An Asian woman in Brooklyn, New York, was taking out her trash when a man outside her apartment building doused her with a substance that gave her chemical burns before running away, police said.

The attack took place on Sunday night in the Sunset Park neighborhood. In a video released by the New York Police Department, the woman appears to be taking out her trash when the man, who is sitting on the stoop, stands up as she exits the building, and approaches her from behind with a bottle in his hand.

"There was no interaction between the individual and the victim prior to the assault," the NYPD said.

The woman, who is 39 years old, was admitted to the Maimonides Medical Center with chemical burns to her face, neck, and back. Police said she was in stable condition.

The NYPD is asking for the public's help to identify the man, whose ethnicity is unknown. He was wearing a face mask, gloves, and a black hoodie.

Police confirmed to BuzzFeed News that the victim is Asian.

The motive behind the assault remains unclear. Reports of attacks against Asians in the US and Europe have skyrocketed in the past weeks as people express fears over the coronavirus through xenophobic and racist violence.

Law enforcement agencies in the US were also warned about a possible increase in hate crimes against Asian Americans over the coronavirus. "The FBI makes this assessment based on the assumption that a portion of the US public will associate COVID-19 with China and Asian American populations," the report stated.

President Donald Trump's rhetoric has further fueled concern that Asian communities could bear the brunt of violent backlash over the pandemic. Trump has been repeatedly condemned for choosing to refer to the coronavirus as the "Chinese virus," insisting the term is "not racist" because "it comes from China."

Though the new coronavirus originated in Wuhan, China, it quickly became a global pandemic, with the US now leading in the number of confirmed cases. The Trump administration has faced intense criticism for its inaction early in the virus's spread in the country, and for failing to provide adequate support to states battling the outbreak.

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A Man Attacked An Asian Woman Taking Out Her Trash At Night. She Now Has Chemical Burns On Her Face And Body. - BuzzFeed News

By Wesleyan University Staff

Erika Taylor, associate professor of chemistry at Wesleyan University, is among the Top 35 Women in Higher Education in the March 20 issue of Diverse.

Erika Taylor, associate professor of chemistry at Wesleyan University, is among the Top 35 Women in Higher Education in the March 20 issue of Diverse.

Photo: Hearst Connecticut Media File Photo

Erika Taylor, associate professor of chemistry at Wesleyan University, is among the Top 35 Women in Higher Education in the March 20 issue of Diverse.

Erika Taylor, associate professor of chemistry at Wesleyan University, is among the Top 35 Women in Higher Education in the March 20 issue of Diverse.

Wesleyan chemistry teacher among Top 35 Women in Higher Education

MIDDLETOWN Erika Taylor, associate professor of chemistry at Wesleyan University, is honored among the Top 35 Women in Higher Education in the March 20 issue of Diverse Education.

Taylor joined the faculty in 2007 and teaches courses in the areas of organic chemistry, biochemistry, environmental chemistry, and bio-medicinal chemistry, among others.

Shes also associate professor, environmental studies, and associate professor, integrative sciences, and takes a multidisciplinary approach to investigating problems at the biological chemistry interface.

Diverse acknowledged Taylor for striv(ing) to find ways to exploit enzymes found in nature to perform reactions that can help advance the fields of chemistry and medicine. Her research group has included over 75 students to date, spanning high schoolers to PhD students, with women and other underrepresented students comprising more than three-quarters of her lab members.

Taylor also serves as the faculty director of Wesleyans Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Program, which assists students from underrepresented groups in preparing for, entering, and progressing successfully through post-graduate education.

Diverse cited her for being a passionate advocate for diversity and lending time and energy to provide opportunities in science for female, minority, and low-income students.

In 2018, Taylor received Wesleyans prestigious Binswanger Prize for Excellence in Teaching for her dedication to supporting the academic and personal development of all of her students.

Beyond Wesleyan, she founded and continues to run a Girls in Science camp for elementary through middle school-aged girls, which highlights the diversity of women in science.

Taylor holds a bachelors degree in chemistry with honors from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, a PhD in chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and was a postdoctoral research associate at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

More:
Wesleyan chemistry teacher among Top 35 Women in Higher Education - Danbury News Times

A helpful science experiment shows that masks, whether bought in a store or made at home, can help protect you against coronavirus.

People in China, Korean, and Japan have always used masks as protection against the common cold, the flu, and even seasonal allergies. With the coronavirus outbreak, though, the rest of the world is coming around to the idea of wearing masks when out, with national governments outside Asia starting to recommend their use, but theres some debate. Are masks really effective protection against the virus?

Thankfully, theres science to help us figure it out! Dr. Tomoaki Okuda, Associate Professor of Applied Chemistry at Keio University, did an experiment that measured the amount of particles in the air without a mask, with a surgical mask, with a homemade paper towel mask, and with a mask made from a cloth handkerchief. Essentially, he tested whether masks of each of the three varieties were effective at blocking particles in the air, and the results were pretty interesting.

