bottom membrane by the other! The current has to transfer from one membrane to the other!”
Tiona blinked, “So? I can see that that might raise the resistance a little, but why would it make the membranes move?”
“One question at a time! One question at a time,” Vaz said musingly, “I think now I can replicate your experiment. If so, then I can work on why the membranes move.” He grinned excitedly at her, “You should be trying to figure this out too! I think it will be very important.”
Tiona grinned back at her father and said, “Okay,” though she couldn’t imagine why wiggling membranes would be much more than an annoyance.
Knowing that being in a strange place around strange people made him uncomfortable, Tiona walked her dad back down to his car.
When she got back up to the lab she had the feeling that Nolan had been waiting for her. He flashed her a smile, “Your dad’s pretty cool.”
Tiona resisted rolling her eyes. “Cool” was about the last term anyone should ever use to describe her bizarre father. She thought Nolan had realized she’d been embarrassed and he was just trying to put her at ease. Which was embarrassing in its own right. She eyed him. A handsome guy like Nolan probably expected her to melt all over him. Probably has nerdy girls draped all over him when he’s away from the lab. A couple of compliments are probably all he usually needs.
Nolan continued, “That was a great idea he had about applying a voltage to my precipitation system. In retrospect, I can’t believe I didn’t think of it myself, but I can’t wait to try it.”
Tiona said, “I hope it works.”
“I’ve been thinking about your doping schemes,” Nolan said.
“Uh-huh,” Tiona grunted, her mind already starting to track other topics.
“Have you tried titanium yet? I don’t remember hearing you talk about it, but it seems to fit the profiles of your dopants as I understand your theory.” He winced a little, “I tried to run the calculations you and Dr. Eisner have been running, but I’m not sure I understand the math. If I’ve got it right, titanium ought to have a pretty good chance.”
Tiona’s attention had almost completely wandered to other topics, but in an effort to be polite, she ran his last sentence back through her mind . Titanium? She glanced up at the periodic table they had mounted on the wall of the lab. She blinked; then looked at the formula she and Dr. Eisner had come up with, where it displayed in the upper corner of her screen. She ran a rough approximation in her head; then turned to Nolan, “You might have something there. I may be just as embarrassed I didn’t think of titanium as you are that you didn’t think about applying a voltage to your plate.”
Nolan grinned and held up his fingers to make air quotes, “ Everything , in retrospect, is obvious.”
Tiona grinned back at him, “Yeah, you’re probably right.”
“Not me. Michael Lewis is the guy that said that.”
Tiona snorted, “Okay, whoever that is, he’s probably right.”
***
Eisner returned from giving his lecture and stepped into the lab. To his relief Marlowe wasn’t there. Tiona looked up, “Yes Dr. Eisner?”
“How’s it going?”
“I’m precipitating some new membranes, this time doping with titanium. Nolan pointed out that he thought it fit our theory. I ran the calculations and, embarrassingly enough, it actually fits very well. It’s pretty sad that I didn’t think of it myself.”
Eisner looked up at the periodic table; then got a distant look as he considered the possibilities. “You’re right, we both should’ve thought of trying titanium. I’ll have to give Marlowe a pat on the back for that one.”
Tiona grinned at him, “Careful now, we don’t want him to get a swelled head.”
“No, no, that wouldn’t do, would it? Say, one of the reasons I dropped by the lab was that Dr. Weitzel has been looking for someone to run some measurements over the
Tiona blinked, “So? I can see that that might raise the resistance a little, but why would it make the membranes move?”
“One question at a time! One question at a time,” Vaz said musingly, “I think now I can replicate your experiment. If so, then I can work on why the membranes move.” He grinned excitedly at her, “You should be trying to figure this out too! I think it will be very important.”
Tiona grinned back at her father and said, “Okay,” though she couldn’t imagine why wiggling membranes would be much more than an annoyance.
Knowing that being in a strange place around strange people made him uncomfortable, Tiona walked her dad back down to his car.
When she got back up to the lab she had the feeling that Nolan had been waiting for her. He flashed her a smile, “Your dad’s pretty cool.”
Tiona resisted rolling her eyes. “Cool” was about the last term anyone should ever use to describe her bizarre father. She thought Nolan had realized she’d been embarrassed and he was just trying to put her at ease. Which was embarrassing in its own right. She eyed him. A handsome guy like Nolan probably expected her to melt all over him. Probably has nerdy girls draped all over him when he’s away from the lab. A couple of compliments are probably all he usually needs.
Nolan continued, “That was a great idea he had about applying a voltage to my precipitation system. In retrospect, I can’t believe I didn’t think of it myself, but I can’t wait to try it.”
Tiona said, “I hope it works.”
“I’ve been thinking about your doping schemes,” Nolan said.
“Uh-huh,” Tiona grunted, her mind already starting to track other topics.
“Have you tried titanium yet? I don’t remember hearing you talk about it, but it seems to fit the profiles of your dopants as I understand your theory.” He winced a little, “I tried to run the calculations you and Dr. Eisner have been running, but I’m not sure I understand the math. If I’ve got it right, titanium ought to have a pretty good chance.”
Tiona’s attention had almost completely wandered to other topics, but in an effort to be polite, she ran his last sentence back through her mind . Titanium? She glanced up at the periodic table they had mounted on the wall of the lab. She blinked; then looked at the formula she and Dr. Eisner had come up with, where it displayed in the upper corner of her screen. She ran a rough approximation in her head; then turned to Nolan, “You might have something there. I may be just as embarrassed I didn’t think of titanium as you are that you didn’t think about applying a voltage to your plate.”
Nolan grinned and held up his fingers to make air quotes, “ Everything , in retrospect, is obvious.”
Tiona grinned back at him, “Yeah, you’re probably right.”
“Not me. Michael Lewis is the guy that said that.”
Tiona snorted, “Okay, whoever that is, he’s probably right.”
***
Eisner returned from giving his lecture and stepped into the lab. To his relief Marlowe wasn’t there. Tiona looked up, “Yes Dr. Eisner?”
“How’s it going?”
“I’m precipitating some new membranes, this time doping with titanium. Nolan pointed out that he thought it fit our theory. I ran the calculations and, embarrassingly enough, it actually fits very well. It’s pretty sad that I didn’t think of it myself.”
Eisner looked up at the periodic table; then got a distant look as he considered the possibilities. “You’re right, we both should’ve thought of trying titanium. I’ll have to give Marlowe a pat on the back for that one.”
Tiona grinned at him, “Careful now, we don’t want him to get a swelled head.”
“No, no, that wouldn’t do, would it? Say, one of the reasons I dropped by the lab was that Dr. Weitzel has been looking for someone to run some measurements over the
Similar Books
