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This activity allows students to visualize the electrolysis of water in a microfluidic device in under 1 min. Instructional materials are provided to demonstrate how the activity meets West Virginia content standards and objectives. Electrolysis of water is a standard chemistry experiment, but the typical laboratory apparatus (e.g., Hoffman cell) is best suited for group presentations. With microfluidics, the cell volume is reduced from 100 mL to 100 µL, making the electrolysis safer and easier to view by an individual. A single device is reusable and assembled for $5. This report describes the development of a microfluidic learning module that was implemented and assessed in the eighth-grade chemistry classroom.

We investigate the possibility of a spontaneous collapse of the nuclei constituting the water molecule. We show that, due to a practically exact agreement of the energy of the p + p + 16O threshold and a resonance state of the 18Ne nucleus, the probability of nuclear fusion involving p + p + 16O → 18Ne*(4.522, 1-) in the rotationally excited H2O molecule is significantly enhanced. The calculation of the fusion probability is performed using a scheme analogous to the linear combination of atomic orbitals (LCAO), well known in the theory of molecules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Morphological and genetic data for the Iberian golden-striped salamander, Chioglossa lusitanica, demonstrate the existence of two groups with southern and northern ranges, connected by a zone of intergradation in central Portugal. Because reproductive isolation between them is incomplete we consider the groups to be subspecies. The type locality of C. lusitanica (Buçaco near Lousã) is situated inside the mixed zone. This necessitates identification of the nominotypical subspecies. We sequenced a fragment of mitochondrial DNA from one of the species' syntypes and we determined what position over a latitudinal transect maximizes the morphological discrimination between the groups. Both approaches indicate that C. lusitanica from Buçaco represents the southern subspecies. A new subspecies of C. lusitanica is described from a northern locality (Valongo near Porto in north-western Portugal). A lectotype is designated for Chioglossa lusitanica. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]