For his experiment, Okuda used a Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer (SMPS), whose hose sucks in the air of the room and measures its concentration of particles per cubic centimeter. Okuda set it to only look for the concentration of particles that are around the estimated size of the virus, which is believed to be between 20 and 100 nanometers in diameter.

The screen of the SMPS displays a chart that shows the concentration of particles per cubic centimeter on the vertical axis, and the size of particles on the horizontal axis. In short, the resulting graph bars show the concentration of each particle diameter per cubic centimeter.

As a control experiment, Okuda ran the hose without anything covering it, and the SMPS measured about 6,000 particles per cubic centimeter of air in the room that are between 10 and 150 nanometers in size. Now, imagine that youve come in contact to someone who is contagious with the disease, and among the 6,000 particles per cubic centimeter youre breathing in, there are a fair amount of virus particles in the air. Without anything covering your mouth and nose as you breathe in, the chance of you being infected could be pretty high, right?

So, Okuda tried wrapping an ordinary surgical mask, like those sold in drug stores, around the top of the hose. The air that the SMPS measured now had significantly lower amounts of particles than before; somewhere around 1,800 per cubic centimeter. Okuda estimates that this means that surgical masks are able to collect about 60-70 percent of particles of that size. That means that the majority of virus particles wont make it through the mask as youre breathing in.

Then Okuda tried a mask made out of three paper towels that had been folded in half; essentially the same as six layers of paper towels that have been stacked one on top of the other. Surprisingly, the paper towels were more efficient at catching particles than the surgical masks. According to the SMPS, the air sucked through the paper towel mask had only about 1,000 particles of that size per cubic centimeter, with a collection efficiency rate of about 80 percent.

The paper towels also seemed particularly effective on much smaller particles.

In the final experiment, Okuda used a handkerchief that had been folded over three times. When placed over the SMPS hose, it had a similar effectiveness as the surgical mask, reducing the particles in the air down to 1,800 particles per cubic centimeter. Though he doesnt specify what kind of fabric his handkerchief was made of, we might guess that it was a more common variety of cotton or polyester, which those of us ordinary people could find easily.

Okuda did mention that the virus particulars are smaller than the gaps between the fibers of a mask, but he said they arent likely to slip between the fibers because they move in Brownian motion. Essentially that means they dont move in a straight line, but randomly, because they are bumping into the molecules in the air. Because of that, the likelihood of them moving straight between the fibers is low, and theyll likely get caught among the fibers of whatever material was used to make the masks.

So there you have it! Science seems to indicate that masks are reasonably effective at catching particles that are the same estimated size is the COVID-19 virus. You might notice that 60 to 80 percent isnt completely effectivebut thats still significantly less COVID-19 viruses you could potentially be breathing in, and at any rate, with a mask youll probably be touching your face less, too, so it seems worth trying if you really want to protect yourself and those you love.

Cant find any masks at your local drug stores? Dont worry, Twitter taught us how to make one using paper towelsthough we might suggest using more than one sheetand the Daiso was kind enough to show us how to make one out of cloth, so there are several options available for you. And dont forget to study up on the right way to wear a mask before you go out!

Source, images: YouTube/Tomoaki OKUDA Want to hear about SoraNews24s latest articles as soon as theyre published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

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Japanese chemistry professor shows why three kinds of masks could be effective against the virus - SoraNews24

In a world where the unprecedented has become commonplace, the global chemical industry is in the midst of a massive pivot in response to the escalating COVID-19 pandemic.

Manufacturers that normally make fuel-grade alcohol are switching gears to produce neutral alcohol for disinfectants. Companies have diverted tankers full of isopropyl alcohol (IPA) to epicenters of the outbreak so it could be utilized to produce hand sanitizer. Plastics manufacturers that typically produce Mylar for hockey and lacrosse masks were instead making it for medical shields. One manufacturer, Ineos, the largest European producer of IPA and ethanolthe two raw materials needed to make hand sanitizersaid it would build three new factories in the span of 10 days, each capable of producing one million bottles of hand sanitizer per month, manufactured according to the specifications of the World Health Organization and specially designed to kill bacteria and viruses.

They were among dozens of chemical companies that were ramping up production, rallying their supply chains and adjusting their manufacturing operations in response to urgent calls for hand sanitizer, personal protective equipment, protective screens and other products.

Heres a look at several of the Industry 4.0 and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) digital capabilities that enabled companies to execute these types of pivots in the name of helping communities and people:

Connected, enterprise-wide operational intelligence. A manufacturer can continue to operate efficiently even during a major crisis-induced pivot when its entire enterprise is digitally connected and able to access and share real-time insight (such as via a robust ERP and/or CRM platform). With the ability to remotely monitor and manage raw material stocks with IIoT sensors, etc., a company can optimize stock levels to be lean yet still responsive enough to answer demand signals from a customer thats orchestrating its own pivot into a new product like face shields for medical applications.

