Canadian Light Source

I spent this past week in the blooming metropolis of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (say that 10 times fast, go ahead) working at the Canadian Light Source with a couple colleagues of mine. It's one of 42 synchrotron facilities in the world, and a great resource if you manage to get your proposal for time on a beam line accepted. For those not familiar with synchrotrons, they are basically huge rings that have particles injected into them and these particles are then accelerated to near the speed of light using nifty magnets. Because the particles are going so fast, and by a law of physics, they off-shoot very bright light (x-rays). This bright light is very useful for chemical analysis - like what we were doing.

We analyzed some soil samples from part of the Christina River Basin Critical Zone Observatory project that we are currently working on. We took the samples, mounted them onto silica wafers, and then shot them with the radiation. There are some special sensors there which give you information on the chemistry of the soil on a molecular scale that tells you what kind of elements are in the soil. We were looking at carbon and iron, specifically. The analyses that we performed were C(1) NEXAFS and STXM, and they both gave some cool, interesting results. It was cool to use STXM for the first time, because it allows you to image a single particle of soil (that's pretty tiny). I know this sounds exceptionally thrilling, and that's because IT IS!

Being out of town meant 3 things: 1) I would miss the Yellow Skirt, 2) I would eat out for every meal, and 3) I would critique the town I was in. So here are the results from #3: Saskatoon is quite pretty, with the Saskatoon River flowing through the middle of town. There is a great trail system (Meewasin) that gets a lot of use, that runs along the river. I used the trail as a refuge from the lab and a place to keep up on my marathon training. On my 7 mile run, a senior citizen blew past me - she had to be 55+ and weighed in at all of 90 lbs, but she left me to eat her dust. I was significantly humbled in my running ability. 

Finally, my impressions of Canada are as follow:

1. The scientists and staff at CLS were great to work with, and the facilities were exceptional.
2. Tim Horton's is a big deal there - I don't get it. They don't accept Visa and their bagels were awful.
3. Pandora, the internet radio station, is blocked in Canada - 2 thumbs down.
4. They use debit machines everywhere - including bringing them to your table at restaurants. It weirded me out, but I can see the merit. 
5. Instead of merging left, like you do here in the good ol' USA, you squeeze left. Crazy Canucks.

And I haven't ridden my bike in almost 2 weeks, I hope I remember how.