Chemistry

Antifungal Drug Amphotericin: Potent, Puzzling And Now Less Toxic To Humans

Invasive fungal infections kill about 1.5 million people in 3 million cases each year, more than are killed by malaria or tuberculosis. That half of the patients who enter a hospital with an invasive fungal infection in their blood die anyway makes it a m ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 15 2014 - 6:30pm

Polyester- Now Made From Cork

On the scale of earth-friendly materials, most people don't think of polyester but scientists are figuring out how to extract a natural, waterproof, antibacterial version of it from...cork. Writing in  Biomacromolecules, Cristina Silva Pereira and co ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 16 2014 - 11:16am

Mantis Shrimp: Cool Eyes, And Stronger Than Airplanes

Inspired by the fist-like club of a mantis shrimp, researchers have developed a design structure for composite materials that is more impact resistant and tougher than the standard used in airplanes. The peacock mantis shrimp, or stomatopod, is a 4- to 6- ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 22 2014 - 6:58pm

Water Testing- Now In A Pullulan Pill

Water testing can  be a cumbersome process, with labs and delays and waiting.  Chemical engineers from McMaster University have reduced the sophisticated chemistry required for testing water safety to a simple pill, by adapting technology found in...a bre ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 28 2014 - 3:44pm

Edible Pullulan Films Improve The Microbiological Safety Of Meat

You won't see these in a Whole Foods any time soon, but science has a way to improve the microbiological safety of meat; antimicrobial agents incorporated into edible films. As a bonus, they seal in flavor, freshness and color, according to researche ...

Article - News Staff - May 1 2014 - 11:10am

Redo Your Periodic Table: Superheavy Elements In The Island Of Stability

The periodic table of the elements is about to get crowded on the heavy side. Evidence for the artificial creation of element 117 was recentlyobtained at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research, an accelerator laboratory located in Darm-stadt, Ger ...

Article - News Staff - May 2 2014 - 1:59pm

Barrique: When Wine Hits The Right Nerve

If wine leaves a bitter, cotton-like coating on the tongue, don't blame your nose or even your sense of smell, say the authors of a paper in Chemical Senses. Instead, blame your nerves. The traditional oak barrel character, also called barrique chara ...

Article - News Staff - May 5 2014 - 1:15pm

Synthetic Repair By Regrowth: Regenerating Plastic Grows Back After Damage

University of Illinois researchers have developed materials that not only heal, but regenerate- and not just tiny microscopic cracks, large cracks and holes. All by regrowing material. The regenerating capabilities build on the team's previous work i ...

Article - News Staff - May 10 2014 - 5:30am

Polyunsaturated Fats May Replace Petroleum-Derived Chemicals

Scientists at Brookhaven National Laboratory have found that certain enzymes responsible for desaturating fatty acids, the building blocks of oils, can link up to efficiently pass intermediate products from one enzyme to another. Getting plants to accumul ...

Article - News Staff - May 10 2014 - 1:00pm

Rare Epsilon-Phase Iron Oxide: What Ancient Chinese Potters Knew That Modern Science Wants To Duplicate

A new analysis of ancient Jian wares reveals that the distinctive pottery contains an unexpected and highly unusual form of iron oxide- a rare compound called epsilon-phase iron oxide which was only recently discovered and characterized by scientists and s ...

Article - News Staff - May 15 2014 - 8:13am