Research News

• 3D Microgels “On-demand” Offer New Potential for Cell Research, the Future of Personalized Medicine.

  

  Microgels on demand (Image courtesy of Irwin A. Eydelnant)

• Off-the-shelf materials lead to self-healing polymers.

  

  Credit: Photo by Anne Lukeman
  

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  A close-up of an elastic polymer that was cut in two and healed overnight.

• New catalyst could cut cost of making hydrogen fuel.
• How to Frustrate a Quantum Magnet: 16 Atomic Ions Simulate a Quantum Antiferromagnet.

  

  Artistic rendering of field lines due to a 16 ion antiferromagnet. (Credit: Credit E. Edwards/JQI)

• Vitamin D: More May Not Be Better.

  

  Credit: wikipedia

• Silicone Liquid Crystal Stiffens With Repeated Compression: Discovery May Point Toward Self-Healing Materials.

  

  A liquid crystal sample like this one, seen under a microscope, gets tougher when repeatedly compressed, according to research at Rice University. (Credit: Verduzco Laboratory/Rice University)

• Schematic illustration in the main processing steps involved in the formation of transparent coatings containing oxide nanoparticles. (Credit: Copyright L. Bergström).

  

  Schematic illustration in the main processing steps involved in the formation of transparent coatings containing oxide nanoparticles. (Credit: Copyright L. Bergström)

• Scientists Image Nanoparticles in Action.

  

  For the first time, scientists are able to image nanoparticles in action in a liquid environment. (Credit: Image courtesy of Virginia Tech)

• Nanowires Grown On Graphene Have Surprising Structure. 

  

  Schematic representation of phase segregated InGaAs/InAs nanowires grown on graphene and single phase InGaAs nanowires grown on a different substrate. (Credit: Parsian Mohseni)

• Scientists Transform Cellulose Into Starch: Potential Food Source Derived from Non-Food Plants.

  

  Y.H. Percival Zhang, an associate professor of biological systems engineering in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, led a team researchers that has succeeded in transforming cellulose into starch, a process that has the potential to provide a previously untapped nutrient source from plants not traditionally though of as food crops. (Credit: Virginia Tech)

• Better Batteries from Waste Sulfur.

  

  A University of Arizona-led research team has discovered a simple process for making a new lightweight plastic from the inexpensive and abundant element sulfur. The petri dish on the left contains the plastic. The yellow powder on the right is sulfur. The team has already made a lithium-sulfur battery -- the type of next- generation battery that is lighter and cheaper than those currently used in electric and hybrid cars. (Credit: Jared Griebel/ Pyun lab, University of Arizona department of chemistry and biochemistry.)

• New Device Could Cut Costs On Household Products, Pharmaceuticals.

  

  A diagram showing how the microfluidics device works. Water mixed with salt and soap is injected into a spout (left back). The fluid travels through a series of posts (see enlarged segment) that cause the fluid to thicken. (Credit: Image courtesy of University of Washington)

• Faster Than Silicon: Redesigned Material Could Lead to Lighter, Faster Electronics.

  

  The element germanium in its natural state. Researchers at The Ohio State University have developed a technique for making one-atom-thick sheets of germanium for eventual use in electronics. Photo by Joshua Goldberger, courtesy of The Ohio State University.

• Tin Nanocrystals for the Battery of the Future.

  

  Monodisperse tin nanodroplets in an electron microscopic image. (Credit: Maksym Kovalenko / ETH Zürich)

• 3-D Printer Can Build Synthetic Tissues.

  

  A custom-built programmable 3D printer can create materials with several of the properties of living tissues, Oxford University scientists have demonstrated: Droplet network c.500 microns across with electrically conductive pathway between electrodes mimicking nerve. (Credit: Oxford University/G Villar)

• Crucial Step in Human DNA Replication Observed for the First Time.

  

  Stephen J. Benkovic, Mark Hedglin, and other members of Professor Benkovic's research team have studied the importance of "clamp loader" enzymes and their activities during DNA replication. In this image, the clamp loader is represented, for illustrative purposes, by a hand, which is loading the sliding clamp ring onto DNA. (Credit: Benkovic lab, Penn State University)

• Picking Apart Photosynthesis: New Insights Could Lead to Better Catalysts for Water Splitting.

  

  This illustration depicts a metal cluster prepared in the Agapie group on a background of photosystem II, the protein complex that performs photosynthesis in leaves. (Credit: Emily Tsui)

• Clean Electricity from Bacteria? Researchers Make Breakthrough in Race to Create 'Bio-Batteries'.

  

  Shewanella oneidensis bacteria. (Credit: Alice Dohnalkova)

• Experiments Find Strongest Shapes With 3-D Printing.



Graduate student Marc Miskin manufactured granular materials of various shapes in a 3D printer to test their aggregate properties when jammed into a confined space. (Credit: Photo by Rob Kozloff)

• Breakthrough Research Shows Chemical Reaction in Real Time.





New experiments at the Linac Coherent Light Source, an X-ray free-electron laser, took an unprecedented look at the way carbon monoxide molecules react with the surface of a catalyst in real time. (Credit: Greg Stewart / SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)

• Device May Lead to Quicker, More Efficient Diagnostics.





Optical-sensing technology developed by Penn State researchers may allow more substances to be analyzed at one time. (Credit: Drew P. Pulsifer and Stephen E. Swiontek)

• Temp-Controlled 'Nanopores' May Allow Detailed Blood Analysis.





By tethering gold nanoparticles (large spheres in top image) to the nanopore (violet), the temperature around the nanopore can be changed quickly and precisely with laser light, allowing scientists to distinguish between similar molecules in the pore that behave differently under varied temperature conditions. (Credit: Robertson/NIST)

• Biobatteries Catch Breath.





New air-breathing cathode for miniaturised biofuel cells, developed by a team of researchers from the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw. The cathode consumes oxygen from air. Pictured above: Adrianna Złoczewska, a PhD student at the IPC PAS. (Credit: IPC PAS, Grzegorz Krzyżewski)

• Green Tea Extract Interferes With the Formation of Amyloid Plaques in Alzheimer's Disease.





