During the hay day of Roman Empire, Rome was the political economic center of emperors: Their emperors

controlled a lot of wealth; one of the ways in

which they used their wealth was by building dozens of villas: massive country homes throughout Italy and southeastern Europe Villas And while they are
impressive with temples, libraries, baths, gardens, and outdoor pools, these imperial villas were about quite a bit more than just impressing people; one
practical purpose was for the emperors to escape the heat of Rome in the summer In 18th century, when people first started excavating some of these villas,
its just treasure hunters; people looking to get wealthy by unearthing marble sculptures, that sort of thing But it was only through more serious excavations
beginning in the 19th century that archaeologist first began to develop a more detailed picture of these estates; some of the art: work they found gives us a
window into the difference between official and private life of the emperor Example: in the Villa of Tiherius, an early ruler; found fragments of marble
sculptures when put together turned out to be a group of marble sculptures of creatures out of Roman itself sculpture in the city was all about glorifying the
emperor, in the country, the emperors were able to experiment more Another example: emperor H's villa contains samples of many different architecture
styles, he was one of the most travelled emperors, and this was reflected in his villa; he built large complex with Egyptian, Greek and Roman style Villa
served an economic purpose, many were self-supporting working farms; they painted greens and some had vineyards and produce wine; not like home, more
like states.
Example1: One wanna mention in particular that belongs to Diocletian; found an aqueduct that's designed to carry water to the villa, but it seemed much too
big just to be supplying a residence; they found the area was idea for making fabric: a lot of sheep in surrounding hills; and local water had sulfur in it which
is good for making dye it's a textile factory
Example2: Back to Tiberius's villa, there found several rectangular depression filled with sea water, first thought just decorative pools, then found little
rounds holes set into the sides of the pools: prefect for fish to lay their eggs, it's a fish farm, can supply people in the villa or even fish market in Rome Right
from the beginning of Roman Empire, there were landowners who also built villas to generate incomes; strong economies in the villas, power became
decentralized; as villa expanded and political situation became more and more unstable, these estates may contribute to the decline of Roman Empire
Characteristics
Nano material: extraordinary thin sheet of material, less than 5 atoms thick; today gonna focus on graphene; has several exciting applications that may prove
useful
Graphene: derived from graphite-stuff in the core of pencil Made of carbon atoms; if you skin off the thinnest layer of graphite – graphene. Graphene is the
strongest material ever made, its strength is due to its perfect crystal and atomic structure; can compare grapheme to diamond because they are al1 made of
carbon atoms that are arranged in a simple and regular pattern; but unlike diamond grapheme is incredibly flexible Because of its structure, grapheme is also
an outstanding heat conductor; electron speeds through this material much faster than they can do other materials
Discovery
Graphene has been identified as a potential nano material for just a few decades; some researchers suggests that it can be used in a variety of ways, but others
were skeptical: how do you make a sheet of material that's only one atom thick
Then in 2004, a group in Manchester created a grapheme sample; they put grapheme between two adhesive, pull the take apart, repeat this action until they
create a material that' only one atom thick Now grapheme can be investigated not only theoretically but also experimentally
Possible application
Very promising in the field of electronics; can be used to make transistors and computer microchips Currently the microchip is based on silicon, it allows us
to create even faster and smaller chips transforming computers from giant machines to small portable devices But with electronics gets smaller and faster, we
are pushing the capacity of silicon
But there are challenges
the industrial production of grapheme; the tape method is a good way to get samples for research purpose; we need to find ways to mass produce grapheme in
large sheets
semi-conductor: the basic units of information are 1 and 0; means there's a signal; 0 means there's not signal; that the way to code and transmit data and the
basic rule for semi-conductor is that it can convey a signal but this signal can also be stopped
one problem for grapheme: it's conductivity is so good that the signal cannot be turned off. need to find ways to control the graphene's conductivity to halt the
flow of electron through this material
Determine what they eat during their journey; experiment: using breath collector (tiny)
Breath collector: mask connected to the balloon filled with oxygen Mask was put over the bird's beak Bird inhales the oxygen; exhales and replaces the
oxygen with carbon dioxide Analyze the carbon signature: measure the ratio of carbon 12 to carbon 13
Q: How to determine what they eat at different times during migration?
1. When a bird digests its food, and the body absorbs the nutrients; the carbon signature moves. (from breath; to blood; to feathers)
2. so by analyzing signature at different places inside the bird Breath: What the bird ate that day
Blood plasma: 2 or 3 days before
Blood red cells: 2 or 3 weeks before
Feathers: a month ago or so.
So researchers can create a directory record from analyzing breath and different body tissues from the same bird
Q: What if the signature in feathers is different from that in its breath: that the bird changed its diet Example: white-throated sparrows Diet berries-corn (on a
stopover site; island)
They eat from bird feeders, because no corn was grown on that island; but corn is in bird food Not sure why they eat com
1. not enough food (berries)?
2. prefer corn cause it offers more nutrition?
3. or just getting by on com?
This experiment can help us determine the importance feeders for birds on their way of migration
If understand the diet, can provide better nutrients for them when they migrate
Q: Breath collector using on other animals? Yes
eg: used to study bears nursing or not nursing; to see if their diet changes; more carnivorous. This kind of info can be very important to conservation efforts