Jul 31, 2006
After centuries of speculation concerning the existence or otherwise of extraterrestrial intelligence, it has been discovered that a radio signal detected by the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico contains artwork broadcast from deep space.
Initially dismissed by scientists as meaningless, the transmission - which originated between the constellations Aries and Pisces thousands of years ago - is now claimed to be the most significant addition to the artistic …
Jul 30, 2006
Raman analysis of South African pottery (shards) dating from the 13th and 14th centuries reveals that the potters used a variety of clays and fired their wares at less than 800 Celsius using open fires rather than kilns. Such details could only be unearthed without damaging the artefacts using this powerful spectroscopic technique.
Chemists Malebogo Legodi and Danita de Waal of the University of Pretoria in South Africa examined samples from four archaeological sites - …
Jul 29, 2006
It might seem like a trivial question, and most people would probably say 28 days. But, it isn’t so simple.
On average it takes 27.322 days (that’s a sidereal month, and a nice number of significant figures for something astronomical, especially when defining the day is not so clear cut) for the Moon to complete one orbit around Earth. However, the number of days between …
Jul 28, 2006
A new process for converting sugar into diesel fuel and feedstock chemicals for the manufacture of plastics, drugs, and other products, could help industry circumvent the problem of rising oil and natural gas prices. James Dumesic, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison has demonstrated how to make hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) from the fruit sugar fructose using a straightforward acid-assisted dehydration process. Two additives reduce the formation of side products while butan-2-ol helps push the HMF into the …
Jul 27, 2006
This southern African succulent plant tastes nasty but generations of San bushmen in the Kalahari Desert have eaten it to suppress their appetites on countless hunting trips. As such, it has become a focus of quick-fix weight loss programs.
What is Hoodia gordonii?
It’s a prickly succulent plant that grows in southern Africa and resembles a cactus but isn’t one.
What can it do?
Hoodia gordonii can apparently reduce calorie intake …
Jul 26, 2006
An enzyme added to foods containing gluten could put an end to the misery of celiac disease for many sufferers, allowing them to eat almost anything they fancy without having to worry about the effects on their digestive system.
Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder of the small intestine in which an abnormal reaction to the gluten protein in wheat, barley, and rye results in inflammation, which causes a temporary flattening of the nutrient absorbing villi …
Jul 25, 2006
Certain Italian grape varieties used in popular red wines may contain high levels of the sleep hormone melatonin, according to an analysis by Marcello Iriti, Mara Rossoni, and Franco Faoro at the University of Milan. However, a melatonin expert in the US is unconvinced by the results citing the undefinitive nature of the analytical procedures used to test the wine.
Until recently, scientists considered melatonin to be a compound produced exclusively by mammals. Some researchers reckon …
Jul 24, 2006
Hydrogen fuel cells have been relatively neglected through insufficient support from industry and government, according to a study published today funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
“Fuel cells are a genuine ‘clean’ technology,” says study investigators, Chris Hendry of the Cass Business School, London, “But re-investment in nuclear technology is likely to squeeze out the investment necessary to make fuel cells competitive with existing energy sources and with other non-nuclear alternative energy options.”
I …
Precious jewelry is usually made with metals rather than molecules, although there is plenty of costume jewelry made with polymers and other materials which are of course composed of molecules. But, that’s not really a concern for madewithmolecules.com who are touting a chemically aware range of chokers, keychains, necklaces, charm bracelets, and even boxer shorts, sporting your favourite molecule.
So, for the chemist in your life, how about a …
Jul 23, 2006
Cranberries have a special place in modern herbal folklore, the presence of antioxidant flavonoids in these tart but edible berries are thought to have antimicrobial activity. Now, US researchers have demonstrated that the extracts of the red fruit can prevent Streptococcus mutans, the bacterium responsible for dental caries, from having its wicked way with your teeth and so potentially halt tooth decay.