Researchers at the University of Michigan have found a new potential benefit of a molecule in green tea: preventing the misfolding of specific proteins in the brain. (Credit: Image courtesy of University of Michigan)

• Icy Cosmic Start for Amino Acids and DNA Ingredients.





The Green Bank Telescope and some of the molecules it has discovered. (Credit: Bill Saxton, NRAO/AUI/NSF)

• Getting Around the Uncertainty Principle: Physicists Make First Direct Measurements of Polarization States of Light.





Weak measurement: as light goes through a birefringent crystal the horizontally and vertically polarized components of light spread out in space, but an overlap between the two components remains when they emerge. In a “strong” measurement the two components would be fully separated. (Credit: Jonathan Leach)

• Metal Ions Regulate Terpenoid Metabolism in Insects





Larvae of horseradish leaf beetle Phaedon cochleariae. (Credit: MPI for Chemical Ecology/Frick)

• Turbulence in a Crystal





An ultraviolet light pulse hits the titanium dioxide crystal. The laser pulse induces a redistribution of weakly bound electrons, which leads to a shift of the equilibrium position of the atoms in the crystal lattice. (Credit: © Thorsten Naeser)

• The Cradle of the Nanoparticle.





Always follow the compass: Microorganisms that orient themselves to the Earth's magnetic field have about 20 magnetosomes which line themselves up to tiny needles. They contain magnetic nanoparticles of iron oxide in a protein and lipid shell characteristically formed for each species. (Credit: © MPI of Colloids and Interfaces)

• Sunlight Yields More Efficient Carbon Dioxide to Methanol Model.





A schematic illustration of the two-step synthesis of CuO-Cu2O hybrid nanorod arrays. (Credit: Image courtesy of University of Texas at Arlington)

• One In, Two Out: Simulating More Efficient Solar Cells.





Computer simulations show that when a light particle (blue wave on left) hits a crystal of a high-pressure form of silicon, it releases two electron-hole pairs (red circles/green rings), which generate electric current. (Image Credit: Stefan Wippermann/UC Davis photo)

• Toward 2-D Devices: Single-Atom-Thick Patterns Combine Conductor and Insulator.





A photolithography process was used at Rice University to develop a patterned, one-atom-thick hybrid of graphene and hexagonal boron nitride (hBN). Graphene is a conductor and hBN is an insulator, so the 2-D material has unique electrical properties. (Credit: Zheng Liu/Rice University)

• Love Triumphs Over Hate to Make Exotic New Compound: Compound Could Be Useful in Batteries, Semiconductors, Memory Devices.





Two identical, highly charged rings (in their stick representation) are interlocked and inseparable, a constitution which represents a homo[2]catenane. Credit: Jonathan Barnes et al.

• Modifications of a Nanoparticle Can Change Chemical Interactions With Cell Membranes.





In a recent article published along with cover art engineers showed how simple shape and charge modifications of a nanoparticle can cause tremendous changes in the chemical interactions between the nanoparticle and a cell membrane. (Credit: Image courtesy of Syracuse University)

• Researchers Make DNA Data Storage a Reality: Every Film and TV Program Ever Created -- In a Teacup.





Nick Goldman of EMBL-EBI, looking at synthesised DNA.
Credit: EMBL Photolab


• Just Add Water: How Scientists Are Using Silicon to Produce Hydrogen On Demand.





Transmission electron microscopy image showing spherical silicon nanoparticles about 10 nanometers in diameter. These particles, created in a UB lab, react with water to quickly produce hydrogen, according to new UB research. (Credit: Swihart Research Group, University at Buffalo.)

• Unlocking Nature’s Quantum Engineering for Efficient Solar Energy.





Quantum scale photosynthesis in biological systems which inhabit extreme environments could hold key to new designs for solar energy and nanoscale devices.

• Thin Film Solar Cells: New World Record for Solar Cell Efficiency.





High-efficiency flexible CIGS solar cells on polyimide film developed at Empa with a novel process. (Credit: Image courtesy of Empa)



• Novel Technique Reveals Dynamics of Telomere DNA Structure: Chromosome-Capping Telomeres Are a Potential Target for Anti-Cancer Drugs.





Researchers observed the unfolding of telomere G-quadruplex structures using a combination of single-molecule FRET and magnetic tweezers, as shown in this diagram. DNA structural transitions between the folded state (far left) and unfolded state (far right) were monitored in real-time as the efficiency of energy transfer between a FRET donor dye (green) and acceptor dye (red) attached to the DNA. (Credit: Artwork by Benjamin Akiyama)

• Where There's Smoke or Smog, There's Climate Change.





UW atmospheric scientists Sarah Doherty (left) and Stephen Warren (right) taking snow samples in Greenland in summer 2010. (Credit: Image courtesy of University of Washington)

• How to Treat Heat Like Light: New Approach Using Nanoparticle Alloys Allows Heat to Be Focused or Reflected Just Like Electromagnetic Waves.





Thermal lattices. (Credit: Image courtesy of the researchers)

• Graphene Oxide Soaks Up Radioactive Waste: U.S., Russian Researchers Collaborate On Solution to Toxic Groundwater Woes.





A new method for removing radioactive material from solutions is the result of collaboration between Rice University and Lomonosov Moscow State University. The vial at left holds microscopic particles of graphene oxide in a solution. At right, graphene oxide is added to simulated nuclear waste, which quickly clumps for easy removal. (Credit: Anna Yu. Romanchuk/Lomonosov Moscow State University)

• Molecular Machine Could Hold Key to More Efficient Manufacturing.





Professor Leigh’s molecular machine is based on the ribosome. It features a functionalized nanometre-sized ring that moves along a molecular track, picking up building blocks located on the path and connecting them together in a specific order to synthesize the desired new molecule. Credit: Miriam Wilson

• Testing Einstein's Famous Equation E=mc2 in Outer Space.





According to the Theory of General Relativity, objects curve the space around them. UA physicist Andrei Lebed has proposed an experiment using a space probe carrying hydrogen atoms to test his finding that the equation E=mc2 is correct in flat space, but not in curved space. (Illustration: NASA)

• Oscillating Gel Gives Synthetic Materials the Ability to 'Speak': Material Rebuilds Itself Through Chemical Communication.





