Chemistry News Archives Page 1

Self-repairing materials (4/18/2008)

Will the day come when cracks in buildings close up without external help and before they get to the stage where they cause damage to the component? ...> Full Article

Fast AFM probes measure multiple properties of biomolecules or materials simultaneously (4/17/2008)

New research demonstrates that novel probe technology based on flexible membranes can replace conventional atomic force microscopy (AFM) cantilevers for applications such as fast topographic imaging, quantitative material characterization and single molecule mechanics measurements. ...> Full Article

Main group oxide goes metallic (4/16/2008)

Researchers succeeded for the first time in producing an insulator-metal transition in an oxide of a main group element ...> Full Article

Bioreactors create a marriage of the minds (4/15/2008)

Researchers to produce algal oil feedstock as biofuels for conversion to military jet fuel ...> Full Article

Promising new material for hydrogen storage (4/14/2008)

Lithium based material may be useful in hydrogen storage ...> Full Article

Scale production of corn-based plastics (4/13/2008)

China turning to the technologies that could manufacture plastics with plant fiber and starch ...> Full Article

'Green' method decontaminates deadly nerve agents (4/13/2008)

Research by two scientists has resulted in an exciting new method for rapidly and safely destroying toxic agents such as chemical weapons and pesticides. ...> Full Article

Money Doesn't Grow on Trees, But Gasoline Might (4/12/2008)

Researchers make breakthrough in creating gasoline from plant matter, with almost no carbon footprint ...> Full Article

A New Take on Microbrewing (4/11/2008)

Researchers have crafted the world's tiniest alcohol still to concentrate scant amounts of micromolecules for easier detection ...> Full Article

Biophysicist Develops Computer Model To Study Cell Membrane Dynamics (4/10/2008)

Computer model provides a new approach to simulating and observing membrane dynamics at a relatively large scale - hundreds of nanometers. ...> Full Article

Gut reaction: Cow stomach holds key to turning corn into biofuel (4/9/2008)

An enzyme from a microbe that lives inside a cow's stomach is the key to turning corn plants into fuel ...> Full Article

Nuclear scientists eye future landfall on a second 'island of stability' (4/8/2008)

New genre of superheavy chemical elements sought for more than three decades ...> Full Article

Fueling Ethanol Production While Protecting Water Quality (4/7/2008)

Scientists evaluate the unintended consequences of ethanol production on water quality ...> Full Article

Study Finds Concerns with Biofuels (4/6/2008)

Impact of Biofuels on Biodiversity Explored ...> Full Article

Chloroform provides clue to the enigma of general anaesthesia (4/5/2008)

One of the earliest general anaesthetics to be used by the medical profession, chloroform, has shed light on a mystery that's puzzled doctors for more than 150 years - how such anaesthetics actually work ...> Full Article

Finding a needle in a haystack? No problem for the Montana Analytical Lab (4/4/2008)

Lab able to find contaminants at one part in a trillion ...> Full Article

Fire without smoke (4/3/2008)

Flameless turbo power ...> Full Article

Algae could one day be major hydrogen fuel source (4/2/2008)

As gas prices continue to soar to record highs, motorists are crying out for an alternative that won't cramp their pocketbooks. ...> Full Article

Researchers test find near-zero emissions for BMW Hydrogen 7 (3/31/2008)

Independent tests conducted by engineers on the mono-fueled version of the BMW Hydrogen 7 prototype have found that the car's hydrogen-powered engine surpasses the super-ultra low-emission vehicle (SULEV) level, the most stringent emissions performance standard to date. ...> Full Article

Scientists launch first comprehensive database of human oral microbiome (3/30/2008)

Scientists know more today than ever before about the microbes that inhabit our mouths. They know so much, in fact, that gathering all of the relevant bits of information into one place when designing experiments can be a job in itself. Now, grantees of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), part of the National Institutes of Health, and their international colleagues intend to solve this problem with the launch of the first comprehensive database of the oral microbiome, or the approximately 600 distinct microorganisms currently known to live in the mouth. ...> Full Article

Femtogram-level chemical measurements now possible (3/29/2008)

Finding a simple and convenient technique that combines nanoscale structural measurements and chemical identification has been an elusive goal. With current analytical instruments, spatial resolution is too low, signal-to-noise ratio too poor, sample preparation too complex or sample size too large to be of good service. ...> Full Article

Statistics are insufficient for study of proteins' signal system (3/28/2008)

Ten years ago great attention was attracted by the discovery that it was possible to demonstrate signal transfer in proteins using statistical methods. ...> Full Article

Scientists succeed in designing artificial enzymes that also undergo 'evolution in a test tube' (3/27/2008)

>Mankind triumphed in a recent 'competition' against nature when scientists succeeded in creating a new type of enzyme for a reaction for which no naturally occurring enzyme has evolved. This achievement opens the door to the development of a variety of potential applications in medicine and industry. ...> Full Article

Artificial Photosynthesis Moves a Step Closer (3/27/2008)

Scientists synthesise stable catalyst for water oxidation ...> Full Article

Researchers unravel the secrets of spider silk's strength (3/26/2008)

The strength of a biological material like spider silk lies in the specific geometric configuration of structural proteins, which have small clusters of weak hydrogen bonds that work cooperatively to resist force and dissipate energy ...> Full Article

Researchers Sharpen Search for New Marine Medicines with Novel Techniques (3/24/2008)

Scientists develop new 'map' within sea creatures to help pinpoint source of potent compounds promising to treat diseases ...> Full Article

Chemists Find Important Contributor to Smog (3/23/2008)

Chemists have discovered that a chemical reaction in the atmosphere above major cities long assumed to be unimportant in urban air pollution is in fact a significant contributor to urban ozone-the main component of smog. ...> Full Article

'Designer enzymes' created by chemists (3/22/2008)

Chemists have succeeded in creating "designer enzymes," a major milestone in computational chemistry and protein engineering. ...> Full Article

Findings Could Improve Fuel Cell Efficiency (3/21/2008)

Researchers have developed a membrane that allows fuel cells to operate at low humidity and theoretically at higher temperatures. ...> Full Article

Scientists Develop Sensor for Homemade Bombs (3/20/2008)

A team of chemists and physicists have developed a tiny, inexpensive sensor chip capable of detecting trace amounts of hydrogen peroxide, a chemical used in the most common form of homemade explosives. ...> Full Article