I have a Ph. D. in physical chemistry from M.I.T. I spent a number of years doing basic research for a small business in the Boston area. Much of the time I studied the transfer of energy between atoms or small molecules. Such studies are important to understanding phenomena in the upper atmosphere, e.g. aurorae, and also chemical lasers and other kinds of light sources. I also worked for quite some time developing methods for measuring the levels of toxic chemicals in air and soil. You can find most of my publications on the internet.
The picture you see at the top of these pages is of a glowing gas inside a tube through which the gas is flowing. The molecules in the flowing gas transfer their energy to other molecules, which then fluoresce, i.e. glow. When all the energy is transferred, the glow peters out, as you can see in the trailing off of the light intensity as the gas flows to the left in the figure. The particular glow illustrated is called the nitrogen pink afterglow.
A few years back, I got interested in programming and web development. I took courses at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell and earned a degree in Information Technology. Along the way, I started making web pages for people, and began collaborating on some web-application projects with a friend.