Do you know an enterprising individual? Do you know anybody who has contributed to the growth of a start-up company that successfully commercialises chemistry-related research? If so, please read on: with your help, that person could become the next winner of the Chemistry World Entrepreneur of the Year award.

This annual award recognises commercial innovation and success and is open to those working in a chemical sciences spin-off or SME anywhere in the world. The award winner receives £4000, a trophy and a certificate plus he or she will be featured in Chemistry World, which is, without a doubt, a great promotional opportunity.

Previous winners include (to name a few): Paul Workman from The Institute of Cancer Research who received the 2012 award and has been profiled in this month’s issue of Chemistry World; Karl Coleman from Durham Graphene Science who became the 2011 winner; and Hagan Bayley from the University of Oxford for his founding role in Oxford Nanopore Technologies.

So how can you help? Well, as candidates are not permitted to nominate themselves we need you to do it. More information and ‘how to apply’ notes are available at http://www.rsc.org/ScienceAndTechnology/Awards/EntrepreneuroftheYear/Index.asp. We are already taking nominations for 2013, but the closing date is 15 January 2013 so there is plenty of time to go… Good luck to all!

Bibiana Campos-Seijo

                  

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A slow, lingering death – that you’d be conscious to endure.  That’s the fate that coniine has in store for anyone unfortunate enough to ingest it. Find out about the poison that killed Socrates in this week’s Chemistry in its element podcast.

                  

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In November last year, ahead of Curiosity’s launch, we wrote: ‘This rover – officially named the Mars Science Laboratory, but better known as Curiosity – will carry out the most comprehensive look at Earth’s neighbour to date when it lands on the planet in August 2012.’

When Curiosity safely touched down on Mars in August with its suite of scientific equipment, including a mass spectrometer, a gas chromatograph and a tuneable laser spectrometer, there were still questions as to the ability of the probe to detect signs of habitability. And so we wondered: will Curiosity be searching in vain?

Curiosity is still up there collecting data and what we all want to know is: how is the search going? It occurred to us that the best way to learn  how the rover is getting on is by talking to the guys who control it. As it happens, one of our colleagues, Chiara Ceci, got in touch with an old friend and fellow Italian, Paolo Bellutta, who she knew worked at JPL, Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in Pasadena, US. And guess what? He has been handling the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity since 2003 and now spends his time driving Curiosity on the surface of Mars. How cool is that!

So she is going to ask him all about it and the interview will be broadcast live on the RSC YouTube channel on Friday 7 September at 1600 BST. Can you ask questions? Of course you can. In fact, we positively encourage it. Send them via the usual channels (see below) or let us know by replying to this post and we’ll pass the questions on.

By the way, before anybody asks: No, we are not allowed to have a go.

Bibiana Campos-Seijo

-Twitter: Questions to @RSC_Comms and follow the live chat using #RSCmars

-Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalsocietyofchemistry

-Google+:  http://rsc.li/rsc-google-plus

-Email:  cecic@rsc.org

                  

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DAHLONEGA - A chemistry professor at North Georgia College & State University has become one of only 17 professors in the country granted access to the MERCURY Super-Computing Cluster.

Dr. Aime Tomlinson, associate professor of chemistry at North Georgia, has joined MERCURY (Molecular Education and Research Consortium in Undergraduate computational chemistRY), a group of undergraduate institutions that promotes research in computational chemistry. North Georgia is one of only 14 institutions granted access to MERCURYs resources, a cluster of high-performance computers used by chemistry students and researchers at multiple undergraduate institutions across the country.

Our acceptance into the consortium will allow us access to the MERCURY Super-Computing Cluster, said Tomlinson, one of only 17 professors with access to the cluster. The type of calculations we do in computational chemistry could take a month to perform on a normal computer, but the cluster can perform those calculations in about eight hours.

Created and directed by Dr. George Shields, MERCURY holds an annual symposium during which students present research conducted with aid from the super-computing cluster. The first MERCURY symposium was held in 2002. Shields spoke at North Georgia in 2009, and invited Tomlinson to participate in that year's symposium.

Tomlinson was invited to join the consortium in December 2011 and two of her students presented research this summer at the 2012 symposium. Before gaining access to MERCURY, Tomlinsons students had performed their calculations via super-computing clusters in Pittsburgh and San Diego.

Being a part of MERCURY will allow us to run high-power calculations even faster, Tomlinson said. It also makes training students in these calculations much easier.

One of Tomlinsons main projects is developing organic materials for use in solar cells. She and her students use super-computing clusters to perform the calculations for potential structures, and then make recommendations based on these results to Tomlinsons synthetic collaborators at Iowa State University.