Maybe, to meet the demands of a medical application instead of a sports application, those face shields require a different plastic formulation. Based on specifications provided by the shield manufacturer, the company supplying it with polyethylene terephthalate (PET) could immediately engage its R&D and engineering teams to tweak the molecule as needed and develop processes to produce that formulation.

Information about parameters and processes for producing the specific PET formulation needed for the face shields would then flow directly to the plant floor, the digital platform communicating the new parameters and processes to the reactor and other connected production equipment, enabling the manufacturer to quickly ramp up production of the new PET formulation, and to do so in a capital- and resource-efficient manner.

The ability to communicate, collaborate and adapt across a supply chain. As accustomed as chemical manufacturers are to B2B relationships, the COVID-19 crisis in some instances has required them to extend those relationships to the end consumer. In order to pivot their businesses to assist in meeting the publics urgent need for various products, chemical companies needed a better understanding of not just their direct B2B customers, but also their customers customersthe companies making medical visors, plastic shields and other products that have been in particularly high demand during the pandemic.

A highly networked and data-responsive system provides real-time supply and demand information at each point in the supply chain, which can be used to inform production and logistics decisions as circumstances change, down to the hour. Manufacturers can adjust or bolster production in response to surges in demand for certain materials, looping government, healthcare and other entities into the ongoing digital supply chain conversation.

Eastman was able to send an infusion of PETG film, a co-polyester commonly used for rigid medical packaging and medical devices, just in time to replenish the supply for a 3-D printing COVID-19 partnership involving the Tennessee Higher Education Commission and Austin Peay State University. The infusion came just as the partnership was running out of acetate sheet to make 10,000 urgently needed face shields for medical providers in Nashville. With insight into stock levels at its manufacturing facility in Kingsport, Tenn., the company could identify how much of the PETG film it could supply, when, then work with its new partners to get the material to them promptly.

Rapid modeling and prototyping capabilities. Premium machine learning- and AI-driven predictive tools enabled chemical manufacturers to quickly digest huge amounts of data to predict the performance and behavior of the formulations they were developing to meet pandemic-generated spikes in demand. These types of capabilities could, for example, enable a company like Ineos to model various formulations of hand sanitizer to confirm it can create one with the properties to kill bacteria and viruses.

Connected logistics. The COVID-19 crisis has underscored just how critical digitally connected logistics are to a manufacturers responsiveness and contingency planning. With the ability to monitor and manage inventory levels and location, as well as connected transportation and distribution assets, in real time, a manufacturer could respond in short order to supply and demand signals, then act in concert with its supply chain partners, government entities and healthcare providers to coordinate a timely response and cooperatively manage logistics so products could get where they needed to be expeditiously. Its how Eastman was able to deliver acetate sheet to Tennessee in a pinch.

As the COVID-19 pandemic holds the world in its grip, these kinds of advanced digital capabilities are enabling chemical manufacturers to pivot their production assets, their operations and their supply chains to meet the highly fluid and urgent needs of communities in crisis, and do so in ways they likely never imagined just a few weeks ago.

David Dunn has a degree in chemical engineering and has spent his 35-year career in and around the chemical industry. He has held numerous positions in the industry and developed a strong background in manufacturing, operations and product development. He joined SAP in 2007 as an industry principal for Chemicals and after a short time with SAP partners, he has rejoined SAP in 2020 as global industry marketing lead for Chemicals..

Main photo: A MakerBot producing face shields at Austin Peay State University.

Original post:
Pandemic Pivot: From face shields to hand sanitizer, chemical manufacturers are using tech to quickly produce COVID-19 necessities. - IndustryWeek

If you were a fan of the Hawthorne Heights and Post Malone I Fall Apart In Ohio mashup, then get ready for one better. YouTuber Call it Clarity just gave us a Posty and My Chemical Romance mashup to end all others.

The newest song takes Post Malones Circles and brilliantly combines it with My Chemical Romances I Dont Love You. Unfortunately, this one doesnt have a clever name, but it does provide a bit of humorous escape in these desperate times.

Mashups and covers are always fun. Pretending to live in another universe where blink-182 wrote a the Killers Mr. Brightside or Slipknot and NSYNC somehow synced up is a blast.

Now we have the newest content for our ears to enjoy with I Dont Love You/Circles.

The new mashup, for the most part, superimposes Post Malones vocals over My Chemical Romances I Dont Love You instrumentals, with a few Gerard Way vocal surprises tucked in there. Check it out below.

This isnt the first time Post Malone has been associated with the guys in MCR.

The rapper actually played the emo anthem Welcome to the Black Parade at Emo Nite in June of 2017. Check out the video of him rocking out to the MCR bop below.

Post-hardcore iconsA Day To Rememberand rap superstarPost Malonedont usually come up in the same sentence. They especially dont pop up in the same song. We think its safe to say that a collaboration between the two would be pretty rare. Enter the wonders of the internet.

