Feature Channels: Chemistry

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One of the secrets to making tiny laser devices such as opthalmic surgery scalpels work even more efficiently is the use of tiny semiconductor particles, called quantum dots. In new research at Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Nanotech Team, the ~nanometer-sized dots are being doctored, or “doped,” with additional electrons, a treatment that nudges the dots ever closer to producing the desired laser light with less stimulation and energy loss.

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A prominent and inventive chemical biologist, Cravatt’s research focuses on the role proteins play in cellular processes.

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This year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash, and Michael W. Young for their studies of the circadian clock in fruit flies. But their discoveries weren’t just insect idiosyncrasies—they held true across much of the living world, from animals to plants and even some bacteria. And, as many researchers building on their work have found, circadian rhythms have immense importance in human health.

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Surprisingly low concentrations of toxic chemicals – from fungicides to antidepressants – can change the way some aquatic creatures swim and feed, according to new research. In addition, depending on the cocktail of toxins they can produce unexpected results.

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A team of University of Chicago and Notre Dame researchers used simulations and X-rays to conclude that disordered proteins remain unfolded and expanded as they float loose in the cytoplasm of a cell. The answer affects how we envision the movement of a protein through its life—essential for understanding how proteins fold, what goes wrong during disorders and disease and how to model their behavior.

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Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis have determined how electrocatalysts can convert carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide using water and electricity. The discovery can lead to the development of efficient electrocatalysts for large scale production of synthesis gas — a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen.

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Scientists at the University of Notre Dame are one step closer to unraveling the mystery of how intrinsically disordered proteins work, according to new research published in Science.

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Biologists have developed a solution for controlling the invasive Asian hornet Vespa velutina based on the insect’s natural chemical mating instincts. They deciphered the insect’s sex pheromone and devised a method of luring males into traps baited with synthesized versions of the pheromones.

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The Blavatnik Family Foundation and the New York Academy of Sciences today announced the three Winners and six Finalists of the 2017 Blavatnik Regional Awards for Young Scientists. Established in 2007, the Awards are given annually by the Blavatnik Family Foundation and administered by the New York Academy of Sciences to honor the excellence of outstanding postdoctoral scientists from institutions across New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

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Chemists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have demonstrate that they can repurpose DNA to create new substances with possible medical applications.

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Tulane University’s Shantz Lab has received a two-year grant of $110,000 from the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) Petroleum Research Fund to find a solution to one of the chemical industry's most demanding transformations, the direct conversion of benzene to phenol.

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Two Clarkson University Professors have developed a novel and efficient method of cleaning contaminated water by using an electric discharge plasma.

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Gold has long been valued for its luxurious glitter and hue, and threads of the gleaming metal have graced clothing and tapestries for centuries. Determining how artisans accomplished these adornments in the distant past can help scientists restore, preserve and date artifacts, but solutions to these puzzles have been elusive. Now scientists, reporting in ACS’ journal Analytical Chemistry, have revealed that medieval artisans used a gilding technology that has endured for centuries.

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Renowned for its soft texture and characteristic flavor, Wagyu beef — often referred to as Kobe beef in the U.S. — has become one of the world’s most sought-after meats. Now in a study appearing in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, scientists report that they have detected several key odorants that contribute to the delicacy’s alluring aroma.

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Lithium-ion batteries can be found in everything from cell phones to hoverboards, but these power sources have recently made headlines for the fires they have inadvertently caused. To address these safety hazards, scientists report in ACS Nano that they are paving the way to better batteries with a naturally occurring form of asphalt.

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DHS S&T partnered with two universities to develop training programs for individuals who will develop the next generation of TAD identification, prevention, and mitigation capabilities.

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An international, interdisciplinary research team of scientists has come up with a machine-learning method that predicts molecular behavior, a breakthrough that can aid in the development of pharmaceuticals and the design of new molecules that can be used to enhance the performance of emerging battery technologies, solar cells, and digital displays.