The research focuses on benzobisazoles, a synthetic compound that we manipulate the core of to make it more conducive to collecting and storing solar energy, Tomlinson said.

Continue reading here:
NGCSU professor joins MERCURY Consortium

The remains of the warship Vasa, which is around 400-years old – one of Sweden’s most popular tourist attractions with over 1 million visitors a year – could be significantly weaker than previously thought. But if you’re planning a trip to Stockholm in the near future, don’t worry: the ship isn’t in immediate danger.

The Vasa was built in 1628 during Sweden’s golden age for King Gustavus Adolphus and sank on its maiden voyage, just 2km from its dock. For the time, it was an enormous ship, capable of carrying 300 soldiers and firing a broadside of almost 600 pounds. But its construction seems to have been dogged by too many political considerations meaning it was built top-heavy. When the wind blew above a light breeze as it was manoeuvring in Stockholm harbour, that was it.

The Vasa was sprayed with polyethylene glycol to preserve the oak timbers. Credit: Ingela Bjurhager

For more than 300 years, the Vasa lay under the cool waters of the Baltic, until she was raised in 1961 to widespread media interest. Those cool waters are believed to have helped keep the oak timbers intact. Since then, the Vasa has been dried out, sprayed with polyethylene glycol (PEG) and housed in a museum.

PEG replaces water in the cells of the wood, strengthening it and stopping the shrinkage that would occur while it was drying. Now, a team of researchers from institutions in Stockholm and Uppsala have measured the tensile strength of portions of the wood taken from different parts of the ship. They found that the strength is roughly proportional to the molecular weight of PEG – the longer the polymer chains the better preserved that portion of the ship is likely to be. But the molecular weight of the polymer – and thus strength – is inversely proportional to the amount of iron present in the wood. The iron, in case you were wondering, comes from the iron nails and rivets that held the ship together.

So what’s going on between the iron and PEG? Ingela Bjurhager and colleagues suggest that, while the ship was drying out, iron and oxygen reacted with cellulose and lignin in the wood to produce an acid. The acid, they think, is responsible for the degradation of the polymer and the weakening of the wood – by up to 80% in some areas. Although the Vasa isn’t about to fall apart, the researchers do caution that the ‘risk of failure cannot be disregarded’.

UK readers may be thinking about our own salvaged historical wooden museum ship, the Mary Rose. She sank during the Battle of the Solent in 1545 after over 30 years’ service as Henry VIII’s favourite, only to rise again in 1982 – another televised salvage (which I remember watching as a child!). PEG was also used in treating the timbers, but from what Wikipedia tells me, they were not allowed to dry out beforehand, so it may retain such strength as it now has for longer. Neatly, I see that the Mary Rose will be unveiled in a new museum later this year – I’ll report back after a visit! (Full disclosure: my father-in-law is involved in the Mary Rose Trust.) Hopefully, my adult self will be more impressed seeing it than I was during a previous visit as a child seeing the hull being showered with water or PEG…

Neil Withers

                  

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Public release date: 6-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Janice Walls wallsj@yorku.ca 416-736-2100 x22101 York University

TORONTO, Sept. 6, 2012 Imagine that the players on your favourite football team were smaller than their opponents, and had to play without helmets or pads. Left defenseless, they would become easy prey for other teams. Similarly, changes in Canadian lake water chemistry have left small water organisms vulnerable to their predators, which may pose a serious environmental threat, according to a new study.

"At low calcium levels the organisms grow slower and cannot build their armour," says study lead author Howard Riessen, professor of biology, SUNY College at Buffalo. "Without suitable armour, they are vulnerable to ambush by predators," he says.

Riessen and colleagues, including York University biology Professor Norman Yan, studied the effect of changes in water chemistry on plankton prey defenses. Specifically, they examined how lower calcium concentrations affect Daphnia (water flea) exoskeleton development. These low calcium levels are caused by loss of calcium from forest soils, a consequence of decades of acid rain and multiple cycles of logging and forest growth. The results are published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"Calcium is a critical element for Daphnia and many other crustaceans," Riessen says. "Daphnia build their exoskeletons, which include some defensive spines, with calcium to protect themselves from predators. Where calcium levels are low, the Daphnia have softer, smaller, exoskeletons with fewer defensive spines, making them an easy snack."

Why do plankton matter? Yan, the study's senior author and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, emphasizes that the tiny creatures are critical to our survival. "Without plankton, humans would be quite hungry, and perhaps even dead. Much of the world's photosynthesis, the basis of all of our food, comes from the ocean's plankton. The oxygen in every other breath we take is a product of phytoplankton photosynthesis," says Yan.