One dedicated fan decided to contribute something we all loved. The audio mixologist created amashupbetween If It Means A Lot To You by A Day To Remember and Better Now by Post Malone. Check it out below.

From combiningPost Malone and Hawthorne Heightsto mashing togetherTaylor Swift and Fall Out Boy, mashups have been defying genres to create tracks we never knew we needed.

YouTuber Call It Clarity has made a few mashups before, mainly of two scene bands such asFall Out BoyandMy Chemical Romance. But they also love combining Posty with emo bands such asHawthorne Heights.

Both songs were incredible before, but now, If It Means Im Better Now is the perfect song for fans of every genre to cry to. Check it out below.

Tell us your favorite mashup in the comments below!

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Here's what Post Malone fronting My Chemical Romance would sound like - Alternative Press

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BATON ROUGE - An LSU chemist has spent the last several weeks helping prepare thousands of gallons of hand sanitizer to be used in Louisiana.

Ph.D. student Anthony Mai and his advisor, LSU Chemistry Chair John Pojman, are ensuring the quality of over 5,000 gallons of hand rub sanitizer. Last week, the first two batches were placed into 5,300 bottles and distributed all over the state. Mai worked in the chemical industry before entering LSUs graduate program and is familiar with working with such large-scale amounts of liquid chemicals.

This week, the chemists and workers at the Elayn Hunt Correctional Centers soap plant warehouse mixed and bottled thousands more of the sanitizer that will be used to fight the spread of coronavirus.

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LSU chemists preparing large batches of hand sanitizer - WBRZ

The Liu group at Texas A&M University, led by chemist Wenshe Ray Liu, PhD, identified the antiviral drug remdesivir as a viable treatment for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in January.1 Remdesivir was originally developed as a treatment for Ebola in 2014, but upon the surge of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, before the virus spread throughout the rest of the world, the Liu group investigated its use in treating COVID-19.1

The motivation that drove us was the rush against time to find alternative medicines that might be put in use to fight against the virus when it spread to the United States, Liu said in an article in Texas A&M Today.2

Following the Liu groups research, remdesivir has been tested in at least 5 large-scale clinical trials around the world and has been delivered to some patients, including the first confirmed COVID-19 patient in the United States on January 21 in Washington state.2 After treatment with remdesivir, that patient successfully recovered.2

Although Liu remains convinced that remdesivir is the right drug to treat COVID-19, he explained in the interview that due to the reports of multiple strains of COVID-19, success in treating the coronavirus should not be viewed as following a single approach.2

Despite his caution, Liu explained further, Remdesivir is still the best and probably the only option to target the virus directly in patients.2

With the clinical trial studying remdesivir in the United States set to finish this week, Liu remains optimistic that the results of the study will prove the treatments efficacy.2 However, he also acknowledges that in the wide-scale use of any virus treatment, drug-resistant virus strainsare likely to develop.2 This may be especially true for COVID-19, since multiple strains of the coronavirus have been reported to exist already.2

The infectivity of the original strain shown in Wuhan was not as high as what we have observed for the current strain in the United States, he said in the interview, adding that, At this stage, the scientific community needs to prepare for the worst and work to bring other treatment options to the forefront.2

References

Go here to read the rest:
Chemist Remains Optimistic About Success of Antiviral in Treating COVID-19 - Pharmacy Times

FOXBORO The connection between Tom Brady and Julian Edelman was undeniable. You saw it in practice. You certainly saw it games over the last six seasons for the Patriots No. 1 receiver.

As they say, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Embarking on his first training camp without Brady, not much has changed for Edelman. The 34-year-old is still clearly the best wide receiver in New England. On Sunday, it looked like his connection with quarterback Cam Newton was also undeniable.

Day 6 of training camp was Edelmans most productive practice this summer. It wasnt a coincidence that it coincided with Newtons strongest performance this summer. Edelman caught a team-high seven passes from the veteran quarterback on Sunday. Newton hit Edelman with seven of his first 15 completions in full-team drills.

"Were still just trying to get to know each other," Edelman said after Sundays practice. "Just like I am with all my new teammates, but specifically with a guy that distributes the football, just kind of getting to know each other as people on the field, off the field. Trying to build a rapport. Thats what Im also doing with (Brian Hoyer) and (Jarrett Stidham) but those guys have been around, so its been one of those things where Ive got to catch up with Cam."

The pair did a lot of catching up on this day. When 11-on-11s started, Newton hit Edelman with two of his first three passes. The receiver finished with six receptions in Newtons first 11 completions. The quarterback could also be heard apologizing for an inaccurate pass, but it was one that Edelman still caught.

After six days of camp, Edelman leads all Patriots receivers with 15 receptions. Thats a lot considering he was limited for two practice. So far, 10 of those catches have come from Newton, whos starting to pull ahead in the Patriots quarterback competition.

"I mean, any time you go out and execute a play in practice, I think that creates confidence," Edelman said." Not only in your head, but your teammates head and for that one play to happen, 11 guys have to do something right. I think the more we go out and execute, regardless of whos executing, I think thats just confidence building."

