Full Spectrum Science News

Musical molecules

Musical molecules, bright fibres, polarised brain chemistry, and cholesterol regulation, all feature in my SpectroscopyNOW column this week.

Musical molecules – What do Schroedinger’s equation and Schoenberg’s expressionism have in common? Not a lot you might think. However, researchers in Germany and the US have now modelled the hydrogen molecule, the archetypal subject of molecular modelling, using a theory of behaviour that emerges from music. The study demonstrates how a hydrogen molecule responds to laser pulses as if the molecule’s vibrational motions, its quantum states, were the notes making up a changing musical chord and offers the opportunity of laser-controlled chemical reactions.

Fibre, fibre burning bright – A European research team has developed novel strategies for the rapid trace element analysis of metals in polyamide synthetic fibres by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Their method allows the accurate determination for quality control of polyamide products containing titanium dioxide as an optical brightener.

Bad cholesterol regulator – US researchers have discovered exactly how a destructive protein binds to and interferes with one of the molecules involved in removing low-density lipoproteins (LDL), the so-called “bad” cholesterol, from the blood.

Bipolar disorder – Spectroscopic studies of post mortem brain chemistry reveals that sufferers of bipolar disorder (often referred to as manic depression) have a distinct chemical signature linked to this mental illness. A collaboration between researchers in the UK and US also suggests a possible mode of action for the mood stabilisers used to treat the disorder and how they counteract changes in brain chemistry.