http://www.chemspy.com Resources for chemistry and chemical engineering from David Bradley Sun, 19 May 2013 15:45:21 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 http://www.chemspy.com/beautiful-flowers-self-assemble-in-a-beaker.html http://www.chemspy.com/beautiful-flowers-self-assemble-in-a-beaker.html#comments Sat, 18 May 2013 00:00:33 +0000 Robert Slinn http://www.chemspy.com/beautiful-flowers-self-assemble-in-a-beaker.html read more »]]>

Beautiful 'flowers' self-assemble in a beaker - With the hand of nature trained on a beaker of chemical fluid, the most delicate flower structures have been formed in a laboratory -- and not at the scale of inches, but microns. These minuscule sculptures, curved and delicate, don't resemble the cubic or jagged forms normally associated with crystals, though that's what they are. Rather, fields of carnations and marigolds seem to bloom from the surface of a submerged glass slide, assembling themselves a molecule at a time.[1]

References

1. W.L. Noorduin, A. Grinthal, L. Mahadevan, and J. Aizenberg, "Rationally Designed Complex, Hierarchical Microarchitectures", Science, vol. 340, pp. 832-837, 2013. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1234621

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Scientists uncover fundamental property of astatine -- rarest naturally occurring element on Earth - Scientists have carried out ground-breaking experiments to investigate the atomic structure of astatine (atomic number 85), the rarest naturally occurring element on Earth. Through experiments conducted at the radioactive isotope facility ISOLDE at CERN, scientists have accessed, for the first time, the ionization potential of the astatine atom. The successful measurement fills a long-standing gap in Mendeleev's periodic table, since astatine was the last element present in nature for which this fundamental property was unknown.[1]

References

1. S. Rothe, A.N. Andreyev, S. Antalic, A. Borschevsky, L. Capponi, T.E. Cocolios, H. De Witte, E. Eliav, D.V. Fedorov, V.N. Fedosseev, D.A. Fink, S. Fritzsche, L. Ghys, M. Huyse, N. Imai, U. Kaldor, Y. Kudryavtsev, U. Köster, J.F.W. Lane, J. Lassen, V. Liberati, K.M. Lynch, B.A. Marsh, K. Nishio, D. Pauwels, V. Pershina, L. Popescu, T.J. Procter, D. Radulov, S. Raeder, M.M. Rajabali, E. Rapisarda, R.E. Rossel, K. Sandhu, M.D. Seliverstov, A.M. Sjödin, P. Van den Bergh, P. Van Duppen, M. Venhart, Y. Wakabayashi, and K.D.A. Wendt, "Measurement of the first ionization potential of astatine by laser ionization spectroscopy", Nature Communications, vol. 4, pp. 1835, 2013. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms2819

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Making gold green: New non-toxic method for mining gold - Scientists have struck gold in the laboratory. They have discovered an inexpensive and environmentally benign method that uses simple cornstarch -- instead of cyanide -- to isolate gold from raw materials in a selective manner. This green method extracts gold from crude sources and leaves behind other metals that are often found mixed together with the crude gold.[1]

References

1. Z. Liu, M. Frasconi, J. Lei, Z.J. Brown, Z. Zhu, D. Cao, J. Iehl, G. Liu, A.C. Fahrenbach, Y.Y. Botros, O.K. Farha, J.T. Hupp, C.A. Mirkin, and J. Fraser Stoddart, "Selective isolation of gold facilitated by second-sphere coordination with α-cyclodextrin", Nature Communications, vol. 4, pp. 1855, 2013. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms2891

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Molecular basis of strawberry aroma - You know that summer is here when juicy red strawberries start to appear on the shelves. In Germany, this seasonal fruit has never been more popular: on average 3.5 kilos per head were consumed in 2012 -- a full kilogram more than ten years ago. Scientists decided to find out what gives strawberries their characteristic flavour.[1]

References

1. A. Schiefner, Q. Sinz, I. Neumaier, W. Schwab, and A. Skerra, "Structural basis for the enzymatic formation of the key strawberry flavor compound 4-hydroxy-2,5-dimethyl-3(2H)-furanone", Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2013. http://dx.doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M113.453852