Its clear that Edelman will be a big factor with whoever starts at quarterback for the Patriots. Its certainly a good sign that hes already showing some on-field chemistry with Newton.

"Hes a smart football player just like Jarrett and Hoy are," Edelman said. "These guys are going in and working their tails off. Im really worried about going in and trying to compete myself I can you theyre all working their tail off."

mdaniels@providencejournal.com

On Twitter: @MarkDanielsPJ

Original post:
Julian Edelman and Cam Newton show chemistry with the Patriots - The Providence Journal

Yi Ge has been the CEO of Tsaker Chemical Group Limited (HKG:1986) since 2014. First, this article will compare CEO compensation with compensation at similar sized companies. Next, we'll consider growth that the business demonstrates. And finally - as a second measure of performance - we will look at the returns shareholders have received over the last few years. This method should give us information to assess how appropriately the company pays the CEO.

Check out our latest analysis for Tsaker Chemical Group

At the time of writing, our data says that Tsaker Chemical Group Limited has a market cap of HK$1.4b, and reported total annual CEO compensation of CN1.5m for the year to December 2018. While we always look at total compensation first, we note that the salary component is less, at CN1.2m. As part of our analysis we looked at companies in the same jurisdiction, with market capitalizations of CN707m to CN2.8b. The median total CEO compensation was CN2.1m.

Next, let's break down remuneration compositions to understand how the industry and company compare with each other. On a sector level, around 63% of total compensation represents salary and 37% is other remuneration. So it seems like there isn't a significant difference between Tsaker Chemical Group and the broader market, in terms of salary allocation in the overall compensation package.

So Yi Ge receives a similar amount to the median CEO pay, amongst the companies we looked at. This doesn't tell us a whole lot on its own, but looking at the performance of the actual business will give us useful context. You can see, below, how CEO compensation at Tsaker Chemical Group has changed over time.

Over the last three years Tsaker Chemical Group Limited has seen earnings per share (EPS) move in a positive direction by an average of 59% per year (using a line of best fit). In the last year, its revenue is up 20%.

Story continues

This demonstrates that the company has been improving recently. A good result. It's a real positive to see this sort of growth in a single year. That suggests a healthy and growing business. Shareholders might be interested in this free visualization of analyst forecasts.

Since shareholders would have lost about 40% over three years, some Tsaker Chemical Group Limited shareholders would surely be feeling negative emotions. So shareholders would probably think the company shouldn't be too generous with CEO compensation.

Yi Ge is paid around the same as most CEOs of similar size companies.

We'd say the company can boast of its EPS growth, but we find the returns over the last three years to be lacking. Considering the improvement in earnings per share, one could argue that the CEO pay is appropriate, albeit not too low. On another note, we've spotted 2 warning signs for Tsaker Chemical Group that investors should look into moving forward.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.

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Is Tsaker Chemical Group Limited (HKG:1986) Excessively Paying Its CEO? - Yahoo Finance

Stephanie Richards, a UWMadison Department of Chemistry graduate student, evaluates the cellular connection status of a QuantAQ sensor package. Photo by Joseph Gord

In a city teeming with traffic, its common to smell exhaust and other air pollutants on the street. But air pollution doesnt always stay outside. Fluctuations in outdoor air quality can cause changes in indoor air pollution, which can lead to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and can adversely affect pregnancies, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Chemists at the University of WisconsinMadison are working to better understand how air quality fluctuations outside of a building affect the composition of air inside. The project is a collaboration between the Department of Chemistry and Johnson Controls, which works in heating, ventilation, air conditioning and smart building technology.

Assistant Scientist Joseph R. Gord, from the UWMadison Department of Chemistry, checks the operation of a miniature pump which provides constant gas-throughput for an optical particle counter. Photo by Stephanie Richards

The building is alive and responds to episodic changes in air quality, says chemist and lead researcher Tim Bertram, citing increases in wildfires and exhaust from traffic flow. An air filtration system that could respond to those changes would offer the benefits of clean air, without a continuous cost.

To make this idea a reality, the researchers must first determine how the quality of outside air affects the air inside a building and if changes in air quality can be assessed quickly enough to make filtration decisions. To do so, the Bertram group teamed up with Boston-based QuantAQ to deploy four outdoor air quality sensors around the Department of Chemistrys building complex in Madison and one within the building.

We want to know if we can measure air quality around the building, Bertram says. We also want to determine what controls the variability of local air pollution and if we can measure it fast enough to make a decision.

Though other systems for air quality assessment already exist, information access takes too long to allow for immediate adjustments in filtration. The QuantAQ sensor packages measure three sizes of particulate matter, as well as levels of ozone, nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide, any of which could lead to lung damage and other health problems. The sensors also track meteorological data, including humidity, temperature, atmospheric pressure, wind speed and direction, solar irradiance, and noise.