This phenomenon of reduced calcium is also playing out on a much larger scale in the world's oceans, he notes. "Increases in ocean acidity are complicating calcium acquisition by marine life, which is an under-reported effect of global carbon dioxide emissions. Thus marine plankton may also find themselves more vulnerable to predators," he says.

The public is used to stories about changes in water chemistry that lead to large-scale fish kills, says Riessen. "These changes are more insidious. Daphnia might not be a household name, but they are food for fish, and they help keep our lakes clean. Changing the balance between Daphnia and their predators marks a major change in lake systems."

###

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Changes in water chemistry leave lake critters defenseless

JACKSON, Miss., Sept. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Researchers from across the United States, including Millsaps College Professor of Chemistry Timothy Ward, Ph.D., and Research Fellow Jiyan Gu, Ph.D., have analyzed chemical residues in prehistoric Native American ceramic vessels that are believed to offer the earliest known evidence for black drink consumption. Their findings were published in the on-line Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in August.

Black drink is a caffeinated tea-like beverage brewed from holly leaves and stems that was used during cleansing rituals and religious ceremonies. The ceramic vessels tested date to approximately 1050-1250 A.D. and are associated with the prehistoric Native American civilization of Cahokia, once located near present-day St. Louis.

Chemists at Millsaps College's W.M. Keck Center for Instrumental and Biochemical Comparative Archaeology in Jackson, Miss. designed and developed the methods to identify the chemical compounds found in residue from porous, unglazed mug-shaped ceramic containers excavated from sites in Missouri and Illinois. Ward and Gu led the development of the chemical methods and oversaw the chemical analysis and data generation. The chemists differentiated between the presences of several substances to identify a chemical signature, or bio-marker, for the holly species Ilex. The work was funded in part by the W.M. Keck Foundation.

A remarkable aspect of the research project is that undergraduate students from Millsaps College conducted the chemical analysis, working under the direction of Ward and Gu.

"At Millsaps, students in the sciences learn to operate sophisticated instruments and participate in research normally reserved for graduate students in the latter years of graduate study," Ward said. "Such notable experiences build the resumes of Millsaps graduates in ways that make our students sought after by graduate research programs and medical schools. Interestingly, the most often asked question of our students at the various national and international meetings where we present is always, 'Did you really do that work yourself?'"

Millsaps students, Syed Ali of Madison, Miss., Marlaina Berch of Sturgis, Miss., and Erin Redman of Carrboro, N. C., are acknowledged in the published article of the findings, "Ritual Black Drink consumption at Cahokia."

Since conducting the research, Berch and Redman graduated from Millsaps with bachelor's degrees in chemistry. Berch is a medical student in the Rural Physicians Program at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine, and Redman is studying analytical chemistry at the graduate level at the University of North Carolina. Ali, a biochemistry major, is a junior at Millsaps College.

"One thing impressive and interesting about the Keck Center at Millsaps is that it is staffed with a diverse group of undergraduates with unique backgrounds," Gu said. "We have students born in America, Vietnam and Pakistan as well as international students that have come from China and Rwanda. Students not only work together in the lab, but they build friendships and learn from each other's unique perspectives, exchanging their favorite music, stories from their native country, ideologies and their dreams.

"The Keck Lab is a small reflection of Millsaps culture, a culture that will prepare students for a world full of diversity, a world in which the great things can only be achieved by working with people from different background and perspective."

Sociologists and chemists cited equally as authors in the study are Gu; Ward; University of New Mexico Distinguished Professor of Anthropology Patricia Crown, working with Thomas E. Emerson from the Illinois State Archeological Survey, Prairie Research Institute and University of Illinois, Champaign; W. Jeffrey Hurst at the Hershey Technical Center in Hershey, Penn.; and Timothy R. Pauketat from the Department of Anthropology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana.

Excerpt from:
Undergraduates Aid Millsaps College Chemists In Analysis Of 'Black Drink' Residue For Study Published In NAS Proceedings

An artist's impression of O2 'intercepting' the beta-hydroxy vinyl (BHV) radical. The hot orange colours represent non-equilibrium quantum states, while the cooler blue colours represent equilibrium quantum states.

(Phys.org)Research that sheds new light on the microscopic chemical physics driving one of the most important reaction sequences in atmospheric chemistry is published in Science today by Dr David Glowacki from the University of Bristol's School of Chemistry, in collaboration with an international team including experimentalists and theoreticians based in Leeds, Cambridge, and Chicago.

The Earth's atmosphere is a huge chemical reactor where sunlight (rather than heat) starts off chemical chain reactions that ultimately control the fate of greenhouse gases and atmospheric pollutants. Within the Earth's atmosphere (and more generally), one of the most important classes of chemical reactions are so-called 'association reactions', where one molecule (call it A) reacts with another molecule (call it B).