“We are not offering the solution for the elimination of …
Jul 22, 2006
The second July issue of The Alchemist is now online. In it I report on the latest on the origins of life as well as the heady subject of the European ban on chemicals used in hair dyes. Also, discussed this week, US researchers have made “ice cubes full of crumpled paper” on the microscopic scale while others have built an organic transistor that has environmental potential. Finally, for chemists under pressure, cellulose is really …
Dumb materials succumb to rust, but smart materials might be able to heal themselves.
Researchers in Europe have devised a novel nano coating for metals and alloys that forms a very thin gel-like layer on the material. If this coating is damaged, the metal would normally be exposed to the elements. However, the nano particles contain a preservative that instead spreads to fill any microscopic cracks and holes that appear …
Jul 21, 2006
The first of a swathe of broadcast science news items from the desk of David Bradley Science Writer aired today on the Loh Down on Science radio show, broadcast out of Caltch and available on the net here. The item in question discusses the Japanese peptide nanotubes I reported on recently for SpectroscopyNOW but with Sandra’s unique voice and style adding a new twist to this …
In 2005, Andrew Lemon cofounded The Edge Software Consultancy, a multidisciplinary consulting company helping pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to meet the challenges of modern drug discovery informatics. I interviewed him for the summer issue of the chemistry webzine Reactive Reports. “The complexity and diversity of experimentation during drug discovery and development only increases with time,” he told me, “Many areas are still not served with good software tools that help scientists to meet the …
Jul 20, 2006
Plastic waste is a mess. Disposal in landfill is the worst option but recycling post-consumer plastic waste presents a technological nightmare given the huge range of polymers used in packaging and products. A rapid, online method of identifying the different plastics in a recycling stream would provide a way to sort them and allow recycling plants to operate far more efficiently and perhaps make plastic recycling commercially viable.
A technique …
Are you deaf to the risks of hearing loss from mp3 player aural satisfaction?
According to a survey published today by Deafness Research UK, more than half of 16-24 year olds listen to their MP3 player for more than an hour a day, with almost 20% using for 21 hours a week. Trouble is, 68% of them don’t realise that listening to their MP3 player at loud volume can permanently damage their hearing.
It’s not …
Jul 19, 2006
As I write, an enormous black cloud of smoke and smutt has engulfed fields surrounding the Camridgeshire village of Cottenham. The fire allegedly started by a spark from working farm equipment quickly fed on the tinder-dry fields backing on to the yard and smoke has reached as far as the village High Street.
The emergency services were called with no fewer than ten engines in attendance in the last hour or two and dozens of firefighters …
Will Davis emailed me from France to ask if the molecular structures on the site are photos:
“I have read a book written about five years ago by a research biologist who wrote that …no one has seen a molecule. Now I see on your website photos of molecules. Are these real photos or a representation. Is this biologist either wrong or out of date?”
Well, he’s right and he’s wrong. …
Jul 18, 2006
Belgian scientists today reiterated a warning that certain cases of asthma could be linked to swimming in stuffy “chlorinated” indoor pools but chemistry may have the answer, according to charity Allergy UK, which has awarded its “Seal of Approval” to a novel alternative of which hot-tubbing ancient Greek philosopher Archimedes would be proud.
The novel solution involves using copper sulfate at levels permitted for drinking water to temper bacterial blooms in …
An ideal solution for accurately and rapidly monitoring red, red wine during the fermentation process without the need for direct sampling for chemical analysis has been developed by Australian researchers led by Daniel Cozzolino of the Australian Wine Research Institute, in Adelaide.
The team recognised the need of the modern wine industry for tools that can assist in process control and …
Jul 17, 2006
Bling comes to the world of nanotechnology, as japanese scientists coat crystals with gold particles. The modification of specific crystal faces of organic single crystals using gold nanoparticles could open up new possibilities for crystal engineering of materials with novel optical, electronic, and catalytic properties, according to the researchers.
Kazuki Sada, Seiji Shinkai, and colleagues of Kyushu University, in Fukuoka, Japan, have demonstrated that gold nanoparticles can be made to adhere …
Jul 16, 2006
It’s no wonder that sufferers find cold sores so hard to get rid of. A newly identified method deployed by viruses to escape the immune system has been discovered by researchers at Yale University. Writing in the August issue of Nature Immunology, the team describes how many strategies devised by viruses to ‘hide’ or ‘escape’ are well known, but HSV-1 (herpes simplex virus 1) seems to employ an entirely new mechanism.
