urged that both be charged with involuntary manslaughter. Baudendistel concluded that the professor had not discussed the specific risks of working with t-butyl lithium with Sangji and had not enforced the wearing of lab coats with enough vigor. He had, according to the report, “permitted Victim Sangji to work in a manner that knowingly caused her to be exposed to a serious and foreseeable risk of serious injury or death.” Furthermore, Baudendistel discovered that UCLA had received previous warnings about its safety standards and that Dr.Harran’s lab had been cited by UCLA safety inspectors for violations including failure to enforce the wearing of protective gear.

The district attorney’s office took two years to scrutinize the OSHA report. There would be no manslaughter charge as the OSHA investigator had requested. But after considering that there had been other recent accidents in UCLA labs that had not been properly dealt with, a decision was made to prosecute the University and Professor Harran for violating occupational safety and health standards. A warrant was issued for Harran who was on vacation at the time. As soon as he returned, he was arrested and a trial date was set.
Recently the prosecutor dropped felony charges against the University in return for a guarantee that a number of safety measures would be instituted. All professors and laboratory personnel would henceforth be required to complete a lab safety training program. Standard operating procedures must be written and reviewed by experienced, qualified personnel and must be followed rigorously. Anyone not wearing proper personal protective equipment must be removed from the lab and the incident documented. Regular chemical safety inspections have to be conducted and accepted procedures for the safe use of pyrophoric liquids must be followed. All occupational injuries and illnesses must be reported to California’s Office for Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Charges against Professor Harran were left to stand with a possible sentence of four and a half years in prison hanging over his head. Surprisingly, as we were all gearing up to follow reports of the trial, the case suddenly took a new twist. Harran’s defense attorney introduced a motion to dismiss the charges because, he claims, evidence gathered by OSHA investigator Baudendistel should be inadmissible. Why? Because Baudendistel was convicted of helping to set up the murder of a drug dealer back in 1985. Since he was a juvenile at the time, records have been sealed. The defense attorney claims that a man with such a history is not credible, but Baudendistel insists that they have the wrong man, apparently in spite of some fingerprint evidence. It seems to me, though, that this case should be decided based on the evidence and not dismissed on account of some irrelevant technicality.

As one might expect, the Internet is abuzz with thoughtful as well as inane commentaries on this extraordinary legal case. Some lay the blame on Sangji, claiming that she should have followed proper procedures and should have been wearing a lab coat, which in this case could have been life-saving. Others accuse Dr. Harran of murder for not properly supervising a dangerous reaction. But many chemists realize that neither UCLA nor Dr. Harran are unique examples of negligence in terms of safety, and recognize that their own closets may harbor skeletons. We can all hope that this sad case will cause institutions and individuals to reflect on their safety procedures and make

improvements where needed. Indeed, according to a U.S. federal investigation, there have been about 120 serious lab accidents in universities between 2001 and 2011. Perhaps Sheri Sangji’s tragic loss of life will help reduce this toll.

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The image used was just one of a random lab explosion.

t when he learned of Einstein's death, and he remembers that the public's reaction to the great physicist's passing "was as big as Whitney Houston dying." Michio, who grew up in Palo Alto, CA, soon learned that Einstein had failed to finish his greatest work: a single, inch-long equation that would summarize the laws of physics. Einstein hoped this theory would explain how the universe worked. Fascinated by the idea, young Michio decided to help resume Einstein's work by becoming a theoretical physicist, and in the process excite others about the wonders of science.

He wasted little time getting his dream underway. During high school, for example, he assembled a rudimentary atom smasher in his parents' garage for a science fair project. And at the National Science Fair in Albuquerque, New Mexico, he attracted the attention of physicist Edward Teller, who took Michio as a protégé, awarding him the Hertz Engineering Scholarship.

Why He's Important: In addition to helping popularize science through his role as a futuristic thinker, Michio is a leading theoretical physicist. He is known in the world of physics as the co-creator of string field theory, a branch of string theory, and for his research on Einstein's "Theory of Everything." The theory seeks to unify the four fundamental forces of the universe: the strong force, the weak force, gravity and electromagnetism.

While his forays into science predictions are sometimes viewed as controversial, they are nonetheless thought-provoking, giving us insight into the power of science to turn sci-fi into reality. Some of his predictions (taken from his latest book "Physics of the Future") include: Driverless cars will be common by 2020, and synthetic organs by 2030. Also, during this period, he says, early detection of tumors will be made amazingly possible: “We will have DNA chips inside our toilet, which will sample some of our blood and urine and tell us if we have cancer maybe 10 years before a tumor forms." In addition, he says, the typical computer will be no more by 2020, being replaced by ubiquitous and powerful individual microchips.