Chemical physicists have known for a long time that molecules can exist in both high energy and low energy quantum states, often referred to as 'equilibrium' and 'non-equilibrium' states, respectively. For arbitrary A + B reactions taking place in the Earth's atmosphere, the nearly universal assumption is that, prior to reaction, both A and B are in their equilibrium states.

Earth's atmosphere is composed of 20 per cent O2, meaning that O2 is a participant in most atmospheric reaction sequences. Contrary to the assumption that atmospheric association reactions always involve reactants in equilibrium states, Dr Glowacki and colleagues show that, for association reactions of the type O2 + B, there is a high probability that O2 'intercepts' B before its non-equilibrium quantum states have relaxed to equilibrium.

The authors present compelling experimental and computational evidence showing that this occurs during the atmospheric degradation of acetylene, which is an important tracer of atmospheric pollution and also plays an important role in the formation of atmospheric particulates.

Furthermore, Dr Glowacki and colleagues show that that the products produced when O2 intercepts another molecule's non-equilibrium quantum states are different from those produced when the states are in equilibrium.

Using detailed mathematical models to unravel the timescales of non-equilibrium quantum state relaxation, the researchers speculate that the interception of non-equilibrium quantum states by O2 is likely to be important for a range of chemical reactions in Earth's atmosphere, with possibly unexpected chemical reaction outcomes.

Dr Glowacki said: "Ultimately, this work improves our fundamental understanding of the microscopic chemical physics driving one of the most important reaction sequences in atmospheric chemistry, and paves the way for further studies of non-equilibrium systems within nature."

More information: 'Interception of excited vibrational quantum states by O2 in atmospheric association reactions' by D. R. Glowacki et al in Science.

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Non-equilibrium quantum states in atmospheric chemistry

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/kbpwhf/comprehensive_orga) has announced the addition of Elsevier Science and Technology's new report "Comprehensive Organometallic Chemistry III, 13-Volume Set. From Fundamentals to Applications" to their offering.

Comprehensive Organometallic Chemistry, 3rd Edition (COMC-III), is aimed at the specialist and non-specialist alike. It covers the major developments in the field in a carefully presented way with extensive cross-references. COMC-III provides a clear and comprehensive overview of developments since 1993 and attempts to predict trends in the field over the next ten years. Applications of organometallic chemistry continue to expand and this has been reflected by the significant increase in the number of volumes devoted to applications in COMC-III. Organic chemists have edited the volumes on organometallic chemistry towards organic synthesis - this is now organized by reaction type so as to be readily accessible to the organic community. Like its predecessors, COMC (1982) and COMC-II (1995), this new work is the essential reference text for any chemist or technologist who needs to use or apply organometallic compounds.

- Presents a comprehensive overview of the major developments in the field since 1993 providing general and significant insights.

- Highlights the expansion of applications in organometallic chemistry with a strong organic synthesis focus.

- Provides a structured first point of entry to the key literature and background material for those planning research, teaching and writing about the area.

Key Topics Covered:

Volume 1. Fundamentals (G. Parkin).

Volume 2. Compounds of Groups 1 to 2 and 11 to 12 (K. Meyer).

Volume 3. Compounds of Groups 13 to 15 (C.E. Housecroft).

Visit link:
Research and Markets: Comprehensive Organometallic Chemistry III, 13-Volume Set. From Fundamentals to Applications

The University of Minnesota is now home to two new centers that could potentially reduce carbon emissions and make solar energy more efficient.

The Department of Chemistry received $13.1 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to fund the centers, which officially began research Saturday.

Its kind of a tribute to the science [here] that for both centers they chose Minnesota, said Christopher Cramer, director of the new Center for the Study of Charge Transfer and Charge Transport in Photoactivated Systems.

Both centers focus on theoretical chemistry and will use the Minnesota Supercomputing Institute to test models and programs.

Because the University already has this hardware, most of the grant money for both centers will be used to hire more researchers.

The Nanoporous Materials Genome Center will receive $8.1 million and partner with six other institutions.

Laura Gagliardi, director of the center, said the goal will be to create a database, or genome, of nanoporous materials in order to have a standard way of reporting the properties of these materials. This will allow researchers to make faster advances in the field because theyll have a reference guide, she said.

Nanoporous materials can be used in carbon capture, for example, to sequester carbon dioxide and reduce pollution. Gagliardi said they will evaluate which materials could be best suited for this.

This center will also house experiments to develop and test nanoporous materials to confirm theorists predictions.

Its really about the interplay between modeling and experiment that we hope the most exciting results will arise, Gagliardi said.

