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| Chemistry articles |
Chemistry of airborne particulate--lung interactions revealed
Exactly how airborne particulates harm our lungs still puzzles epidemiologists, physicians, environmental scientists, and policy makers. Now California Institute of Technology researchers have found that they act by impairing the lungs' natural defenses against ozone.
Argonne scientists use lasers to align molecules
Protein crystallographers have only scratched the surface of the human proteins important for drug interactions because of difficulties crystallizing the molecules for synchrotron X-ray diffraction. Now scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have devised a way to eliminate the need for crystallization by using lasers to align large groups of molecules.
Possible mechanism for enormous electromechanical response
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory and collaborators at Stony Brook University, Johns Hopkins University, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology have discovered that nanosized regions with local polarizations, or "electric dipoles," in a special class of otherwise disordered materials may underlie these materials' extreme electromechanical response to an external electric field or physical deformation.
New titanium manufacturing process saves energy, helps protect troops
Whether for stopping cars or bullets, titanium is the material of choice, but it has always been too expensive for all but the most specialized applications.
The photonic beetle
Researchers have been unable to build an ideal "photonic crystal" to manipulate visible light, impeding the dream of ultrafast optical computers. But now, University of Utah chemists have discovered that nature already has designed photonic crystals with the ideal, diamond-like structure: They are found in the shimmering, iridescent green scales of a beetle from Brazil.
New clues to how proteins dissolve and crystallize
In the late 19th century the Czech scientist Franz Hofmeister observed that some salts (ionic compounds) aided the solution of proteins in egg white, some caused the proteins to destabilize and precipitate, and others ranged in activity between these poles.
Scientists discover how the structure of plutonium nanocluster contaminants increases risk of spreading
For almost half a century, scientists have struggled with plutonium contamination spreading further in groundwater than expected, increasing the risk of sickness in humans and animals.
Some light shed on blood sugar production
A University of Alberta diabetes researcher has collaborated on a body of diabetes research that has unravelled the signalling pathway mystery that controls the production of blood sugar.
Students explore environmentally friendly way to extract oil from algae
Most of us don't intentionally cultivate algae - that green slime that grows in stagnant ponds, and, if we're unlucky, our swimming pools.
Looking at methane sources in the right light
Plants store one greenhouse gas, but emit another. Whereas they bind carbon dioxide, they release methane - albeit in small quantities. This has now been confirmed by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, the University of Utrecht and the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute in Belfast.
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Important plant enzymes identified
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have identified enzymes important in the modification of isoflavonoids, natural plant products that help plants resist fungal infections, and may have beneficial health effects for humans as well.
Halting methane squanderlust
The pipes that rise from oil fields, topped with burning flames of natural gas, waste fossil fuels and dump carbon dioxide into the air. In new work, researchers have identified the structure of a catalytic material that can turn methane into a safe and easy-to-transport liquid. The insight lays the foundation for converting excess methane into a variety of useful fuels and chemicals.
Bright sparks make gains towards plastic lasers of the future
Imperial researchers have come one step closer to finding the 'holy grail' in the field of plastic semiconductors by demonstrating a class of material that could make electrically-driven plastic laser diodes a reality.
Smart materials get smarter with ability to better control shape and size
A dynamic way to alter the shape and size of microscopic three-dimensional structures built out of proteins has been developed by biological chemist Jason Shear and his former graduate student Bryan Kaehr at The University of Texas at Austin.
'Green' plastic
Take a look around and you might be surprised by how many things are made of plastic. Paints, adhesives, prostheses, brushes and furniture name just a few. Since plastic was created about 150 years ago, it has become one of the most commonly manufactured materials in society. About 200 billion pounds of plastics are produced annually worldwide.
Controlling the size of nanoclusters: first step in making new catalysts
Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory and Stony Brook University have developed a new instrument that allows them to control the size of nanoclusters - groups of 10 to 100 atoms - with atomic precision. They created a model nanocatalyst of molybdenum sulfide, the first step in developing the next generation of materials to be used in hydrodesulfurization, a process that removes sulfur from natural gas and petroleum products to reduce pollution.
Water refineries?
Using a surprisingly simple, inexpensive technique, chemists have found a way to pull pure oxygen from water using relatively small amounts of electricity, common chemicals and a room-temperature glass of water.
Scientists determine strength of liquid smoke with 3d images
Researchers have created a 3D image of a material referred to as "liquid smoke." Aerogel, also known as liquid smoke or "San Francisco fog," is an open-cell polymer with pores smaller than 50 nanometers in diameter.
Promising lithium batteries for electric cars
Why does lithium iron phosphate, a candidate for use in future lithium batteries, conduct electricity despite being an insulating material? Chemists at CNRS, working in collaboration with a team from CEA-Liten, have shed light on this paradox. Their experimentally verified "domino-cascade model" shows that local stresses within the material allow electrical and ionic conduction to spread from one area to the next, making the battery function.
Nano sculptures in gold
If someone is charged up, the colour of their face might change, but they don't immediately pull off one of their arms, only to reattach it as a third leg. With some molecules, however, the situation is quite different - for example, in a gold cluster with seven atoms.
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| Quotes | Ive always wanted to be a scientist. That way, I could get a bunch of grants and do research into whether money can really buy happiness.
Kyannke.
Ive always wanted to be somebody, but I see now I should have been more specific.
Lily Tomlin |
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