Oscillating gel pieces will move back together after being sliced. (Credit: Image courtesy of University of Pittsburgh)

• The Self-Assembling Particles That Come from InSPACE.





InSPACE experiment hardware installed in the Microgravity Science Glovebox, or MSG, aboard the International Space Station. (NASA)

• Jumping Droplets Help Heat Transfer.





Jumping-droplet superhydrophobic condensation shown on a nanostructured CuO tube.
Image courtesy of the researchers


• A Temperature Below Absolute Zero: Atoms at Negative Absolute Temperature Are the Hottest Systems in the World. \





Temperature as a game of marbles: The Boltzmann distribution states how many particles have which energy, and can be illustrated with the aid of spheres distributed in a hilly landscape. At positive temperatures (left image), most spheres lie in the valley at minimum potential energy and barely move; they therefore also possess minimum kinetic energy. States with low total energy are therefore more likely than those with high total energy – the usual Boltzmann distribution. At infinite temperature (centre image) the spheres are spread evenly over low and high energies in an identical landscape. Here, all energy states are equally probable. At negative temperatures (right image), however, most spheres move on top of the hill, at the upper limit of the potential energy. Their kinetic energy is also maximum. Energy states with high total energy thus occur more frequently than those with low total energy – the Boltzmann distribution is inverted. (Credit: LMU and MPG Munich)

• How Computers Push On the Molecules They Simulate.





Dynamic computer simulations of molecular systems depend on finite time steps, but these introduce apparent extra work that pushes the molecules around. Using models of water molecules in a box, researchers have learned to separate this shadow work from the protocol work explicitly modeled in the simulations. (Credit: Image courtesy of DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

• Magnetic Forces Without Magnets: Physicist Calculates Field Strengths in the Early Universe.





A theoretical physicist describes a new mechanism for the magnetization of the universe even before the emergence of the first stars. (Credit: © Yuriy Mazur / Fotolia)

• A Possible New TB Vaccine: Total Synthesis of Ac2SGL.





Image credit: Ruth E. Gilligan.

• The 500 Phases of Matter: New System Successfully Classifies Symmetry-Protected Phases.





Artist's impression of a string-net of light and electrons. String-nets are a theoretical kind of topologically ordered matter. (Credit: Xiao-Gang Wen/ Perimeter Institute)

• Molecular Levers' May Make Materials Better.
• Liquid Crystal Research May Lead to Creation of New Materials That Can Be Actively Controlled.





This image shows polarized light interacting with a particle injected into a liquid crystal medium. (Credit: Bohdan Senyuk and Ivan Smalyukh, Colorado University)

• Scientists Create New Approach to Destroy Disease-Associated RNAs in Cells.





Matthew Disney, PhD, is associate professor at The Scripps Research Institute, Florida campus.

• Paths of Photons Are Random -- But Coordinated.





The illustration shows how the scattering of photons occurs in a complex photonic medium. Two photons are emitted from a light source in the center and move through a labyrinth to illustrate complex scattering. The photons take different paths through the medium, but they are interdependent in the sense that that the chance of observing a photon at one outlet is increased if a photon is observed at the other outlet. Credit: David García, Niels Bohr Institute

• Engineers Seek Ways to Convert Methane Into Useful Chemicals.





Matthew Neurock, a chemical engineering professor in U.Va.'s School of Engineering and Applied Science (Photo: Cole Geddy)

• Ancient Red Dye Powers New 'Green' Battery: Chemists Use Plant Extract in Eco-Friendly, Sustainable Lithium-Ion Battery.





Madder root (Rubia sp.), green battery, and purpurin. (Credit: John/Vijai)

• Mining Ancient Ores for Clues to Early Life.





Scientists probe Canadian sulfide ore to confirm microbial activity in seawater 2.7 billion years ago. (Credit: Image courtesy of McGill University)

• Greenland Ice Sheet Carries Evidence of Increased Atmospheric Acidity.





This ice core from Summit, Greenland, kept in the laboratory of Jihong Cole-Dai at South Dakota State University, provided data that Lei Geng used in his research. Credit: Jihong Cole-Dai

• Tiny Structure Gives Big Boost to Solar Power.





Credit: (Illustration by Dimitri Karetnikov)

• DNA Hydrogel Flows Like Liquid but Remembers Its Original Shape.





Under an electron microscope the material is revealed to consist of tiny "bird's nests" of tangled DNA, top, which are tied together by more DNA stands into a mass, bottom. The tangled structure creates many tiny spaces that absorb water like a sponge. Credit: Luo Lab

• A Better Way to Make Chemicals? Technique for Observing 'Mechanochemical' Synthesis Could Boost Green Chemistry.





The experimental setup at the ESRF in Grenoble (France) with the milling jar containing the white ZIF-8 shown in the front, mounted on a modified industrial mill. (Credit: T. Friščić)

• Small and Efficient: Water Nanodroplets Cool Biomolecules Ultrafast.





Upper left: Schematic of a reverse micelle consisting of phospholipid molecules. The phosphate groups of the lipid molecules (blue spheres) are arranged at the inner surface of the micelle. Water molecules are located in the inner part of the micelle. Upper right: Enlarged view of the structure of a phospholipid molecule. Oxygen atoms are shown in red, hydrogen atoms in white, carbon atoms in grey, the nitrogen atom in blue, and the phosphorus atom in orange. The angled water molecules are arranged around the phosphate (PO4) group. Lower part: Scheme of energy transfer. In the experiments, the (asymmetric) phosphate vibration is initially excited (red oxygen atoms). The energy released in the decay of the vibration is transferred to the surrounding water shell (red H2O molecules) within 1 ps. (Credit: Image courtesy of Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V. (FVB))

• Greener Storage for Green Energy.





Researchers at Harvard will receive an ARPA-E grant to develop commercially practical flow batteries to store solar and wind power. (Photo courtesy of Michael Aziz.)

• Chemists Invent Powerful Toolkit, Accelerating Creation of Potential New Drugs.





