Small things of the world

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Science has given me such a deep respect for small things in the world (atoms, molecules, cells, other microorganisms). It's amazing that our world is full of them and made up of them! Just... aaaa... they fascinate me.

They are fascinating. Bought even a nice binocular microscope now just for fun...
Our world is full of interesting things but most people have not even an idea that they even exist.

Yes, exactly that! Small things are so interesting yet so many pass them by.

It's not only the small things but the big things to. Most people have no idea of the universe at all. You can't know everything of course. But it's a nice thing to have at least a bit of an idea of the fascinating world that we are living in.

I design at the molecular level in my laboratory research. When I was in grad school for my PhD, I created (and tested) thirty different compounds. None of them are found in nature and all of them were unknown to science at the time I defended my dissertation. They likely have catalytic properties that I need to test for yet.

My father was an self taught architect and built many houses during his career. He could mentally picture what he wanted to build before he drew up the plans to give to the builders. I inherited that capability, but I do my building at a much smaller level.

Oh my goodness, that sounds amazing! I'd love to hear more.
Also, I found out recently that there is in fact a manga/anime about cells, called Cells at Work - the cells are all personified. It's a lot better than it sounds and has really made me think about my own 'tiny people'.

Some single-celled organisims live inside wonderfully elaborate, often symetrical shells- foramnifera, radiolaria and diatoms. The radiolarians in particular look like impossibly delicate geometric sculptures.

I often reflect upon the fact that the materials that make up every cell of our body have been recycled many times and were part of other organisms and structures. In fact they were once part of other celestial bodies many light years away. That's on a very small scale of course - basic elements.

Our bodies are just a temporary gathering of small particles.

I saw a shower thought on Reddit about that. It's pretty thought-provoking actually.

During a long dive into the internet, I found this video about diatoms....

^Makes me nostalgic for when I was a real microbiologist. I’d love to have a microscope and time to explore again.

You were a microbiologist?! That sounds so interesting!

During my grad school days, I worked on several chemical projects that just did not pan out. One of them was in the area of making molecular switches. In a nutshell, it is a way to store digital data (binary 1s and 0s) within individual molecules. I was after a separation of charges within the different parts of the molecule that could be reversible upon excitation with light of a certain wavelength. The targets that I was working with had too much conjugation in the backbone, so it kept transferring electrons around to the wrong spots on the molecules, regardless of light exposure. That meant that it was naturally erasing data from itself. I redesigned/redeveloped the molecules and went a different direction with the goal for my successful project. I would like to say more, but that would give away my identity.

The reason why I was after a molecular switch is much easier to understand. It would increase computer storage to a new level. Instead to terabyte drives in a computer, it could be a terabyte x terabyte drives. Imagine having the storage capability to take the entire data on the internet, not just for one moment, but to do that over eons of time before it would be “full”. I still want this, but have changed my approach to solving the material issues. I have potentially discovered something that could possibly do this without suffering from electromagnetic pulse damage, but that is for a later time to tell.

That's... mind-blowing. Storing digital things in literal molecules! What a fascinating concept!
If saying more would give away who you are, you must be quite well-known within the scientific community! I am intrigued by you!

Yes and no. Most of my original research was buried in my published dissertation, likely forgotten by all those who knew me back then. I had enough data to publish three scientific papers on it, but chose not to. That is why I am mostly unknown in this area. The reason why I did this involved preventing my ex-research advisor from taking credit for my original work when he did not contribute to. He was extremely abusive towards me and tried to steal my ideas. I had to fund my project with my own money towards the end. He was removed from the tenure-track due to some rather unethical behaviors. I was the one who reported him to the graduate school. He took revenge by blocking me from working at certain national labs that he was connected to. So, I naturally disappeared off the radar as soon as I could. I sucks that I had to do this to my career, but it was the only way out at the time. Science can be full of more drama than a tv soap opera sometimes.

I have published since, but not on the specific area that I earned my doctorate in. Currently, I am writing two papers on nanotechnology research that I have been working on with my collaborator. They have the potential to break open a new era of devices that I want to make. All I can say is that it involves special materials that do not lose their unique properties under extreme conditions that would damage all regular molecules.

Oh... I was not aware of that. I mean, I knew the community had drama but to this extent? I feel very sorry for you. Hopefully after this person retires from the science world you can return to publishing your initial research.
And thank you for the warning. I know TV soap operas fairly well, and if that's anything to go by... I'll need a mental hazmat suit if i go down that career path.