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embers of about that from some of the American my coworkers who went Chemical to Berkeley.” Society could probably clean up in the science f there were a Unicategories at pub trivia versity of Alcatraz, nights. Keith E. Whitener the mascot might Jr., a two-year ACS membe a FLUORESCENT ber, has done one better: MILLIPEDE. On the San Last year, he earned a Francisco Bay island “Jeopardy!” title. famous for its prison, In fall 2012, the chemscientists have discovered ist won seven games a resident: Xystocheir of the popular quiz dissecta, a millipede that Big winner: Whitener is a show and accumulated glows under ultraviolet chemist and “Jeopardy!” all-star. $148,597. Because of this light and is common in the impressive showing— neighboring Bay Area. Whitener was the 14th-highest regularEarlier this year, the National Park season money winner in the history of Service was interested in surveying the rat “Jeopardy!”—he was invited to participate in population on Alcatraz, so they left snacks the TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS. The for the rodents to munch on that were laced two-week-long tournament took place in Febwith a nontoxic fluorescent dye. The Univerruary, featuring 15 prior winners. Whitener sity of California, Davis, entomology club won $100,000 and was the first runner-up. combed the island at night with UV lamps, When Whitener isn’t wagering on Daily searching for the glow of rat droppings. Doubles, he studies the surface chemistry Instead, they found X. dissecta. of graphene as a postdoctoral researcher at Using samples collected on the island, the Naval Research Laboratory, in Washtaxonomist Rowland Shelley of the North ington, D.C. His love of chemistry Carolina Museum of Natural began in an honors class with Sciences identified the millipede chemistry professor John J. species as X. dissecta. Boland at the University of North Now, UC Davis undergraduCarolina, Chapel Hill. During class ate Alexander Nguyen, with the one day, Boland worked out the guidance of entomologist Bruce D. quantum mechanical particle-inHammock, plans to unearth why a-box model, and from then on the millipedes fluoresce. Nguyen Whitener was hooked on p-chem. was the first to stumble across the The “Jeopardy!” winner went on glowing arthropods on Alcatraz. Glow bug: Scientists to earn a Ph.D. at Yale University, “Because we’ve found milfound this working under R. James Cross and lipedes on the mainland that fluopinkie-sized studying endohedral fullerenes. resce in a similar fashion,” Nguyen millipede Throughout his regular-season says, the team knows the fluodoing time on Alcatraz. quiz show appearances, Whitener’s rescence must be unique to the scientific background gave him creatures’ biology and have nothan edge, he says. “The level of science in ing to do with the rat bait. “The fluorescence the ‘Jeopardy!’ clues is really general, so I seems to be a physical property of the was able to clean up in those categories,” cuticle, or outer covering, of the millipede.” he adds. And the first night of Whitener’s Nguyen hopes to extract whatever “Jeopardy!” adventure couldn’t have been compound is responsible for X. dissecta’s scripted any better: The Final Jeopardy glow and then compare its chromatography category was “the elements.” “That pretty fingerprint to a library to see whether it much guaranteed me the win,” he says. matches any known fluorescing molecules. It was the Final Jeopardy question that As for the rats on Alcatraz, the millipedes ended Whitener’s regular-season streak and literally stole their spotlight. still haunts him. “The clue had to do with college mascots,” he explains. “The correct response was the University of California EMILY BONES wrote this week’s column. Golden Bears, and I guessed the University Please send comments and suggestions to of Southern California Trojans. So I heard
[email protected].
M
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ALEXANDER NGUYEN
cen.acs.org/biological
JEOPARDY PRODUCTIONS
CHEMISTRY CONTESTANT, GLOWING MILLIPEDES
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APRIL 22, 2013