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Step towards a spider venom vaccine | Chemistry World - Brazilian researchers have engineered a protein that should make producing antivenoms to treat spider bites both cheaper and simpler. The protein may also pave the way for a vaccine, as it can prime the immune system to cancel out the worst effects of the spider venom.[1]

References

1. T. Mendes, D. Oliveira, L. Figueiredo, R. Machado-de-Avila, C. Duarte, C. Dias-Lopes, G. Guimarães, L. Felicori, J. Minozzo, and C. Chávez-Olortegui, "Generation and characterization of a recombinant chimeric protein (rCpLi) consisting of B-cell epitopes of a dermonecrotic protein from Loxosceles intermedia spider venom", Vaccine, 2013. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2013.03.048

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Early malaria diagnosis | Chemistry World - Scientists in Japan have developed a technique that could diagnose malaria just one day after infection.[1]

References

1. A.J. Hobro, A. Konishi, C. Coban, and N.I. Smith, "Raman spectroscopic analysis of malaria disease progression via blood and plasma samples", The Analyst, 2013. http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c3an00255a

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Chemistry breakthrough sheds new light on illness and health - From microscopes to MRI scanners, imaging technology is growing ever more vital in the world's hospitals, whether for the diagnosis of illness or for research into new cures. Imaging technology requires dyes or contrast agents of some sort. Current contrast agents and dyes are expensive, difficult to work with and far from ideal. Now, Danish chemists have discovered a new dye and proved its worth against any of the dyes currently available.

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Graphene joins the race to redefine the ampere - A new joint innovation by the National Physical Laboratory and the University of Cambridge could pave the way for redefining the ampere in terms of fundamental constants of physics. The world's first graphene single-electron pump, described in a paper today in Nature Nanotechnology, provides the speed of electron flow needed to create a new standard for electrical current based on electron charge.[1]

References

1. M.R. Connolly, K.L. Chiu, S.P. Giblin, M. Kataoka, J.D. Fletcher, C. Chua, J.P. Griffiths, G.A.C. Jones, V.I. Fal'ko, C.G. Smith, and T.J.B.M. Janssen, "Gigahertz quantized charge pumping in graphene quantum dots", Nature Nanotechnology, 2013. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2013.73

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Scientists demonstrate pear shaped atomic nuclei - Scientists have shown that some atomic nuclei can assume the shape of a pear which contributes to our understanding of nuclear structure and the underlying fundamental interactions.[1]

References

1. L.P. Gaffney, P.A. Butler, M. Scheck, A.B. Hayes, F. Wenander, M. Albers, B. Bastin, C. Bauer, A. Blazhev, S. Bönig, N. Bree, J. Cederkäll, T. Chupp, D. Cline, T.E. Cocolios, T. Davinson, H. De Witte, J. Diriken, T. Grahn, A. Herzan, M. Huyse, D.G. Jenkins, D.T. Joss, N. Kesteloot, J. Konki, M. Kowalczyk, T. Kröll, E. Kwan, R. Lutter, K. Moschner, P. Napiorkowski, J. Pakarinen, M. Pfeiffer, D. Radeck, P. Reiter, K. Reynders, S.V. Rigby, L.M. Robledo, M. Rudigier, S. Sambi, M. Seidlitz, B. Siebeck, T. Stora, P. Thoele, P. Van Duppen, M.J. Vermeulen, M. von Schmid, D. Voulot, N. Warr, K. Wimmer, K. Wrzosek-Lipska, C.Y. Wu, and M. Zielinska, "Studies of pear-shaped nuclei using accelerated radioactive beams", Nature, vol. 497, pp. 199-204, 2013. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature12073

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New mechanism converts natural gas to energy faster, captures carbon dioxide - Chemical engineering researchers have identified a new mechanism to convert natural gas into energy up to 70 times faster, while effectively capturing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.[1]

References

1. N.L. Galinsky, Y. Huang, A. Shafiefarhood, and F. Li, " Iron Oxide with Facilitated O 2– Transport for Facile Fuel Oxidation and CO 2 Capture in a Chemical Looping Scheme ", ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, vol. 1, pp. 364-373, 2013. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/sc300177j

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