See more here:
U receives $13M for 2 campus chemistry centers

Feel the burn! But what’s behind that feeling when your muscles ache during exercise? And what’s it got to do with yogurt?? Find out about lactic acid in this week’s Chemistry in its element podcast.

                  

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Fancy catching up with some of the sights around the Czech Republic, how does Toxic Mountain sound as a field trip? Hmmm, perhaps not so alluring. Toxic Mountain is the translation of Jedovar Har, to the south of Prague, where for 130 years iron and mercury have been mined and smelted. Maria Hojdova from here in Prague, has been analysing mercury levels from the forest floors around Jedovar Har, and another site, Pribram, where lead zinc and silver were mined and lead smelted, leaving mercury behind from the ores.

Hojdova found that most of the inorganic mercury was present as the immobile and water insoluble mercury sulfide, with less than 14% of the mercury in more mobile forms – this was also backed up by showing that most contamination was on the surface of soil, rather than permeating further down. By also analysing the mercury in tree rings Hojdova also showed how the mercury deposition matched the activity of the mining areas, including a secondary peak in the 60s.

However, if that doesn’t put you off, Hojdova did conclude her talk with a recommendation for Pribram and its mining museum. Unfortunately, I don’t think my schedules going to allow such a field trip.

Meanwhile, over in the poster sessions I was treated to a fantastic story of art theft and recovery by a student from Karel Lemr‘s lab, Volodymyr Pauk. The lab were approached when n painting, Crucifixion, stolen from the St Sebestian church on Holy Hill in the Czech Republic, was recovered in Austria. Restorers and conservators obviously wanted to know what they had, both to determine authenticity and to help restoration efforts. Pauk was charged with determining which blue pigment was used – Prussian blue or indigo.

Prussian blue is an inorganic pigment (Fe₄[Fe(CN)₆]₃) and was discovered back in the 18th century in Berlin (hence the name), whereas indigo, an organic dye extracted from plants, has been used since ancient times, until being superceeded by synthetic alternatives. Identifying which has been used can help date painting, but both are insoluble in water or many common organic solvents.

Pauk was tasked with making the pigments soluble so that they could be identified with mass spectrometry rather than traditional methods like HPLC. This was especially important, said Pauk, because when he was finally sent samples ofthe paint, they were so small that to begn with he thought he had been sent empty sample bags.

For Prussian blue, Pauk showed that the pigment could be decomposed with sodium hydroxide to give  Na₄[Fe(CN)₆. Meanwhile, indigo could be reduced with dithionite to give the soluble leucoindigo. That allowed Pauk and his lab to test the tiny samples of paint and identify the paint used. Although the technique was so sensitive that it detected some contamination of Prussian blue, the painting was shown to mainly contain indigo, helping to date the artwork as well as telling conservators what to use.

Restoration of the artwork is still ongoing. Meanwhile Pauk is now trying to do similar work to convert Tyrian, or Royal, purple into a mass spec-able compound. If anyone has any ideas I suggest you get in contact.

                  

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30-08-2012 20:28 University of Tennessee chemistry professor Al Hazari gives a science demonstration to kindergarten and first grade students at Green Magnet Math & Science Academy Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012.

Originally posted here:
Chemistry professor Al Hazari gives science demonstration at Green Magnet - Video

— This way for all your chemistry needs

This week, the historic city of Prague is playing host to nearly 1800 chemists for the 4th EuCheMS Chemistry Congress. As you might expect, I’ve been thinking quite a lot about the past over the last day and a half, but not the history that preoccupies the tourists who are sharing my hotel.

Yesterday at the opening ceremony, several of the speakers were keen to talk about their links with Prague – how they had visited before and were pleased to come back, or to highlight a longer standing connection with the city. President of Iupac Kazuyuki Tatsumi, used the opportunity to share some snaps from his previous visit back in 1982, with a familiar physical chemist stood in the picture with Tatsumi and  common mentor Rudolf Zahradnik – a young Angela Merkel. Meanwhile, Jean-Marie Lehn claims links to Prague back to 1963, and a paper co-authored with a Czech chemist. Lehn has now set up a prize, in collaboration with the French Embassy in Prague, a prize to help support Czech chemistry and young Czech researchers. This year, the winner was Michal Kolar from Charles University here in Prague for his work on halogen bonds. As part of his prize, Konar will be sponsored for a month’s study visit to France.

However, after the opening ceremony and beer on Sunday, Monday started bright and early with a full scientific programme with 12 parallel sessions. The topics that caught my attention all had a common theme – history.

