EurekAlert! - Chemistry, Physics and Materials Sciences

Unexpected behavior of well-known catalysts

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences) Industrial palladium-copper catalysts change their structures before they get to work, already during the activation process. As a result, the reaction is catalyzed by a catalyst that is different from the one originally prepared for it. This surprising discovery was made by researchers from the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw.

A battery made of wood?

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(University of Maryland) A sliver of wood coated with tin could make a tiny, long-lasting, efficient and environmentally friendly battery, say scientists from the University of Maryland.

Less is more: Novel cellulose structure requires fewer enzymes to process biomass to fuel

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(DOE/Los Alamos National Laboratory) Improved methods for breaking down cellulose nanofibers are central to cost-effective biofuel production and the subject of new research from Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center. Scientists are investigating the unique properties of crystalline cellulose nanofibers to develop novel chemical pretreatments and designer enzymes for biofuel production from cellulosic -- or non-food -- plant-derived biomass.

UTSA student wins American Heart Association fellowship for nanosystems engineering research

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(University of Texas at San Antonio) University of Texas at San Antonio biomedical engineering Ph.D. candidate Anand Srinivasan has been awarded a $25,000, one-year doctoral fellowship from the American Heart Association. This highly competitive fellowship provides significant funding to doctoral students to support research and training in cardiovascular and stroke discoveries. Srinivasan will develop a new chip-based platform that can be used to test the effectiveness of drug treatments for infective endocarditis, a dangerous bacterial-fungal infection of the heart's inner lining.

New microfluidic chip can help identify unwanted particles in water and food

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(Virginia Tech) Virginia Tech researchers developed a new microfabrication technique to develop three-dimensional microfluidic devices in polymers. The devices can be used in the analysis of cells and could prove useful in counterterrorism measures and in water and food safety concerns.

A new model -- and possible treatment -- for staph bone infections

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(Vanderbilt University Medical Center) Osteomyelitis -- a debilitating bone infection most frequently caused by Staphylococcus aureus ("staph") bacteria - is particularly challenging to treat.Now, Vanderbilt University investigators have identified a staph-killing compound that may be an effective treatment for osteomyelitis, and they have developed a new mouse model that will be useful for testing this compound and for generating additional therapeutic strategies.

PETA International Science Consortium disappointed in denial of Dow appeal

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) The PETA International Science Consortium is extremely disappointed that the European Chemicals Agency Board of Appeal has upheld a decision that requires Dow Benelux B.V. to conduct a prenatal developmental toxicity study in rats. The study will use approximately 1,160 animals and expose pregnant rats and their unborn pups to the substance dipropylene glycol methyl ether acetate in order to comply with the European Community's Regulation on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals.

Metamorphosis of moon's water ice explained

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(University of New Hampshire) Using data gathered by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission, scientists believe they have solved a mystery from one of the solar system's coldest regions -- a permanently shadowed crater on the moon. They have explained how energetic particles penetrating lunar soil can create molecular hydrogen from water ice. The finding provides insight into how radiation can change the chemistry of water ice throughout the solar system.

Nearly 7 in 10 Americans are on prescription drugs, Mayo Clinic study finds

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(Mayo Clinic) Nearly 70 percent of Americans are on at least one prescription drug, and more than half take two, Mayo Clinic researchers say.

HIV-derived antibacterial shows promise against drug-resistant bacteria

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(American Society for Microbiology) A team of researchers at the University of Pittsburgh has developed antibacterial compounds, derived from the outer coating of HIV, that could be potential treatments for drug-resistant bacterial infections and appear to avoid generating resistance.

Dr. W. Steven Holbrook selected as 2013 recipient of the Walter Munk Award

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(The Oceanography Society) Dr. Steve Holbrook has been selected as the 2013 recipient the Walter Munk Award for Distinguished Research in Oceanography Related to Sound and the Sea. Dr. Holbrook is Professor of Geophysics at the University of Wyoming, and Adjunct Scientist in the Physical Oceanography Department of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The Munk Award is presented jointly by The Oceanography Society, the Office of Naval Research and the Office of the Oceanographer of the Navy.