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In the second of two high-profile articles published in recent weeks, SLU scientist Mee-Ngan F. Yap, Ph.D, continues to uncover the secrets of how ribosomes hibernate under stressful conditions.

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When frozen under extreme pressures and temperatures, ice takes on a range of complex crystalline structures. Many of the properties and behaviors of these exotic ices remain mysterious, but researchers recently analyzed how water molecules interact with one another in three types of ice and found the interactions depended strongly on the orientation of the molecules and the overall structure of the ice. The team describes their results in The Journal of Chemical Physics.

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TAMPA, Fla. (Oct. 10, 2017) – Developing new drugs to treat cancer can be a painstaking process taking over a decade from start to Food and Drug Administration approval. Scientists are trying to develop innovative strategies to identify and test new drugs quicker and more efficiently. A team of researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center used cellular drug screening, functional proteomics and computer-based modeling to determine whether drugs with well-known targets may be repurposed for use against other biological targets. They found that an FDA approved drug for non-small cell lung cancer called ceritinib has anti-cancer activity against previously unknown targets. Their results were published today in the journal, Nature Chemical Biology.

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UPTON, NY—Chemistry is a complex dance of atoms. Subtle shifts in position and shuffles of electrons break and remake chemical bonds as participants change partners. Catalysts are like molecular matchmakers that make it easier for sometimes-reluctant partners to interact. Now scientists have a way to capture the details of chemistry choreography as it happens.

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New research from the Korea Institute of Science and Technology, to be published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry on Oct. 13, has found that the proteasome, an essential protein complex that breaks down proteins in cells, has another unexpected function: directly regulating the packing of DNA in the nucleus.

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Huntington’s disease is a progressive, fatal neurodegenerative disorder that is caused by mutations in one specific gene called huntingtin (Htt). Now, for the first time, an international team of researchers has uncovered a detailed structural description of Htt.

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Many aspects of the physical and chemical behavior of soils are directly related to the minerals present. The “Soil Mineralogy” symposium at the Managing Global Resources for a Secure Future ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting in Tampa, FL, will explore several current topics.

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A staff member at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Acceleratory Laboratory, Matthew Latimer is in charge of seven spectroscopy beamlines at SSRL. He was recently selected for the 2017 Farrel W. Lytle Award, established by the SSRL Users’ Organization Executive Committee. The award promotes accomplishments in synchrotron science and supports collaboration among visiting scientists and staff who conduct research at SSRL.

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The results of these tests can help emergency managers better prepare for different scenarios depending on the direction of chlorine release.

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On behalf of the American Chemical Society (ACS), President Allison A. Campbell, Ph.D., congratulates today’s winners of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry: Jacques Dubochet, Ph.D., University of Lausanne (Switzerland); Joachim Frank, Ph.D., Columbia University; and Richard Henderson, Ph.D., MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (U.K.).

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The ACT-SO program launches high school student on path to Argonne’s student research program, a provisional patent and the pursuit of degree at Washington University in St. Louis.

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UPTON, NY—Chemists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have designed a new catalyst that speeds up the rate of a key step in “artificial photosynthesis”—an effort to mimic how plants, algae, and some bacteria harness sunlight to convert water and carbon dioxide into energy-rich fuels.

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Florida State University researchers found that the theory of quantum mechanics does not adequately explain how the heaviest and rarest elements found at the end of the table function. Instead, another well-known scientific theory — Albert Einstein’s famous Theory of Relativity — helps govern the behavior of the last 21 elements of the Periodic Table.

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Astronomers using ALMA have detected the faint molecular fingerprint of methyl chloride around an infant star system. Traces of this organic compound were also discovered in the thin atmosphere of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P/C-G) by the Rosetta space probe.

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Discovering new drugs has never been easy and some potential drug targets have historically been viewed as too challenging and thus off limits for prosecution. In a new SLAS Discovery review, authors John S. Lazo et al. of the University of Virginia reflect on the nature of protein tyrosine phosphatases and explores reasons why these enzymes have been eschewed by drug hunters, and how the landscape is beginning to change.