The data are automatically uploaded to a server, allowing the scientists to assess possible correlations between things like the suns rays and an increase in ozone, or an increase in noise and the presence of an idling vehicles exhaust.

We can see graphs that show how much of each pollutant is present and how it lines up with each sensor, says Stephanie Richards, a graduate student on the project. The system uploads five, one-minute averages every five minutes, so we get 60 points per hour, per sensor.

Johnson Controls, which funded the research, may be able to use the results of this research to create technology that could determine when air filtration is needed, and building designers could use this research to determine the best locations for air intakes.

For now, the current project is focused on air quality correlations, which lets the researchers do what they do best.

We get to focus on the chemistry problems of whats happening around the building, says assistant scientist Joseph Gord, and how we might address any air quality issues.

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Chemists look for ways to assess and improve indoor air quality - University of Wisconsin-Madison

Watching another couples terrifying night out can make for a passably decent night in with The Lovebirds. The film was initially going to premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival before a scheduled April theatrical release from Paramount, but then a global pandemic happened and it is now opening worldwide on Netflix.

Which is perhaps oddly fitting, as The Lovebirds is a movie about circumstances and complications. Directed by Michael Showalter from a script by Aaron Abrams and Brendan Gall, the film opens with the sweet and cute beginnings of romance between Leilani (Issa Rae) and Jibran (Kumail Nanjiani) before cutting to four years later, when the compounded small grievances and major annoyances of being a couple have them on the verge of breaking up. That is before they find themselves mixed up in a strange series of events, convinced they are wanted for murder and now on the run through nighttime New Orleans.

On a scale of other recent films that mixed the long-term rom-com with the action thriller, The Lovebirds lands somewhere between Game Night, starring Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams, and Date Night, starring Tina Fey and Steve Carell.

Rae and Nanjiani have a quicksilver chemistry, flashing from playful banter to genuine, hurtful arguing in an instant. Its often up in the air whether to root for this couple to even stay together someone holding them at gunpoint says, You seem like a nice though somewhat annoying couple which gives the movie an extra charge.

Whether improv or scripted, the film is at its best during moments such as when Rae offhandedly calls a college frat guy little Brett Kavanaugh, Nanjiani fastidiously parses the distinction between a reality show and a docuseries or the couple find themselves reconnecting by singing Kay Perrys Firework full voice in the back of a Lyft. (And after the conspicuous Uber placement in Nanjianis The Big Sick and Stuber, that feels like a joke unto itself.)

As with his direction on The Big Sick which starred Nanjiani in a story based on his real-life relationship with Emily V. Gordon and earned the couple an Oscar nomination for their screenplay Showalter is unflashy, efficient and willing to let the performers fully take the spotlight. But whats disappointing about The Lovebirds is that a group of talents this dynamic would produce a movie that is this much just kind of OK. With the collective cultural savvy of Rae, Nanjiani and Showalter behind it, The Lovebirds should have more bite and insight.

THE LOVEBIRDS

Two and a half stars

Starring:Issa Rae, Kumail Nanjiani

Directed by: Michael Showalter

Running time: 86 minutes

Rated: R

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Rae, Nanjiani have chemistry, but their shine greatly limited - Waterbury Republican American

The military now has at least 651 sites that may have been contaminated with cancer-linked forever chemicals, a more than 50 percent jump from its last tally.

The information was released Friday in a report from the Department of Defense (DOD), part of a task force designedto help the military remove a class of chemicals known as PFAS from the water supply near numerous military bases.

PFAS, used in a variety of household products as well as an AFFF fire fighting foam relied on by the military, has been deemed a forever chemical due to its persistence in both the environment and the human body.

The military has been under increasing pressure to clean up contaminated sites, previously estimated to be as many as 401 locations. Each of those sites where PFAS may have been used must still be evaluated to determine whether it's been contaminated, as well as the extent of the exposure.

This report also makes it clear that we are still learning the full extent of the impact on our communities. The identification of over 250 new sites where PFAS was potentially released is astonishing, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam SmithDavid (Adam) Adam SmithOvernight Energy: Military sees surge in sites contaminated by 'forever chemicals' | USDA closes office wing due to coronavirus | Watchdog raises concerns over Trump energy regulator Military sees surge in sites with 'forever chemical' contamination Stock market plunge should incentivize firms to develop a coronavirus cure MORE (D-Wash.) said in a statement.

It is critical that the department provide communities with timely assessment of these sites, communicate transparently with impacted households, and quickly act to protect civilians and service members alike from these forever chemicals.

Defense Secretary Mark EsperMark Esper'Endless wars' and political warfare Overnight Defense: 'Tens of thousands' of National Guard troops could be activated for coronavirus response | Hospital ships could take week to deploy | Trump says military to help Americans stuck in Peru Navy hospital ship to deploy in 5 to 10 days to help with coronavirus relief MORE started the PFAS task force on his first day in office in July.