One talk that stood out was in the Environmental and Radiochemistry section. This morning, Tarja Ikaheimonen of Finland’s Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority compared the Fukushima accident to Chernobyl, and as someone who doesn’t remember the 1986 event, some of the facts and stats she reported were incredibly sobering. Forests are apparently very susceptible to nuclear contamination because the plants take up caesium instead of potassium and the Fukushima fallout was mainly over Japanese forests. In Finland the post-Chernobyl contamination is still 40% of the maximum, says Ikaheimonen, showing how long lasting that contamination can be. And of course, that then concentrates up the food chain. Butterflies in the forests near Fukushima are now showing morphological variability, just as in Finland’s forests

However, the Fukushima disaster, while obviously awful, was no where near as bad as Chernobyl, says Ikaheimonen. Caesium discharge in Japan was about 20-30% that of Chernobyl, and the fall out was mainly local, rather than contaminating vast portions of northern Europe, as Chernobyl has. And perhaps, just as the Chernobyl site is now an incredibly diverse nature reserve, the same could happen for the forests in Japan says Ikaheimonen. I have to say though, I don’t think I’d recommend that as a general strategy for improving environmental diversity.

                  

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ScienceDaily (Aug. 30, 2012) Up to 4 percent of the methane on Earth comes from the ocean's oxygen-rich waters, but scientists have been unable to identify the source of this potent greenhouse gas. Now researchers report that they have found the culprit: a bit of "weird chemistry" practiced by the most abundant microbes on the planet.

The findings appear in the journal Science.

The researchers who made the discovery did not set out to explain ocean geochemistry. They were searching for new antibiotics. Their research, funded by the National Institutes of Health, explores an unusual class of potential antibiotic agents, called phosphonates, already in use in agriculture and medicine.

Many microbes produce phosphonates to thwart their competitors. Phosphonates mimic molecules the microbes use, but tend to be more resistant to enzymatic breakdown. The secret of their success is the durability of their carbon-phosphorus bond.

"We're looking at all kinds of antibiotics that have this carbon-phosphorus bond," said University of Illinois microbiology and Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB) professor William Metcalf, who led the study with chemistry and IGB professor Wilfred van der Donk. "So we found genes in a microbe that we thought would make an antibiotic. They didn't. They made something different altogether."

The microbe was Nitrosopumilus maritimus, one of the most abundant organisms on the planet and a resident of the oxygen-rich regions of the open ocean. When scanning microbial genomes for promising leads, Benjamin Griffin, a postdoctoral researcher in Metcalf's lab, noticed that N. maritimus had a gene for an enzyme that resembled other enzymes involved in phosphonate biosynthesis. He saw that the microbe also contained genes to make a molecule, called HEP, which is an intermediate in phosphonate biosynthesis.

To determine whether N. maritimus was actually producing a desirable phosphonate antibiotic, chemistry postdoctoral researcher Robert Cicchillo cloned the gene for the mysterious enzyme, expressed it in a bacterium (E. coli), and ramped up production of the enzyme. When the researchers added HEP to the enzyme, the chemical reaction that ensued produced a long sought-after compound, one that could explain the origin of methane in the aerobic ocean.

Scientists had been searching for this compound, methylphosphonic acid, since 2008, when David Karl at the University of Hawaii, Edward DeLong at MIT and their colleagues published an elegant -- yet unproven -- hypothesis to explain how methane was arising in the aerobic ocean. The only microbes known to produce methane are anaerobes, unable to tolerate oxygen. And yet the aerobic ocean is saturated with methane.

To explain this "methane paradox," Karl and DeLong noted that many aerobic marine microbes host an enzyme that can cleave the carbon-phosphorus bond. If that bond were embedded in a molecule with a single carbon atom, methylphosphonic acid, one of the byproducts of this cleavage would be methane. Karl and DeLong even showed that incubation of seawater microbes with methylphosphonic acid led to methane production.

"There was just one problem with this theory," van der Donk said. "Methylphosphonic acid has never been detected in marine ecosystems. And based on known chemical pathways, it was difficult to see how this compound could be made without invoking unusual biochemistry."

Go here to read the rest:
'Weird chemistry' by microbe is prime source of ocean methane

By Joginder Tuteja, Glamsham Editorial

"There are some real good scenes that Emraan and Vidya enjoy in the film. Many complained that in THE DIRTY PICTURE, none of the two actors could actually go all the way since their characters hated each other and only fell in love towards the last few scenes. Now their chemistry has been nurtured fully in GHANCHAKKAR which is expected to be a madcap entertainer," informs a source connected to the film.

This is pretty much apparent in the shoot that the duo has enjoyed so far. While they can be heard exchanging notes about their earlier work, they are all the more excited about going all the way in GHANCHAKKAR, something that they had missed out in their last hit together.