Scientists undertake extensive field campaign to study US southeast atmospheric chemistry

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(National Science Foundation) In the largest US atmospheric chemistry field project in decades, researchers sponsored by the National Science Foundation and other organizations are working to study tiny particles and gases in the air over the southeastern United States.

Renewed hope in a once-abandoned cancer drug class

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(American Chemical Society) Could drugs that block the body's system for repairing damage to the genetic material DNA become a boon to health? As unlikely as it may seem, those compounds are sparking optimism as potential treatments for ovarian and breast cancers driven by a mutation in BRCA. The compounds, termed PARP inhibitors, are the topic of the cover story in the current edition of Chemical & Engineering News. C&EN is the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society.

Pearly perfection

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(American Chemical Society) The mystery of how pearls form into the most perfectly spherical large objects in nature may have an unlikely explanation, scientists are proposing in a new study. It appears in ACS' journal Langmuir, named for 1932 Nobel Laureate Irving Langmuir.

New canary seed is ideal for gluten-free diets in celiac disease

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(American Chemical Society) A new variety of canary seeds bred specifically for human consumption qualifies as a gluten-free cereal that would be ideal for people with celiac disease, scientists have confirmed in a study published in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

An environmentally friendly battery made from wood

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(American Chemical Society) Taking inspiration from trees, scientists have developed a battery made from a sliver of wood coated with tin that shows promise for becoming a tiny, long-lasting, efficient and environmentally friendly energy source. Their report on the device -- 1,000 times thinner than a sheet of paper -- appears in the journal Nano Letters.

A shot in the arm for old antibiotics

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard) Slipping bacteria some silver could give old antibiotics new life, scientists at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University reported June 19 in Science Translational Medicine. This could pave the way for new therapies for drug-resistant and recurrent infections.

Antioxidant shows promise in Parkinson's disease

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(Medical College of Wisconsin) Diapocynin, a synthetic molecule derived from a naturally occurring compound (apocynin), has been found to protect neurobehavioral function in mice with Parkinson's Disease symptoms by preventing deficits in motor coordination.

Elsevier launches open access journal: GeoResJ

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(Elsevier) Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, is pleased to announce the launch of a new open access journal, GeoResJ.

Sound waves precisely position nanowires

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(Penn State) The smaller components become, the more difficult it is to create patterns in an economical and reproducible way, according to an interdisciplinary team of Penn State researchers who, using sound waves, can place nanowires in repeatable patterns for potential use in a variety of sensors, optoelectronics and nanoscale circuits.

Unusual supernova is doubly unusual for being perfectly normal

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) Type Ia supernovae are indispensable milestones for measuring the expansion of the universe. With definitive measures of Supernova 2011fe, the "Backyard Supernova" that thrilled amateur and professional astronomers alike in the summer of 2011, the Nearby Supernova Factory led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory demonstrates that this unusually close-by Type Ia is such a perfect example of its kind that future Type Ia's -- and models meant to explain their physics -- must be measured against it.

Researchers report first entanglement between light and an optical atomic coherence

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(Georgia Institute of Technology) Using clouds of ultra-cold atoms and a pair of lasers operating at optical wavelengths, researchers have reached a quantum network milestone: entangling light with an optical atomic coherence composed of interacting atoms in two different states.

What do memories look like?

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(University of Southern California) Scientists develop a way to see the structures that store memories in a living brain.

Validating maps of the brain's resting state

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(Vanderbilt University) A team of Vanderbilt researchers has provided important validation of maps of the brain at rest that may offer insights into changes in the brain that occur in neurological and psychiatric disorders.

Making memories: Practical quantum computing moves closer to reality

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(Dartmouth College) Researchers at the University of Sydney and Dartmouth College have developed a new way to design quantum memory, bringing quantum computers a step closer to reality.