J o h n L e i g h L a b
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Email the Director :
John Leigh, Ph.D.
leighj@u.washington.edu
Fun Stuff
Lab Outings
A farewell to Shelly! Here we are eating at a local restaurant. From left to right we see Eriks hand, Brian, Shelly, her fiance Zack, Christine, Andrew, Jeremy, Ulf, Tom and Andrew (yes...two Andrews).
We also get together for BBQ's and enjoy kayaking, hiking and just hanging out together.
The Volta Experiment
I am the god of hellfire! And I bring you... fire!
Looking for a way to combine recreation and research on methanogens? Perform your very own Volta experiment!
In the late 18th century the famous physicist Alessandro Volta, after whom the volt is named, demonstrated that gas collected from marshy areas and sediments could be ignited when exposed to air. This "combustible air" was later determined to contain methane. Although the phenomenon of "combustible air" had been observed before this, Volta's experiments created much interest in the scientific community. Eventually it was determined that the methane collected from these environments was biologically produced - methanogenesis!
We have been performing our own versions of the original Volta experiment lately, and some pictures and movies thereof are displayed below. It doesn't take much gas, collected in a large, stoppered funnel to produce a pretty good show! In the collection process, hip waders are definitely a plus.
Volta Experiment Media
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| Ka-BLAM! (AVI, 1.4MB) | Great balls of fire! (AVI, 1.2MB) |