We must approach the problem in an aggressive and holistic way, ensuring a coordinated DOD-wide approach to the issue, Esper wrote in a memo establishing the task force.

The 651 figure is current as of October and includes only sites where DOD is known to be the source of PFAS contamination.

The military has provided bottled water and filters to the affected areas and is prepared to ramp up blood testing for DOD firefighters that regularly apply firefighting foam.

No one on or off base is drinking water above EPAs [health advisory] level of 70 parts per trillion [ppt] where DoD is the known source of PFOS and PFOA, the agency wrote in the report, referring to guidelines set by the Environmental Protection Agency.

However, those voluntary EPA standards are in the process of being replaced with a mandatory drinking water regulation something that may fall below the 70 ppt currently being used by DOD.

Many critics have argued that the 70 ppt figure is too high to protect health and have advocated for setting the standard at a lower number, following the move of many states who have more aggressive PFAS regulations than the federal government.

Updated 5:09 p.m.

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Military sees surge in sites with 'forever chemical' contamination | TheHill - The Hill

Whats in your cold brew coffee, and how does it differ from a traditional hot brew?

For a new presentation poster, scientists brewed many batches to identify differences in the chemistry between cold and hot brew coffee. They confirmed ongoing study results that show hot brewed coffee has more antioxidants (and acidity) than cold brew. They also took their research a step further and examined these levels in different temperatures of roasts, from light to dark.

For their research, the scientists from Philadelphias Thomas Jefferson University had to develop the most standard possible brew. Coffee aficionados already face this question every day, and they agree that a burr grinder works best to grind beans into a uniform consistency. And many use water heaters to reach a consistent recommended temperature just below boiling.

Both of these mechanics are imperfect. Thats on top of varying levels of roast even within narrow ranges like light and medium. Coffee is one part science and one part fault-tolerant art form.

So to try to homogenize their research as much as possible, the researchers did everything they could to control the parameters. They developed a procedure for when the water should be added to the ground coffee, how to pour the water and for how long, how to shake the solution, how to press the brewed coffee and how to analyze it. They set time limits for each step, with margins of just a few seconds, the American Chemical Society (ACS) said in a statement.

What the scientists found will interest coffee lovers. Overall, pH of hot and cold brews at the same roastiness are similar, which goes against popular wisdom that cold brew coffee is less acidic than hot. (Other studies back up this finding.) The researchers observed that pH gets highermore basicas the level of roasting gets higher, so the darkest roasts have the lowest acidity.

Brewing hot coffee also results in a product with much higher antioxidant content. For lighter roast coffees, the difference is smaller, but for dark roast coffees, hot brewing extracts far more antioxidants than cold brewing. Hot brewing also has higher amounts of specific kinds of acids and dissolved solids, despite its overall similar pH.

The researchers dont speculate about this, but it could be this higher level of some acids that results in the perception that hot brew is more acidic than cold brew.

The researchers presented their poster as part of the ACSs spring national meeting. The meeting itself was canceled because of COVID-19 (coronavirus), but participants were invited to share their research presentations online. Even so, the website compiling that research is a bit of a ghost town. These researchers should be able to present their different papers and projects in a future, in-person ACS meeting.

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What's the Chemical Difference Between Hot- and Cold-Brew Coffee? - Popular Mechanics

Without the knowledge of interfacial chemistry, however, creating functional bilayers from natural or synthetic molecules involves a certain degree of mystery. Chemical species interacting in a beaker of solution may or may not form analogous membranes with selective properties, such as the capability to store or filter sensory impulses that make up the nondigital language of neuromorphic computing.

To be able to train molecules for specific purposes and unlock new functionalities, we need to understand what is happening on a molecular level during self-assembly, Collier said.

For the experiment, researchers chose an oligomer, a small polymer variant with a similar structure to natural lipids, and used surface spectroscopy methods to probe the molecular monolayer one side of a bilayer formed between water and oil.

The ORNL team is one of only a few groups that has probed the liquid-liquid interface, an important area of research, but understudied because of technical challenges.

Our goal was to investigate how the asymmetry at the oil-water interface causes species to adsorb differently, to pack and order into a functional design, Doughty said.

The studied oligomer is an amphiphilic molecule, meaning parts of its structure are hydrophobic while others are hydrophilic. When samples stabilized in oil are introduced into a water-based solution, the molecules self-assemble in response to their mixed attraction and repulsion to water.

Like goes to like the oligomers slightly charged polar heads want to be in the water phase, which is also polar, and the nonpolar tails want to be in the oil phase, which is not.

Being able to observe in real time how these molecules arrange at a varied interface is a broadly applicable fundamental scientific accomplishment, Doughty said.

As shown in the animation, the charged oligomer heads home in on the water phase; but the flexible tails coil up in the oil when they have room to spare, or tighten to accommodate neighbors as the interface becomes crowded.

We discovered that adjusting the ions, or charged particles, in the water phase aided in the formation of well-defined interfaces, with oligomers taking on more tightly coiled structures, Doughty said.