Yuta Fujiwara (left) and Fionn O’Hara, research associates in the laboratory of Scripps Research Institute Professor Phil Baran, were among the lead authors of the new Nature paper. (Credit: Image courtesy of Scripps Research Institute)

• Model Sheds Light On Chemistry That Sparked Origin of Life.





The question of how life began on a molecular level has been a longstanding problem in science. (Credit: Copyright Michele Hogan)

• Undisturbed Excitation With Pulsed Light.





Stylized representation of the excitation of a single ion in a trap by means of a "hyper" Ramsey pulse sequence. (Credit: Image: PTB)

• Polymer Chemistry: Dual-Function Molecules Enhance Widely Used Chemical Reaction While Reducing Harmful By-Products.





Acrylic acid-based polymers and co-polymers (pictured) can now be synthesized using free radical chemistry, thanks to new ligand–initiator type molecules.

© 2012 A*STAR Institute of Chemical and Engineering Sciences

• Protein Folding: Look Back On Scientific Advances Made as Result of 50-Year Old Puzzle.





One of the major puzzles in protein folding was: How are proteins able to fold so quickly? We now know that they fold quickly because they have funnel-shaped energy landscapes that progressively direct the protein towards increasingly low energies as it folds. (Credit: Bromberg/MacCallum/Dill)

• Gold Nanoparticles Quickly Detect Hazardous Chemicals.





Gold nanoparticles align in a single layer in this graphical representation (Credit: Image courtesy of Imperial College London)

• Gateway Enzyme for Chemicals from Catnip to Cancer Drug Discovered.





Dr Fernando Geu-Flores and Dr Sarah O'Connor in a controlled environment room with periwinkle plants. (Credit: John Innes Centre)

• Lava Dots: Hollow, Soft-Shelled Quantum Dots Created.





A nine-pack of lava dots created at Rice. (Credit: Photo by Sravani Gullapalli)

• Visualizing Floating Cereal Patterns to Understand Nanotechnology Processes.





Small floating objects change the dynamics of the surface they are on. This is an effect every serious student of breakfast has seen as rafts of floating cereal o's arrange and rearrange themselves into patterns on the milk. Now scientists have suggested that this process may offer insight into nanoscale engineering processes. (Credit: © gwycech / Fotolia)

• Pushing Boundaries of Electron Microscopy to Unlock the Potential of Graphene.





The atomic resolution Z-contrast images show individual silicon atoms bonded differently in graphene. (Credit: Image courtesy of DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory)

• Scientists Discover Ways to Optimize Light Sources for Vision: Tuning Lighting Devices Could Save Billions.





By tuning lighting devices to work more efficiently with the human brain the researchers believe billions of dollars in energy costs could be saved. (Credit: © araraadt / Fotolia)

• NASA Innovator of Year Hunts for Extraterrestrial Amino Acids.





Stephanie Getty and her research associate, Adrian Southard, prepare one of OASIS’s instrument components, an electrospray nozzle, for characterization testing. The component converts liquid samples to gas-phase ions and is, in essence, the interface between the liquid chromatograph and the mass spectrometer. (Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn)

• Sisyphean Task for Polar Molecules.





An artist's depiction of optoelectrical Sisyphus cooling. (Credit: Alexander Prehn, MPQ)

• Computer Memory Could Increase Fivefold from Advances in Self-Assembling Polymers.





Comparison of the block copolymers self-assembling with and without the new top coat. In both cases the self-assembly took place under very simple conditions: 210°C for 1 min on a hot plate open to air. (Credit: AAAS)

• Stable Compounds of Oxygen and 'Inert' Gas Xenon Predicted 





Electronic distribution in the newly predicted xenon oxide XeO. (Credit: Image courtesy of Stony Brook University)

• Recipe for 'Supercharging' Atoms With X-Ray Laser.





The ultra-bright X-ray laser pulses of the Linac Coherent Light Source at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory can be used to strip electrons away from atoms, creating ions with strong charges. The ability to interact with atoms is critical for making the highest resolution images of molecules and movies of chemical processes. (Credit: Greg Stewart/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)

• Understanding Antibiotic Resistance Using Crystallography and Computation.





Two structural 'snapshots' showing the carbapenem antibiotic meropenem bound to the SFC-1 enzyme. Top panel shows intact antibiotic; bottom panel shows an intermediate step in breakdown of the drug. The position of the antibiotic is indicated by the green mesh. (Credit: Dr Jim Spencer)

• Nanocrystals and Nickel Catalyst Substantially Improve Light-Based Hydrogen Production.





CdSe Nanocrystals absorb light and transfer electrons to a Ni catalyst (blue), which subsequently
generates hydrogen (white). (Photo by Ted Pawlicki/University of Rochester.)



• Strange Diet for Methane-Consuming Microorganisms.





The white filaments are sulfur bacteria (Beggiatioa) indicating the presence of sulphide. (Credit: Kai-Uwe Hinrichs)

• Laser the Size of a Virus Particle: Miniature Laser Operates at Room Temperature and Defies the Diffraction Limit of Light.





Laser light show. Lasers developed on a much smaller scale -- plasmonic nanolasers -- could be integrated into silicon-based photonic devices, all-optical circuits and nanoscale biosensors. (Credit: © Digishooter / Fotolia)



• Targeting Drugs With Hydrogels.





A smart hydrogel-based time bomb triggers drug release mediated by pH-jump reaction Copyright : Science and Technology of Advanced Materials. (Credit: Takao Aoyagi, National Institute for Materials Science)

• Temporary Storage for Electrons in a Hydrogen-Producing Enzyme.
• NASA Rover Finds Clues to Changes in Mars' Atmosphere.





Shooting Lasers: This picture shows a lab demonstration of the measurement chamber inside the Tunable Laser Spectrometer, an instrument that is part of the Sample Analysis at Mars investigation on NASA's Curiosity rover. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

• Promising Therapy Developed for Huntington's Disease.





Mitochondria are labeled red and green, and the nucleus is blue, in this neuron isolated from a Huntington's disease mouse model. (Credit: McMurray lab)

• Titan Supercomputer Debuts: Computer Churns Through More Than 20,000 Trillion Calculations Each Second.