Immune cells called …
Jul 15, 2006
“Diet is an important part of healthy living,” Jeremy Nicholson of Imperial College revealed to SpectroscopyNOW, “it is just some things that are supposed to relieve stress - and widely touted by healthfood companies as being good for you - do not metabolically ameliorate the effects of even very minor experimental stress.” He and his colleagues have used NMR spectroscopy to analyse marker compounds in blood samples from rats under …
Jul 14, 2006
A needle-free, DNA-based, vaccine against avian influenza strain H5N1 has been developed by UK company Powder Med Ltd and will soon enter clinical trials.
This new vaccine is based upon PowderMed’s proprietary system for delivering DNA
vaccines – it is a needle-free injection device that fires gold particles coated with DNA
(encoding genes specific to the flu strain) at supersonic speed into the immune cells of
the skin. This first-time-in-man clinical trial will examine the ability of a vaccine …
Jul 13, 2006
The various strands of the UK’s Resource Discovery Network are woven together today with the launch of Intute, which means our PSIgate Spotlight newsletter will become part of Intute under the science, engineering, and technology banner.
In the July issue of Spotlight, out today:
Supernova enigmatic variations
It sounds like an alien world from the latest Dr Who plot, but new observations of an X-ray source within the 2,000-year old supernova …
Here’s a neat little tip I picked up from Webmasterworld.com. If you’re worried about catching an infection from a contaminated website, then create a new user on your Windows XP machine that doesn’t have administrator rights.
Start-Control Panel-User Accounts
Create a new account (JaneDoes, frinstance)
Set as “Limited” user
Then, when you plan on visiting suspect sites, logoff from your admin account and logon as JaneDoe. Now, most rogue installers that the suspect site tries to set in motion …
Jul 12, 2006
This week the Alchemist discovers that carbon dioxide could pose a serious threat to marine life and in particular corals and the marine ecosystems that depend on them. We also find out how publication of new rigorous research into the effects of “shrooms” could represent a watershed moment in understanding hallucinogens. Solving the problem of soliton structure is set to lead to new types of actuators and fine control for artificial muscles and TEM stacks …
Jul 11, 2006
An issue I have written about for the Nature drug discovery site is the re-marketing of pharmaceutical products for uses other than the original one for which a drug was developed. The latest example is the emergence of the so-called “morning after” pill RU486 as a rapid-acting antidepressant (it has already found use in treating certain cancers and psychotic depression).
RU486, mifepristone, is a steroidal hormone similar in chemical structure …
Jul 10, 2006
Last year, I reported how scientists at Cornell University were working on ways to improve P2P systems. In case you didn’t know, P2P (peer to peer) are infamous as a major route for software, music, and movie piracy.
Anyway, they’re at it again, although this time researchers at Cornell have cracked the codes for Europe’s GPS (global positioning system) so that anyone could access its data for free.
Members of GPS Laboratory have cracked the so-called …
Jul 9, 2006
The UK’s Health Research Forum, a pressure group opposing the blanket ban on sunbathing that other organisations are attempting to implement, has just published its second report - Sunlight, Vitamin D, & Health (Edited by Oliver Gillie). The report covers a conference held at the House of Commons in November 2005 and endeavours to devour some of the claims made by sunscreen manufacturers and cancer charities about the …
Jul 8, 2006
Old friend Michael Engel, who works for a Japanese chemical company, emailed to tell me that help is available, the form of a discussion group on Yahoo! for foreign researchers presently in Japan, who have been in Japan or are planning to come, or who have otherwise contact with Japan.
The list is called kenkyusha (meaning researcher) and can be accessed here.
Scientific organizations in Japan and around the world are encouraged to post information about
bilateral …
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Nature Reviews Drug Discovery publishes the highest-quality reviews and perspectives plus news stories and features that investigate key issues in drug discovery...moreover if you check my resume, you'll see that the magazine is in my client list. more info...
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