Recently I did my 1st real experiment for my new postdoc, which is a decidedly different research topic from my MS, PhD and last postdoc, although pretty much in the same sub-field if you look at it like I do.. hahaha. I am now working with solids and gases rather than aqueous solutions!
So anyway, I was shining some bright, broad spectrum light on my "solid" sample and I kind of started a fire! I never worried about starting a fire with my aqueous samples (which were easier to keep cool, etc)! I am trying to investigate certain environmentally realistic, photochemical processes, not super intense, concentrated light and heat driven ones. Of course the "signal" I was trying to observe on the instrument was off the charts, which suggested something was wrong, and sure enough.. there was smoke. I guess I found this whole thing kinda funny and cool, and it makes me realize I need to understand light, heat and black body radiation on a deeper level. So I shall work on re-integrating the whole electromagnetic spectrum into my consciousness. I should add that the biggest part of the fire problem was that the beam was "too" focused. Once that was adjusted, no more fire.
Note: image from NOAA
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