Oak Ridge National Laboratory is home to Titan, the world’s most powerful supercomputer for open science with a theoretical peak performance exceeding 20 petaflops (quadrillion calculations per second). That kind of computational capability—almost unimaginable—is on par with each of the world’s 7 billion people being able to carry out 3 million calculations per second. (Credit: Image courtesy of Oak Ridge National Laboratory)

• Scientists Build 'Nanobowls' to Protect Catalysts Needed for Better Biofuel Production.





Computer graphic showing a fructose molecule (white, gray and red chain-like structure) within a zirconium oxide nanobowl (at center). Other nanobowls in the array are unoccupied. The red atoms are surface oxygen and the blue atoms are zirconium. (Credit: Larry Curtiss, Argonne National Laboratory and the Institute for Atom-Efficient Chemical Transformations)

• Structure Discovered For Promising Tuberculosis Drug Target.





A 3-D model of the outside surface of the enzyme that helps M. tuberculosis bacteria resist common antibiotics. Blue indicates positively charged atoms; red indicates negatively charged atoms. A peptidoglycan (green) is bound inside the enzyme’s active site. (Credit: Mario A. Bianchet)

• Wood Completely Broken Down Into Its Component Parts.





The pilot plant in Leuna is dismantling wood in its components. Macerated beech wood is pictured here. (Credit: © Fraunhofer)

• Multi-Talented Enzyme Produced On Large-Scale.





The new fermentation plant transforms the processes of producing enzymes to industrial scale. (Credit: © Fraunhofer)

• Modeling Feat Sheds Light On Protein Channel's Function.





The ribosome (red-blue) in complex with the translocon channel (green), which is embedded in the cell membrane (yellow, white). Proteins that are inserted via the ribosome into the channel can either be laterally integrated into the cell membrane or secreted across the cell membrane (inset).Credit: Bin Zhang and Thomas Miller, 2012

• Organic Chemistry: Single Molecules Put A Ring On It. 





Arynes are synthetically useful chemical intermediates that can be prepared from a variety of starting materials using the general reactions shown



• Nobel Work Boosts Drug Development. 





Molecular biologists Robert Lefkowitz (left) and Brian Kobilka share this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry (Credit: http://www.nature.com)

• Freezing Electrons in Flight: Physicists Catch Electrons Getting Knocked out of Atoms.





UA physicists led by Arvinder Sandhu (right) take advantage of the world's fastest laser pulses to take snapshots of ultrafast processes such as chemical reactions. (Photo: Beatriz Verdugo/UANews)

• Quantum Oscillator Responds to Pressure. 





Frequency spectra are plotted versus mechanical deformation in the diagram. Every atomic quantum system leaves a characteristic white line. (Credit: KIT / CFN)

• Quantum Effects Observed in Cold Chemistry. 





The experimental system: two supersonic valves followed by two skimmers. The blue beam passes through a curved magnetic quadrupole guide, and the merged beam (purple) enters a quadrupole mass spectrometer. B is a front view of the quadrupole guide. (Credit: Image courtesy of Weizmann Institute of Science)

• Drawing a Line, With Carbon Nanotubes: New Low-Cost, Durable Carbon Nanotube Sensors Can Be Etched With Mechanical Pencils. 





MIT chemists designed a new type of pencil lead consisting of carbon nanotubes, allowing them to draw carbon nanotube sensors onto sheets of paper. (Credit: Photo by Jan Schnorr)

• Using Less Gas and Oil to Get Where You’re Going. 





The honing tool adjusts its shape to match the piston bore holes. Credit: Fraunhofer IWU

• New Etching Method to Produce 3-D Microstructures in Silicon for Processing of Light Signals in Telecommunications. 





Deep below the silicon surface, the SPRIE method produces regular structures in the micrometer range that refract light. (Photo: KIT/CFN)

• More Certainty On Uncertainty's Quantum Mechanical Role.  





A general method for measuring the precision and disturbance of any system. The system is weakly measured before the measurement apparatus and then strongly measured afterwards. Credit: Lee Rozema, University of Toronto

• One Glue, Two Functions: Spider Webs Stick to the Ground and Elevated Surfaces Differently. 





The common house spider, Achaearanea tepidariorum, performs the uncommon feat of producing two different adhesive strengths with one glue. Credit: The University of Akron

• Sticky Paper Offers Cheap, Easy Solution for Paper-Based Diagnostics. 





Treated paper can be used to do medical tests. Here, a biomolecule printed in the pattern of the UW mascot binds to a toxic molecule, showing that the toxin is present. (Credit: Dan Ratner, Univ. of Washington)

• Chemical Memory of Seawater: Scientists Examine Biomolecules Dissolved in the Ocean and Read Them Like a History Book. 





Researchers working with Prof. Dr. Boris Koch, travelling on the Polarstern research ship, took water samples containing dissolved organic matter or DOM from the sea. The subsequent analysis in the mass spectrometer generates a chemical fingerprint which indicates the origin of the organic substances. Do they original from land plants or marine organisms, or did they enter the ocean via dust in the air or along springs on the sea bed? The analysis also permits conclusions to be made about the age of substances in the water – they can float in the ocean for several thousand years. (Credit: Graph: Yves Nowak, Alfred Wegener Institute)

• Catalysis: Optimizing Water Splitting. 





Splitting water molecules (top right) to produce hydrogen will become more efficient with newfound knowledge on the key electronic properties needed to turn special alloys into a long-lived photocatalyst.

• Electrons Confined Inside Nano-Pyramids. 





Near-field microscopy using the free electron laser at HZDR: An adjusting laser is employed to align the measuring tip of the microscope that comes from above. Below the movable sample stage is to be seen. (Credit: Image courtesy of Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres)

• A Clock That Will Last Forever: Proposal to Build First Space-Time Crystal. 





Imagine a clock that will keep perfect time forever or a device that opens new dimensions into quantum phenomena such as emergence and entanglement.

• Cancer Research Yields Unexpected New Way to Produce Nylon. 