A common friend adds, "In GHANCHAKKAR it is all the more magical. It is a very different zone that Emraan and Vidya are exploring and the chemistry is very unusual too."

When contacted, Emraan confessed that it was indeed phenomenal to get back with Vidya after a hiatus. "Just a few scenes that we did together in THE DIRTY PICTURE were enough to make people say - 'Silk should not die, she has finally found true love'. I guess that was the beauty of our pairing in the film when even less was more. Now with GHANCHAKKAR, there should be much more in the offing for audience."

Guess after the heavy duty films that both Emraan (JANNAT 2, RAAZ 3, SHANGHAI) and Vidya (KAHAANI) have done of late, letting their hair down for some 'ghanchakkar' moments would only serve them better.

More on bollywood at glamsham.com

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Emraan, Vidya to have sizzling chemistry in GHANCHAKKAR

31-08-2012 15:43 Event date: July 3, 2012. Some coffee tastes better than others, but how can farmers ensure that their coffee tastes as delicious as possible? Join Seattle University's Susan Jackels to discover how she trains local coffee farmers in Nicaragua to use chemistry and scientific investigation to produce quality coffee.

Link:
Better Coffee Through Chemistry | QUEEN ANNE SCIENCE CAFE - Video

Chemistry, Economics and Gourmet Food! Oh, My!

UCR Chemistry Chair Cindy Larive and daughter Erin Kaplan, an economist at Pitt, come together to create The Food Doctors, a blog about great food and the science and economics that make it possible

By Ross French on August 29, 2012

Cindy Larive, the chair of the UC Riverside Department of Chemistry (left) and daughter Erin Kaplan, a professor of economics at Pittsburgh, have come together to create a blog on gourmet food and the chemistry and economics behind its creation. Photo courtesy of Erin Kaplan

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (www.ucr.edu) Cindy Larive, chair of the Department of Chemistry at the University of California, Riverside, is well known for her work in bioanalytical chemistry, including research on the stress response of plants to flooding and drought and methods for detecting whether fruit juices have been watered down with cheaper ingredients. But recently, its her work on the buttermilk pancake that has been taking the Web by storm.

Specifically, Buttermilk Pancakes with Mixed Berry Compote and Sweet Vanilla Butter.

Larive and her daughter, Erin Kaplan, a visiting lecturer in economics at the University of Pittsburgh, are co-creators of The Food Doctors, a blog devoted not merely to creating amazing food, but also to the science and economics that make that amazing food possible.

The blog was conceived last spring as Kaplan and Larive were hiking in Cinque Terre National Park in Italy. Kaplan had recently won a dessert-making competition and had one of her recipes featured on the How Sweet It Is blog. As they explored the park, Erin suggested starting a blog of their own. Naturally, they came up with the blogs framework during dinner.

We wanted to create something more academic than the average food blog a place where we could geek out over food and maybe teach people a little bit along the way, Kaplan said. Teaching economics comes very naturally to me, and I know my mother feels the same passion about chemistry. It was kind of a perfect storm.

Creating great food has always been a major part of life for Larive and her daughters, dating back to when she was completing her Ph.D. here at UCR and Kaplan and sister Megan were students at the UCR pre-school. Erin recalls that she religiously watched Julia Child: Bon Apptit, convinced that the master chef was a long-lost grandmother.

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Chemistry, Economics and Gourmet Food! Oh, My!

BCGC wins $3.4 million NSF training grant: Grad students encouraged to apply

August 29, 2012

The Berkeley Center for Green Chemistry (BCGC) has been awarded a $3.4 million training grant by the National Science Foundation. The grant will train five to six Ph.D. students annually for five years in the principles of green chemistry and the design of clean energy technologies.

The goal of the Systems Approach to Green Energy (SAGE) grant is to develop a generation of scientists, engineers, toxicologists, policy-makers and business leaders who are well versed in the principles of green chemistry and clean energy. By using a systems approach, the program will foster technology innovations in solar energy, biofuel, and energy storage systems.

Photos by Roy Kaltschmidt/LBNL

Chris Vulpe, associate professor in the Department of Nutritional Science and Toxicology, is the principal investigator for the grant. We will bring together disciplines that don't speak the same language, and not only get them to talk, but also work together toward creative solutions to our pressing need for sustainable energy solutions.

John Arnold, a professor in the Department of Chemistry, is a Co-PI. Other Co-PIs include Alastair Iles, an assistant professor of Environmental Science, Policy and Management in the College of Natural Resources, and Thomas McKone of the campus Center for Occupational and Environmental Health. He is an adjunct professor in the School of Public Health and a senior staff scientist in Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratorys Environmental Energy Technologies Division.

