How 'The Big Bang Theory' Inspired The Discovery Of A Real Chemical Compound

(Photo: CBS)

Of course we all knew that The Big Bang Theory's Sheldon Cooper was a bonafide genius. But who would have thought the fictional character would actually inspire a real-life scientific discovery?

That's precisely what's happened today after the fictional theoretical physicist's catchphrase 'bazinga' inspired the creation of a novel compound, Chemistry World reports. 

As part of their effort to study and characterise new materials, Iowa State University had set out to combine three-part compounds that contained barium and zinc, or Ba and Zn in chemical symbols. 

But it was only when Na Hyun Jo, a graduate student at the university, turned on the TV that she had the inspiration to add in gallium, ie. Ga, into the mix. She explains: 

"I was at home and turned on the TV, and there was a show about The Big Bang Theory and a character said 'bazinga!'. They showed the elements barium, zinc and gallium. So I thought: 'Wow, I think no one has ever tried to grow this material,' and 'maybe this could be a new discovery of a high temperature superconductor or some kind of a quasicrystal.'"

The young scientist then shared the idea with her superior, researcher and professor Paul Canfield. To his knowledge there was no existing three-part compound with barium, zinc and gallium, so the team set out to experiment. 

Unfortunately, their work didn't yield any great results with BaZnGa not revealing any remarkable properties. Nonetheless, the team remains positive, saying:

"I think research is always the entertaining part, so the one important thing is that we found a new crystal structure of barium, zinc and gallium."

Nice try anyway, guys.