Photomicrograph of nylon fibers (magnification 10x). (Credit: iStockphoto/Nancy Nehring)





• Novel Approach for Single Molecule Electronic DNA Sequencing. 





Schematic of single molecule DNA sequencing by a nanopore with phosphate-tagged nucleotides.

• Astrochemistry Enters a Bold New Era With ALMA. 





Matching the "Fingerprints" -- Plot of radio emission at numerous frequencies from the molecule ethyl cyanide (CH3CH2CN). Blue is the plot from terrestrial laboratory measurement; red is the plot from ALMA observation of a star-forming region in the constellation Orion. The ability to do this type of matching represents a major breakthrough for studying the chemistry of the Universe. Plots are superimposed on Hubble Space Telescope image of the Orion Nebula; small box indicates location of area observed with ALMA. (Credit: Fortman, et al., NRAO/AUI/NSF, NASA)

• Using a Laser to 'See' the Smallest World. 





EPR spectrometer at UCSB. (Credit: Susumu Takahashi)

• Researchers Brew Up Organics on Ice. 





Researchers are brewing up icy, organic concoctions in the lab to mimic materials at the edge of our solar system and beyond. The laboratory equipment at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., is seen at right, and a very young solar system, with its swirling planet-forming disk, is shown in the artist's concept at left. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

• Damaged Metal Surfaces Repair Themselves. 





Capsule in the wear track. (Courtesy: SINTEF)

• IBM Scientists First to Distinguish Individual Molecular Bonds. 





Bond Order Discrimination: A nanographene molecule exhibiting carbon-carbon bonds of different length and bond order imaged by noncontact atomic force microscopy using a carbon monoxide functionalized tip. This molecule was synthesized by Centro de Investigación en Química Biolóxica e Materiais Moleculares (CIQUS) at the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela. (Credit: IBM Research - Zurich)

• IU Chemist Develops New Synthesis of Most Useful, Yet Expensive, Antimalarial Drug. 





The chemical structure of artemisinin, above, which was recently synthesized in a new process developed in the lab of chemist Silas Cook and then patented by Indiana University.

• Chemists Develop Nose-Like Sensor Array to 'Smell' Cancer Diagnoses.





Gold nanoparticles (at left) with green fluorescent protein (GFP) 'smell' different cancer types in much the same way our noses identify and remember different odors. At right, the distinct protein levels in a cancer interact with the particle to generate patterns used to identify cancer type. Credit: UMass Amherst

• UGA Chemistry Discovery Could Have Major Medical Implications.
• Molecule of the Week - Bosutinib. 





Bosutinib

• Sliding Metals Show Fluidlike Behavior, New Clues to Wear.





This frame from a high-speed camera sequence reveals surprising behavior in a solid piece of metal sliding over another. The research is providing new insights into the mechanisms of wear and generation of machined surfaces that could help improve the durability of metal parts. (Credit: Purdue University School of Industrial Engineering image/N. Sundaram and Y. Guo)

• Nano-velcro Clasps Heavy Metal Molecules in Its Grips.





Researchers have developed nano-strips for inexpensive testing of mercury levels in our lakes and oceans with unprecedented sensitivity. (Credit: Northwestern University)

• Northwestern Researchers Set World Record for Highest Surface Area Material. 





Model of NU-110. (Credit: Image courtesy of Northwestern University)

• Tough Gel Stretches to 21 Times its Length, Recoils, and Heals Itself. 





The new gel is a hybrid of alginate (black) and polyacrylamide (grey) that diffuses strain across many weak bonds, resulting in a tough material overall. (Image courtesy of Jeong-Yun Sun and Widusha R. K. Illeperuma.)

• Breakthrough in NanoTechnology. 





Credit: University of Central Florida

• ChemCam Laser First Analyses Yield Beautiful Results.



This photo mosaic shows the scour mark, dubbed Goulburn, left by the thrusters on the sky crane that helped lower NASA's Curiosity rover to the Red Planet. It is located 16 to 20 feet (5 to 6 meters) to the left of the rover's landing position. The sky crane appears to have uncovered an outcrop of loosely consolidated rocks during the rover's landing. The mosaic consists of six images from the remote micro-imager (RMI) on the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument, shown around an image from the Mast Camera for context. Each RMI image has a field of view of 4 to 5 inches (10 to 12 centimeters) across and shows details as small as 0.02 to 0.03 inches (0.5 to 0.6 millimeters). ChemCam's laser was used to analyze material at the centers of panels 2, 3 and 4. PHOTO CREDIT: NASA/JPL

• Scientists Produce H2 for Fuel Cells Using an Inexpensive Catalyst under Real-World Conditions.



One of the first stages of developing the new renewable energy source under an industrially relevant environment. (Credit: Dr Erwin Reisner, an EPSRC research fellow and head of the Christian Doppler Laboratory at the Department of Chemistry)

• Photonic Interactions at the Atomic Level. 



This is an artistic representation of the film-nanoparticle plasmonic system. Spherical gold nanoparticles are coupled to a gold film substrate by means of an ultrathin layer that forbids the particles from directly touching the film. Electromagnetic ultra-hot spots are excited in the gaps. The system enables the science of light on a scale of a few tenths of a nanometer, the diameter of a typical atom. (Credit: Sebastian Nicosia and Cristian Cirac)

• MU Research Team Creates New Cancer Drug that is 10 Times More Potent. 



Lee and a team of Mizzou researchers have taken an existing drug that is being developed for use in fighting certain types of cancer, added a special structure to it, and created a more potent, efficient weapon against cancer.

• Northwestern Scientists Create Chemical Brain. 



Bartosz A. Grzybowski

• The Laser Beam as a “3D Painter”. 



3D pattern, produced by photografting (180 µm wide). Fluorescent molecules are attached to the hydrogel, resulting in a microscopic 3D pattern.(Credit: Image courtesy of Vienna University of Technology, TU Vienna)

• Nanoparticles Reboot Blood Flow in Brain. 
• New Model Gives Hands-On Help for Learning the Secrets of Molecules.  