The SAGE grant team is seeking grad students interested in incorporating green energy research into their graduate studies. They will be recruited from UC Berkeleys School of Public Health, the College of Chemistry, the College of Natural Resources, and the Haas School of Business. SAGE students will participate in interdisciplinary courses related to green chemistry. They will also be advised by interdisciplinary dissertation committees.

Says BCGC Executive Director Marty Mulvihill, We anticipate that SAGE grad students will be fully funded for two years, starting in the spring of their first year and continuing through the fall of their third year. After that, SAGE students will be funded through traditional research and teaching assistant positions. SAGE students will also have access to funding from the National Science Foundations Competitive Innovation Fund.

The program will also feature K-12 outreach programs to Bay Area schools, and the option of studying at universities in England and Sweden that are developing similar green chemistry and sustainable energy programs.

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NSF awards $3.4 million to train students in “green chemistry”

Newswise A Saint Marys College chemistry research team has developed an inexpensive paper-based tool that can screen for counterfeit pain relievers. The paper analytical device (PAD) is the size of a business card and offers results in less than five minutes. Its technology that could ferret out other fake drugs that promise cures for everything from malaria to the flu. Counterfeit pharmaceuticals are a serious problem in developing countries. The College has applied for a U.S. patent for the PAD and the patent is pending. Its the first time Saint Marys has applied for a patent.

Undergraduate researchers at this Catholic, liberal arts womens college modified existing paper-strip technology to develop PADs that screen for substandard tablets of Panadol. Panadol is one of multiple brand names used abroad for the pain and fever reliever acetaminophen. The Saint Marys research team led the Panadol project with researchers at the University of Notre Dame.

Panadol long has been among the most common, standard pain relieving drugs counterfeited around the world, said Saint Marys chemistry professor Toni Barstis who led the team. In the past, you could just look at the labeling and packaging and know if it was counterfeit. Now, they do such a good job with the package design its hard to determine whether its a package of the genuine medicine or a fake that contains no acetaminophen or even ingredients that may be harmful.

Barstis and two members of her teama Saint Marys chemistry student and a recent alumnapresented their research results upon invitation in Philadelphia at the 244th National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS) on August 19. ACS is the worlds largest scientific society. Click to see video of ACS press conference.

The tool that Barstis team developed uses a chemically treated paper that resembles a business card. To check for counterfeit ingredients, a person simply swipes the pill onto the PAD and dips the PAD in water. Color changes on the paper indicate both suspicious and authentic ingredients. The screening takes less than five minutes and can be done by consumers. This lies in stark contrast to high-tech analytical methods, which are expensive and time-consuming. For instance, instrumental testing of pharmaceuticals in labs in Kenya can take 3-6 months. Precious time can be lost as a patient waits for treatment.

Barstis said the counterfeit acetaminophen products are just the tip of the iceberg. Other fake pharmaceuticals are marketed as cures for infections, malaria, and the flu. Some contain acetaminophen, which reduces pain and fever, but do not contain the active ingredient to combat these diseases. Because the Panadol PAD checks for the presence of acetaminophen, it can be modified to screen the other drugs. Barstis teamin collaboration with chemistry, biochemistry, computer science, and industrial design teams at the University of Notre Dameis developing similar tools to identify counterfeit antibiotics, anti-malaria drugs, and Tamiflu, the influenza medication.

The World Health Organization estimates that 10-30 percent of the drug supply in developing countries consists of counterfeit medicines, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths each year. Problems have been documented, for instance, in Kenya, Nigeria, India, Vietnam, and Panama. Officials blame crime rings, which profit from selling pills that contain plaster of Paris, baking soda, or other inexpensive ingredients.

Presenting with Barstis at the ACS meeting were Elizabeth Bajema 11, the PADs project professional specialist, and student researcher Diana Vega Pantoja 13. Bajema, who graduated from Saint Marys in 2011, delayed graduate chemistry studies at Northwestern University to continue her work on the PADs project, this time as a College employee. Pantoja is a dual-degree engineering student working towards a degree in chemistry from Saint Marys and a chemical engineering degree from the University of Notre Dame. Shes glad to be part of the PADs project and calls Barstis a mentor.

I cant imagine a more supportive, energetic, and demanding mentor than Doctor Barstis, said Pantoja, a dual degree student who is also earning an engineering degree at Notre Dame. She believes in us and pushes us to achieve our highest potential. She is passionate about getting women interested in science in general, not only chemistry.

About the American Chemical Society: The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 164,000 members, ACS is the worlds largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

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Chemistry Research Team Unveils New Device to Screen for Counterfeit Drugs