Edit: Looks like I might be off on this.
If you're in Chicago, the river will be green this weekend. For that, you can thank fluorescein:
Fluorescein is strongly fluorescent - if it absorbs a photon, 97 times out of 100, it will be re-emitted as light (see yesterday's entry on fluorene for more information).
Fluorescein is a phenomenally useful fluorophore; it finds use in biology to fluorescently tag molecules, as well in medical imaging.
Happy St. Patrick's day!
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Edit: Looks like I might be off on this.
The difference between biology and chemistry: biologists ask how natural systems and molecules work, while chemistry wants to know how to artificially re-synthesize natural biomolecules.
Thanks! I really like this site.