The soft and transparent protein models will enable researchers to quickly and collaboratively see, touch, and test ideas about molecular interactions and the behavior of proteins. Credit: Masaru Kawakami/Review of Scientific Instruments

• IBN Develops Superior Fuel Cell Material.



An illustration of the new IBN nanocomposite material which is composed of gold-copper alloy atoms in the core and platinum atoms at the outer layer. Credit: Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology

• Novel Technique to Synthesize Nanocrystals that Harvest Solar Energy.



A schematic of the photocatalytic nanocrystal. Credit: Journal of Visualized Experiments

• Elusive Metal Discovered.



Scientists have discovered the conditions under which nickel oxide can turn into an electricity-conducting metal. (Credit: Image courtesy of Carnegie Institution)

• Molecular Code Cracked.



A molecular model of a PPR protein recognizing a specific RNA molecule. The identity of specific amino acid residues in the protein (colored sticks) determines the sequence of the RNA molecule it can bind. (Credit: Image courtesy of University of Western Australia)

• Researchers Find Material for Cleaner-Running Diesel Vehicles.



Dr. Kyeongjiae "K.J." Cho, professor of materials science and engineering and physics at UT Dallas, says platinum is too scarce and expensive to be a long-term answer to diesel's pollution problems.

• New Form of Carbon Observed.

• Room-temperature solid-state maser.



Pentacene guest molecules within a p-terphenyl host lattice are driven from their singlet ground states, S₀, into their first-excited single states, S₁, by absorbing photons of yellow pump light. 

• New Technique Yields Never-Before-Seen Information Critical to Biofuels Research.

Matrix-assisted laser deposition/ionization-mass spectrometry, or MALDI-MS, maps the distribution of lipids in a cottonseed in a recent paper published in The Plant Cell, a premier research publication in plant science. The Ames Laboratory's team of researchers has developed a highly sensitive mass spectrometry technique to investigate metabolites, the small molecules that are the building blocks for plant biological processes.

• Designing Tiny Molecules That Glow in Water to Shed Light on Biological Processes.





This image shows live cells incubated with the polymer nanoparticles. The green color is the fluorescence coming from the molecules trapped within the nanoparticles.




• Future Light Component Produced in Printing Press.





Deposition on the printing press. (Courtesy: Umeå universitet)

• Fruity Science Halves Fat in Chocolate.





Dr Stefan Bon has found a way to replace up to 50 per cent of chocolate. (Courtesy: University of Warwick)

• Unraveling Intricate Interactions, 1 Molecule At A Time.





This is a model structure illustrating the bonding of bipyridine to the rough gold surface through direct nitrogen-gold chemical bonding and indirect van der Waals bonding. (Credit: Columbia Engineering)

• Neutron Scattering Explains How Myoglobin Can Perform Without Water.





Myoglobin (red) exhibits biologically relevant dynamics, even when its hydration sphere is replaced by a polymer surfactant corona -(grey). (Credit: Image courtesy of Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL))

• Penn Researchers and Colleagues Create a Cheaper, Cleaner, More Efficient Catalyst for Burning Methane.





A representation of the newly developed catalyst on an aluminium oxide surface depicts the core-shell structure.

• NASA's New Way to Track Formaldehyde.





This image shows the new air-sampling system that is more efficient at drawing in air and preventing particles from sticking and potentially contaminating formaldehyde measurements. Credit: NASA

• Using Watewater as  Fertilizer.





Struvite fertilizer recovered from wastewater is a high-quality product that slowly releases nutrients into the soil. (Credit: © Fraunhofer IGB)

• UCF Nanoparticle Discovery Opens Door for Pharmaceuticals.





Ayman Abouraddy (left) and graduate students Joshua Kaufman and Soroush Shabahang at UCF’s CREOL. The optical fiber held by Abouraddy is similar to the fiber that the students were working with when the nanoparticle discovery was made.

• Molecule of The Week -  Corannulene.





Corannulene is a strained aromatic hydrocarbon. Because of the strain induced by the central cyclopentane ring, it is bowl-shaped rather than planar.

• Speed and Power of X-ray Laser Helps Unlock Molecular Mysteries.
• Reducing CO2: Research Shows Chemical and Economic Feasibility for Capturing Carbon Dioxide Directly from Air.





Stephanie Didas, a Georgia Tech Ph.D. candidate, loads an aminosilica sample into a custom-built volumetric adsorption system for measuring adsorption isotherms of different carbon dioxide capture materials. (Credit: Gary Meek)

• New Chemical Sensor Makes Finding Landmines and Buried IEDs Easier.





University of Connecticut scientists have developed a novel buried explosive detection system using a nanofiberous film and ultraviolet light. Image, top, shows a Petri dish (left) with buried trace levels...

• Nano-FTIR - A New Era in Modern Analytical Chemistry.
• Molecule of The Week - Bexarotene. 





Bexarotene is an anticancer agent developed by Ligand Pharmaceuticals and marketed under the trade name Targretin

• Deadly Carcinogen Unraveled.





The molecular structure of aflatoxin.

• Pulling CO2 From Air Vital to Curb Global Warming, Say Researchers. 
• New transistor harnessing strong electron correlations enables electrical switching of the state of matter.





A schematic and an optical micrograph of a new transistor based on VO₂ enabling electrical switching of the state of matter. Courtesy: RIKEN's institute & centers 

• World Record: Scientists from Northern Germany Produce the Lightest Material in the World.
• Terahertz Radiation Can Induce Insulator-To-Metal Change of State in Some Materials.





Image showing a scanning electron microscope image of damaged vanadium dioxide in the gap of a terahertz metamaterial made of gold. The damage results when strong field enhancement of incident terahertz radiation in the gaps leads to a rapid increase in the energy density following the field-driven insulator-to-metal transition. (Courtesy: Image by Mengkun Liu and edited by Mario D'Amato.)

• Smart Materials Get SMARTer.





A strategy for building self-regulating nanomaterials relies on an array of tiny nanofibers, akin to little hairs, embedded in a layer of hydrogel. (Courtesy: Ximin He and Lauren Zarzar, Harvard University.)

• First Direct Evidence that Elemental Fluorine Occurs in Nature.





