Alchemist, catching electrons, homeopathic fail

This week’s Alchemist chemistry news and more…

  • Catching electrons in the act – Scientists are getting close to being able to study chemical reactions and complex materials with individual attosecond pulses of laser light (that's a quintillionth of a second). Here's how Berkeley scientists are doing it…
  • Alchemical happenings from around the web – The Alchemist could not fail to mention the nuclear highlight of the year as an international team fills the gap between elements 116 and 118 in the periodic table with a stupendous "transmutation" of berkelium bombarded with calcium ions into just six atoms of ununseptium. In biochemistry, we learn how flies can taste water and muse on the possibility of other animals, including ourselves, having a similar sense. We hear about a terminal improvement to photovoltaic solar cells and how to scrub colloidal coal. The Alchemist also digs up the history of polymer chemistry that has for the last two decades helped reduce the production of counterfeit money. Finally, a national award goes to a high school chemistry teacher who practices CPR on his students every lesson.
  • Spain produces solar energy at night – Solar energy fraud is on the increase, where subsidies paid to generating companies for using solar power are being abused by running diesel generators at night and also charging a premium to consumers for the "green" power!
  • Homeopathy – a FAIL since 1835 – Homeopathy is a fantasy and we have known this since at least 1835 when it first failed proper scientific randomized controlled trials.