Chemistry News - August 2009 Archives
 | Novel natural product yielding potential new ways to fight diseases ...> Full Article |
A team of South Korean scientists have succeeded in engineering the bacterium E. coli to produce the industrial chemical putrescine. The research, published in the journal Biotechnology and Bioengineering, provides a renewable alternative to the production of this important chemical which is traditionally created using fossil fuels
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 | A research team from NIST and the University of Maryland has found a simple method of sandwiching organic molecules between silicon and metal, two materials fundamental to electronic components. By doing so, the team may have overcome one of the principal obstacles in creating switches made from individual molecules. ...> Full Article |
 | The century-old challenge of storing and transporting acetylene safely may have been solved in principle by a team of scientists working at NIST. ...> Full Article |
Success in cellular fusion -- as occurs at the moment of conception and when nerve cells exchange neurotransmitters -- requires that a membrane be bent before the merging process can begin, University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers have shown.
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Engineers at Ohio State University have found a way to double the production of the biofuel butanol, which might someday replace gasoline in automobiles. The process improves on the conventional method for brewing butanol in a bacterial fermentation tank.
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 | New technique expected to enhance understanding of how cancer spreads ...> Full Article |
 | New process removes sulfur components, CO2 from power plant emissions ...> Full Article |
It appears that bacteria can squeeze through practically anything. In extremely small nanoslits they take on a completely new flat shape. Even in this squashed form they continue to grow and divide at normal speeds. This has been demonstrated by research carried out at TU Delft's Kavli Institute of Nanoscience.
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 | A new organic material lets both positive and negative charges flow efficiently. It permits a simpler design of organic electronics, using a single material for transporting positive and negative charges. ...> Full Article |
 | Scientists are reporting development of a new coating for glass, plastics and a range of other materials that would enable consumers to wipe away oils with plain water. They note that the material can be added to common window cleaning sprays, and used to prevent bathroom mirrors, automobile windshields and other surfaces from fogging up. The study is scheduled for presentation at the 238th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Washington, D.C. ...> Full Article |
An insulator can now be transformed to conduct electricity by an ordinary camera flash. A team of Northwestern University researchers has found a new way of turning graphite oxide -- a low-cost insulator made by oxidizing graphite powder -- into graphene, a hotly studied material that conducts electricity. Scientists believe graphene could be used to produce low-cost carbon-based transparent and flexible electronics.
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 | An international team of researchers from the Netherlands, Russia and Austria discovered that monolayer coverage and channel length set the mobility in self-assembled monolayer field-effect transistors. This opens the door to extremely sensitive chemical sensors that can be produced in a cost-effective way. The research was done at Philips Research Eindhoven and Eindhoven University of Technology. The findings were published as an advanced online publication in Nature Nanotechnology. ...> Full Article |
Research at the University of Liverpool has found how mirror-image molecules gain control over each other and dictate the physical state of superstructures.
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 | Researchers in the United States and Spain have discovered that a tool widely used in nanoscale imaging works differently in watery environments, a step toward better using the instrument to study biological molecules and structures. ...> Full Article |
New York University chemists have discovered how to make molecules with a twist -- the molecules fold in to twisted helical shapes that can accelerate selected chemical reactions. The research, reported in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could yield valuable methods for making pharmaceuticals and other chemicals that require precise assembly of complex structures.
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A new method for nanoscale imaging of vesicle-fusion -- vesicles are biological nanosized containers -- could add to our understanding of diseases of the nervous system and viral infections. This could be useful in developing a cure for neurological diseases and mental disorders. Researchers from the University of Copenhagen are behind the new data, which have recently been published in the prestigious scientific journal PNAS.
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A computer program points the way to new candidate agents.
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Yale University researchers have discovered how a protein within most cell membranes helps maintain normal cell size, a breakthrough in basic biology that has implications for a variety of diseases such as sickle cell anemia and disorders of the nervous system.
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New technique eliminates grain boundary defects, researchers report in Science
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Comparison finds approaches of protein study are complementary
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 | University of Washington researchers have found a way to measure exactly how much electrical current is carried by tiny bubbles and channels that form inside nanoscale solar cells, paving the way for development of more efficient materials. ...> Full Article |
Diesel and gasoline fuel sources both bring unique assets and liabilities to powering internal combustion engines. But what if an engine could be programmed to harvest the best properties of both fuel sources at once, on the fly, by blending the fuels within the combustion chamber?
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 | View of rhodium-based catalyst for hydrogen-fuel system offers ideas for improvement ...> Full Article |
 | Our cells are controlled by billions of molecular "switches" and chemists at UC Santa Barbara have developed a theory that explains how these molecules work. Their findings may significantly help efforts to build biologically based sensors for the detection of chemicals ranging from drugs to explosives to disease markers. ...> Full Article |
New process could greatly reduce energy used in the production of biofuels
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 | Technique may accelerate drug discovery for cancer, other diseases ...> Full Article |
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Fish can recognize a face based on UV pattern alone
Ancient DNA from rare fossil reveals that polar bears evolved recently and adapted quickly
'Anaconda' meets 'Jurassic Park': Study shows ancient snakes ate dinosaur babies
Scientists locate apparent hydrothermal vents off Antarctica
Mars Express heading for closest flyby of Phobos
Artificial bee silk a big step closer to reality
Predicting the fate of stem cells
Artificial foot recycles energy for easier walking
New fiber nanogenerators could lead to electric clothing
What drives our genes? Researchers map the first complete human epigenome
Juggling enhances connections in the brain
Tracking down the human 'odorprint'
Scientists discover quantum fingerprints of chaos
Researchers help identify cows that gain more while eating less
Chemicals that eased one environmental problem may worsen another
Helping hydrogen: Student inventor tackles challenge of hydrogen storage
More, better biodiesel
Orange peels, newspapers may lead to cheaper, cleaner ethanol fuel
Researchers envision high-tech applications for 'multiferroic' crystals
Chemists create synthetic 'gene-like' crystals for carbon dioxide capture
Setting out to discover new, long-lived elements