It's always great to find out how has science backgrounds here on Steemit! I'm not surprised that you haven't heard of AFM since you have a chemistry and biology background. Most chemists aren't concerned with surface properties of materials unless they are working with catalysis, but there are many biological applications for AFM. The other graduate student I'm working with uses AFM to map bacteria formation on surfaces. So that's pretty neat.

It's great that you stopped by to take a look at this behemoth of a post. I don't feel like a genius most days, though, even though I appreciate the compliment. The more I learn about processes like this, the more I realize I don't know. But that's part of the process.

STEM subjects are great. My wife teaches elementary, so she enjoys letting her students do STEM projects, especially in engineering subjects. I hope you enjoy reading the post, and please don't hesitate to ask questions if you have them!