Other Achievements: In addition to being the author of numerous scholarly works in physics, he has also written several popular books on science for the lay public -- two of which have landed on the New York Times best-seller list. Michio currently appears on the Discovery Channel’s series "How the Universe Works".

Education: He received a Bachelor's of Science degree in physics (summa cum laude) from Harvard University, and his Ph.D. from the Berkeley Radiation Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley.

Current Activities: He holds the Henry Semat Chair and Professorship in theoretical physics at the City College of New York where he has taught for 25 years.

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ome true. She entered college at age 16 as a chemical engineering student and after earning her degree, she completed medical school and practiced in Los Angeles before joining the Peace Corps' as a Medical Officer in Sierra Leone and Liberia, Africa. While there, she researched Hepatitis B, schistosomaisis and rabies with the Centers for Disease Control, and the National Institutes of Health. Returning to California, her next goal was to be accepted into NASA's astronaut program, which she accomplished on her second try in 1987.

Why She's Important: Among her diverse range of achievements, Mae is primarily known for being the first African American female astronaut. She was the science mission specialist on STS-47 Spacelab-J flight in 1992, a cooperative mission between the United States and Japan. The eight-day mission was accomplished in 127 orbits of the Earth, and included 44 life science and materials processing experiments. Mae was a co-investigator on the bone cell research experiment conducted on the mission. During this flight, she logged more than 190 hours in space.

Other Achievements: Since 1999 she has served as founder and CEO of BioSentient Corporation based in Houston, TX, a medical technology company that develops and markets mobile equipment worn to monitor body’s vital signs and train people to respond favorably in stressful situations. She is also founder of the Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence (named for her mother), which runs an internationally-known science camp called The Earth We Share. In addition Mae is nationally recognized for her efforts to motivate and prepare more students, including minorities and females, to enter science, technology, ,engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers.

Also of note: She speaks fluent Russian, Japanese, and Swahili, is trained in dance and choreography, and is the first authentic astronaut to appear on the television production of Star Trek: The Next Generation (which she did in 1993).

Education: Mae earned her Bachelor's of Science degree in chemical engineering from Stanford University, and her M.D. from Cornell University.

In Her Own Words: Speaking about her quest to enhance science education -- particularly by encouraging educators to adopt a new vision of learning that combines arts and sciences (intuition and logic), she says: “The arts and sciences are avatars of human creativity.”

Meet real life role models at the USA Science & Engineering Festival by visiting www.usasciencefestival.org

fe are sketchy, he is believed to have been born in the year 780 in the Khorasan province of Persia (now the country of Uzbekistan). He later moved with his family to a place near Baghdad, Iraq, where he accomplished most of his work between the years 813 and 833, writing exclusively in Arabic. In Iraq, he worked at the “House of Wisdom”, a highly respected place which acquired and translated scientific and philosophic papers (particularly from Greece), as well as publishing original research.

Why He's Important: A mathematician, astronomer and geographer, Muhammad is universally known as the "Father of Algebra". His famous book which introduced algebra's concepts was published in the year 830 and titled "Hisab al-jabr w'al-muqabala" (known in English as "The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing"). This work described his systematic approach to solving linear and quadratic equations. In fact, the word "algebra" is derived from the Arabic word ("al-jabr") which appears in his book's title. Also interestingly, the words "algorithm" and "algorism" stem from Algoritmi -- the Latin form of Muhammad's name. His work led to algebra being introduced to Europe, where his book became the standard mathematical text at European universities until the 16th century.

Other Achievements: In addition, Muhammad's research in geography led to correcting and better systemizing the works of the great Greco-Egyptian mathematician and geographer Ptolemy by creating a map of the then "known world." He also published works on mechanical devices like the clock, astrolabe, and sundial, and was among the first to introduce the Hindu-Arabic Numeral System (complete with a decimal point and the all-important value of zero). His other contributions include mathematical tables that described trigonometric functions, and refinements in the geometric representation of conic sections.

Mohammad's Place in Mathematics HIstory: Mathematicians J. O'Conner and E. F. Robertson, writing in the MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, perhaps best describe Mohammad's contribution to algebra and mathematics history when they say: "It is important to understand just how significant [the introduction of algebra] was. It was a revolutionary move away from the Greek concept of mathematics which was essentially geometry. Algebra was a unifying theory which allowed rational numbers, irrational numbers, geometrical magnitudes, etc., to all be treated as ‘algebraic objects‘.. it allowed mathematics to be applied to itself in a way which had not happened before."