Alchemist Turns Polyphile

Full Metal AlchemistA quite gratifying email from Professor James E. Hanson of Seton Hall University made me realise that I’d gone all poly with The Alchemist column this week:

As a polymer chemist myself, I really liked this issue of The Alchemist – or rather in this case the “polyalchemist” newsletter. Except for the beaver pheromones, each of the scientific breakthroughs/hot topics had to do with polymers! Anti-graffiti polymers, perfect polymers, polymers connecting nanodots, and two protein (= biopolymer) topics. Keep up the poly good work!

Here’s my intro from the ChemWeb site itself, click through for the full details and links:

Graffiti-defeating coatings could protect buildings and statues, The Alchemist learns this week, while the glandular chemistry of the beaver is revealed in stereo. Perfect polymers could boost optical data storage several hundredfold and nano dots might help map out tumor sites in the body. In biochemistry, another reason not to opt for pate de foie gras is revealed. Finally, structural biology gets motoring and wins a French scientist a major award.

The current Alchemist on ChemWeb