Antozonite or „Stinkspat", Photo: Dr. Rupert Hochleitner, Mineralogische Staatssammlung München

• UCSB Researchers Achieve World's First Violet Nonpolar Vertical-Cavity Laser Technology. 





Shuji Nakamura and his research group at UCSB demonstrate the first nonpolar m-plane VCSEL based on gallium nitride. (Courtesy: University of California - Santa Barbara)

• Penn Chemists Make First Molecular Binding Measurement of Radon | Penn News. 





A rendering of a water-soluable cryptophane molecule binding a xenon atom

• A new avenue to better medicines.





With NMR spectroscopy, the RUB research team determined the three-dimensional structure of the metal-peptide complexes. The metal atom,rhodium (magenta), binds to the peptides’s amino acid tyrosine, more specifically to the phenol group – a circular structure consisting of six carbon atoms (green), one oxygen atom (red) and hydrogen atoms (not shown). The second circular carbon structure (green) above the rhodium atom represents a so called Cp* group. Via metal coordination, rhodium is bound between the two carbon rings. The gray net symbolizes the surface of the molecule.

• Fluorescent dyes with aggregation-induced emission provide new probes for cancer diagnosis and therapy.





Fluorescence image of breast cancer cells incubated with dye-loaded BSA nanoparticles showing that the nanoparticles have entered the cell cytoplasms (red) but not the nuclei (blue). Courtesy: Wiley-VCH

• Nature: Molecule Changes Magnetism and Conductance.



Using a scanning tunneling microscope tip, defined electricity pulses were applied to the molecule, which switches between different magnetic states. - CFN/KIT

• Adhesive based on polyactic acid.








Glues can be obtained from renewable raw materials – for example from proteins, natural rubber, starch, or cellulose.

• Cleaning with Sunlight.





The sun breaks through the clouds – and surfaces start cleaning themselves! It may sound like magic, but in fact it’s all thanks to the addition of titanium dioxide molecules. Activated by UV light, they trigger a reaction which destroys bacteria, algae and fungi, keeping items such as the armrests of garden chairs nice and clean.

• Molecule of the Week - Losartan





Losartan is a drug used to treat high blood pressure 

• Solar Power from Plastic Foils.





Flexible organic solar module on a plastic foil made by KIT. (Photo: Andreas Pütz)

• Fuel cell keeps going after hydrogen runs out.





Shriram Ramanathan's laboratory setup for testing solid-oxide fuel cells. The fuel cell is hidden under the circular component at the top, which pins it down to create a tight seal with the hydrogen fuel entering from below. Two needles connect with the electrodes to measure the electricity produced. - Caroline Perry, Harvard SEAS

• Colorful light at the end of the tunnel for radiation detection.
  





Crystals of a metal organic framework (left) emit light in the blue (middle) when exposed to ionizing radiation. Infiltrating them with an organometallic compound causes the crystals to emit red light as well (right), creating a new way to differentiate fission neutrons from background gamma particles.

• Rice University researchers have settled a long-standing controversy over the mechanism by which silver nanoparticles, the most widely used nanomaterial in the world, kill bacteria. [Courtesy: Rice University. "Ions, not particles, make silver toxic to bacteria: Too small a dose may enhance microbes' immunity."]
• New insights into how the most iconic reaction in organic chemistry really works.
  
• Aqueous iron interacts as strong as solid iron.



• The structure and activation of substrate water molecules in the S2 state of photosystem II studied by hyperfine sublevel correlation spectroscopy - Energy & Environmental Science (RSC Publishing).



• Rice researchers develop paintable battery.





An electron microscope image of a spray-painted lithium-ion battery developed at Rice University shows its five-layer structure. - Ajayan Lab/Rice University

• BC Chemists Use Nanowires to Power Photosynthesis.
• New Technique Controls Crystalline Structure of Titanium Dioxide. 





The new technique allows researchers to control the phase of the titanium dioxide  by modifying the structure of the titanium trioxide and sapphire substrate.

• "Zoluto" - A Molarity calculator developed in Java language. More on http://zoluto.jimdo.com/english/ [Thanks to Prof. Adolfo Ramón Zurita].
• X-ray vision exposes aerosol structures.   


Animation Courtesy: Gregory Stewart, Michael Bogan and Duane Loh from SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. To learn more, please visit SLAC news center 

 
• Stanford scientists develop ultrafast nickel-iron battery.
• In an international scientific breakthrough, a Griffith University research team has been able to photograph the shadow of a single atom for the first time [Courtesy: Griffith University (2012, July 3). First photo of shadow of single atom. ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 4, 2012, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2012/07/120703172543.htm].

 A single atom shadow with the atom shadow on the right end of the cylinder

• Researchers at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and at the universities of Kent, Bristol and Huddersfield, in England, have discovered a new class of very exotic unconventional superconductors [Courtesy: University of Huddersfield (2012, July 3). New class of unconventional superconductors. ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 4, 2012, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2012/07/120703161532.htm]. 

The atomic-scale crystal structure of LaNiGa2

• Molecule of the week - The most abundant natural aromatic polymer known as Lignin.
• Bringing down the cost of fuel cells [Courtesy: http://www5.uwm.edu/news/].
• Flerovium (Z=114) and Livermorium (Z=116) debut on Periodic Table [Courtesy: http://www.sciencenews.org  June 30, Vol. 181, #13, p. 10, 2012].
• Coca Cola from several countries contains high levels of the carcinogen 4-methylimidazole.
 

4-methylimidazole

Courtesy: http://www.cspinet.org/  and  http://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/  

 
• Mole day: Celebrated annually on October 23 from 6:02 am to 6:02 pm.  The time and date are derived from Avogadro's no. [6.023x10^23]. The theme for "Mole day 2012" is Molar Eclipse.

Courtesy: http://www.moleday.org/

• The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2011 was awarded to Dan Shechtman [from Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel] "for the discovery of quasicrystals".

Dan Shechtman

Courtesy: http://www.nobelprize.org

• A new element with atomic no. Z=117 is synthesized by Yu. Ts. Oganessian et al  [Courtesy: Phys. Rev. Lett., Volume 104, Issue 14 ].