Chemistry News - December 2008 Archives
In 3.5 billion years, life on earth went from single microscopic cells to giant sequoias and blue whales. Scientists have now documented quantitatively that the increase in maximum size of organisms was not gradual, but happened in two distinct bursts.
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Shakespeare wrote "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." But would it if the molecules that generate its fragrance were to change their shape? That's what Dr. Kevin Ryan, Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the City College of New York and collaborators set out to investigate.
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 | Plants, genetically modified to ease the breaking down of their woody material, could be the key to a cheaper and greener way of making ethanol, according to researchers who add that the approach could also help turn agricultural waste into food for livestock. ...> Full Article |
New understanding could lead to significant new materials
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It might be possible to grow human blood platelets in the laboratory for transfusion, according to a new study at the Ohio State University Medical Center. The findings might help end the tight supply of these critical blood components. Platelets are needed by certain cancer patients, bone marrow transplant patients, those needing massive blood transfusions and people with aplastic anemia. But concentrates from donors are expensive and up to 40 percent must be discarded.
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 | The new alloys are lighter and less expensive, but are still tough and ductile enough for use in aerospace applications ...> Full Article |
For the first time researchers at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have successfully pushed nature beyond its limits by genetically modifying Escherichia coli, a bacterium often associated with food poisoning, to produce unusually long-chain alcohols essential in the creation of biofuels.
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 | Purdue University researchers found a mechanism that naturally shuts down cellulose production in plants, and learning how to keep that switch turned on may be key to enhancing biomass production for plant-based biofuels. ...> Full Article |
 | Farmers, home gardeners, golf course managers and others now have access to a new microbial fertilizer that dramatically increases plant size and yield, thanks to a licensing agreement between Michigan State University and Bio Soil Enhancers Inc. C.A. Reddy, MSU professor of microbiology and molecular genetics, and Lalithakumari Janarthanam, visiting research associate in the same department, isolated beneficial bacteria, fungi and other soil microbes. The scientists then combined selected groups of organisms and identified a formulation that significantly increased plant growth and productivity. ...> Full Article |
Scientists have shown that tiny crystals found inside bacteria provide a magnetic compass to help them navigate through sediment to find the best food, in research out today
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Optics Express research describes how tiny organism can make biofuel
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Like firemen fighting fire with fire, researchers at the University of Illinois and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst have found a way to fool a bacteria's evolutionary machinery into programming its own death.
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 | Theoretical chemist provides focus to years of unexplained behavior of molecules moving in plastics ...> Full Article |
 | A revolutionary container-less chemical reactor, pioneered by the space research team at Guigné International Ltd. in Canada with scientists at the University of Bath, has been installed on the International Space Station. The reactor, named Space-DRUMS, uses beams of sound to position chemicals in mid-air so they don't come into contact with the walls of the container. ...> Full Article |
For 50 years, theoretical chemists have puzzled over the problem of predicting many-electron chemistry with only two electrons, which many thought intractable and perhaps impossible to solve. David Mazziotti will present a new approach to tuning his solution to the problem for exceptional computational accuracy and efficiency in the Dec. 12 issue of Physical Review Letters.
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Imagine tiny cracks in your patio table healing by themselves, or the first small scratch on your new car disappearing by itself. This and more may be possible with self-healing coatings being developed at the University of Illinois.
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 | Basic research with roundworms provides a new view of protein interactions and up and down regulation ...> Full Article |
In a UW-Madison study appearing Nov. 28 in Science Express, researchers report that subjecting a common plastic to physical stress - which causes the plastic to flow - also dramatically increases the motion of the material's constituent molecules, with molecular rearrangements occurring up to 1,000 times faster than without the stress.
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Mark Gordon of Iowa State University and the US Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory is part of a US Air Force research collaboration looking for new and better rocket fuels. The researchers have turned their attention to ionic liquids -- salts that can melt down to liquids at room temperature -- as a potential fuel.
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Developed by Singapore A*STAR and licensed to Haruna
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 | Understanding how internal cell skeleton changes may one day explain certain diseases ...> Full Article |
Currently solar cells are difficult to handle, expensive to purchase and complicated to install. The hope is that consumers will one day be able to buy solar cells from their local hardware store and simply hang them like posters on a wall. A recent study from researchers at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science has shown that the dream is one step closer to reality.
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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
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
Cars of the future could be powered by their bodywork thanks to new battery technology