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Chemists from Empa have developed and patented an environmentally friendly way to produce flame retardants for foams that can be used in mattresses and upholstery. Unlike previous flame retardants made of chemicals containing chlorine, the new material is non-toxic and effective. Two of Empa’s industrial partners are now launching the innovation on the market.

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A technology that can print pure, ultra-precise doses of drugs onto a wide variety of surfaces could one day enable on-site printing of custom-dosed medications at pharmacies, hospitals and other locations.

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Weizmann Institute scientists find that including “non-ideal” components in the design may be key to functional artificial proteins

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F. Ulrich Hartl of Germany’s Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry and Arthur Horwich of the Yale School of Medicine/HHMI receive American Society for Cell Biology's prestigious 2017 E.B. Wilson Medal.

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Two Berkeley Lab teams will receive DOE funding to develop near-term quantum computing platforms and tools to be used for scientific discovery in the chemical sciences. One team will develop novel algorithms, compiling techniques and scheduling tools, while the other team will design prototype four- and eight-qubit processors to compute these new algorithms.

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Many of the DOE Joint Genome Institute’s selected 2018 Community Science Program proposals aim to utilize multiple genomic and analytical capabilities, along with scientific expertise, to users focused on the underlying mechanisms involved in bioenergy generation and biogeochemical processes.

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The National Science Foundation recently awarded a $680,000 grant to Wake Forest University Associate Professor of Chemistry Patricia Dos Santos. In addition to funding research that helps scientists better understand life on earth, the grant also enables her to mentor students from other Triad-area colleges.

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Researchers at the Universities of Vienna and Göttingen have succeeded in developing a method for predicting molecular infrared spectra based on artificial intelligence. These chemical "fingerprints" could only be simulated by common prediction techniques for small molecules in high quality. With the help of the new technology, which is based on neuronal networks similar to the human brain and is therefore capable of learning, the team led by Philipp Marquetand from the Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Vienna was able to carry out simulations that were previously not possible. The potential of this new strategy has now been published in the current issue of the journal "Chemical Science".

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Using X-ray techniques, scientists are developing an analysis tool that can more accurately predict how sulfur compounds in a batch of crude oil might corrode equipment– an important safety issue for the oil industry.

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Eat too much without exercising and you'll probably put on a few pounds. As it turns out, plant leaves do something similar. In a new study at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, scientists show that retaining sugars in plant leaves can make them get fat too. In plants, this extra fat accumulation could be a good thing.

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Pearls’ Tough Structures Hold Clues for Creating Hardy Materials, With Possibilities from Dentistry to Aerospace

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In a recent experiment conducted at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, a research team used bright, ultrafast X-ray pulses from SLAC’s X-ray free-electron laser to create a high-speed movie of a fluorescent protein in action. With that information, the scientists began to design a marker that switches more easily, a quality that can improve resolution during biological imaging.

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In a study published Sept. 20 in Nature, UChicago and Cornell University researchers describe an innovative method to make stacks of semiconductors just a few atoms thick. The technique offers scientists and engineers a simple, cost-effective method to make thin, uniform layers of these materials, which could expand capabilities for devices from solar cells to cell phones.

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The National Science Foundation’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, or EPSCoR, announced Wednesday that Lauren Greenlee, assistant professor of chemical engineering, will receive a fellowship award of $267,507 to continue her work characterizing metal-based catalysts to improve the next generation of fuel cells and batteries.

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Researchers in the United States and Germany have just discovered a previously overlooked part of protein molecules that could be key to how proteins interact with each other inside living cells to carry out specialized functions.

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Under conventional magnification, the crystals Aaron Robart grows in his West Virginia University lab may look like simple rock salt, but by bombarding them with X-rays, he and his research team can build computational models that reveal the molecules within.

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Playdough and Legos are among the most popular childhood building blocks. But what could you use if you wanted to create something really small—a structure less than the width of a human hair? It turns out, a team of chemists has found, this can be achieved by creating particles that have both playdough and Lego traits.