Too few ions and the tails spread out loosely, leaving gaps; too many, and they squeeze in, ballooning from the surface.

The findings point to approaches for modifying the size and shape of monolayers, and at the next stage enabling bilayers with asymmetrical designs, just like natural lipids, Collier said. The work brings us a step closer to unlocking new potentials in biomaterials.

Tailoring surfaces on a molecular level to design new materials opens possibilities not only for biocomputing but also broadly for chemical separations, sensing and detection.

Observing the liquid-liquid interface helps us understand the chemistry that drives all of these technologies, said Doughty.

The journal article is published as Insight into the Mechanisms Driving the Self-Assembly of Functional Interfaces: Moving from Lipids to Charged Amphiphilic Oligomers.

The research was supported by ORNLs Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program. Measurements and materials synthesis performed by collaborators were supported by the DOE Office of Science and the National Science Foundation. A portion of the research was conducted at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences.

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Polymers get caught up in love-hate chemistry of oil and water - Mirage News

The former industry executive has a long history of blocking protections when it comes to harmful substances.

Nancy Beck at the EPA headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, November 1, 2017

Justin T. Gellerson/The New York Times/Redux

President Trump has nominated Nancy Beck, a former chemical industry official, to head the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), an independent federal agency tasked with protecting the public from the same toxic chemicals Beck has long defended, alongside more than 15,000 other regulated products.

Nancy Beck is a one-woman wrecking ball when it comes to protections from toxic chemicals in our food, water, and household products, says Daniel Rosenberg, the director of federal toxics policy at NRDC.

Beck, who currently serves as one of the lead political appointees for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys toxics office, has faced continual criticism over decisions that ignore science and prop up harmful substances,like asbestos and methylene chloride.Beck has driven the EPAs toxics office into a ditch, Rosenberg says. Shes rewritten rules and imposed policy decisions that make people less safethe exact opposite of what the public trusts her to do.

A federal court has in fact overturned a key Beck decision:a move that wouldve allowed the EPA to ignore the health impacts from lead and asbestos exposure.

Workers in hazmat gear clean asbestos-laden debris from a burnt home. Beck has tried to downplay the danger of asbestos exposure.

Jim Wilson/The New York Times/Redux

Recently, Beck was designated the administrations point person for responding to the crisis posed by PFASa class of harmful chemicals that now contaminates everything from our clothing and childrens toys to drinking water and even breast milk.But the administration has been hostile to publicly disclosing the extent of the health risk posed by PFAS. In 2018, the White House went as far as trying tosuppress a government studythat found EPAs current health standard is far too weak. And its response has been grudgingit has done almost nothing to address PFAS that hasnt beenspecifically mandated by Congressor compelled by overwhelming Congressional and public pressure.

The stakes are very high for consumers if Beck takes over the CPSC: The seven-year position would allow her to steer the commissions risk assessments toward industry-friendly methodswhat Rosenberg calls her specialtyand undermine state-led actions on PFAS, flame retardants, and other toxic chemicals. She would be poised to reverse the CPSCs planned rulemaking on the use of flame retardants in furniture, childrens products, and mattresses, as well as reverserecently adopted banson multiple phthalates from childrens products.

Confirming Beck would bring consumers seven years of bad luck and zero protection, says Rosenberg. If Congress cares about public healthand childrens safetydefeating this nomination is absolutely critical.

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Chemical Industry's Nancy Beck Tapped to Lead the Commission that Protects Consumers - Natural Resources Defense Council

Its an exciting day when a new piece of kit arrives in the lab. Between postdocs planning assays, PhD students wondering what will happen if they break it and lab managers wondering how they can fit it on the benchtop, technology advancements are something that affect every person involved in science. But certain advances in technology dont just promise new capabilities but threaten to change from the ground up how research is conducted in a lab group or company.Andrew Anderson, vice president innovation, informatics strategy at industry software solutions provider ACD/Labs, has had a unique vantage point into how technology affects the analytical chemistry field. In this interview, I ask Andrew how the day-to-day life of a chemist has been changed by technologies like AI and automation and how budding chemists can get their skillset up to scratch to handle the changing face of analytical science.

Ruairi Mackenzie (RM): How are technological advancements changing the current job specifications for a research scientist?Andrew Anderson (AA): Its a great question. If we had talked five years ago, I would have a different vision than I have today. In the pharmaceutical industry there are some good examples, particularly around commercializing Katalyst D2D (read more here). As you may recall we worked collaboratively with one major pharmaceutical company and then since then several others. In order to describe the changes Ive seen in scientists job roles in these companies Ill talk about what Im used to, particularly in chemistry. If you think about the pharmaceutical industry, traditionally therapeutics are made using small molecule technology and they matriculate through a drug discovery and development process, ultimately into commercialization.

If you go back five years, what we saw, particularly in discovery, was reliance on an external ecosystem of suppliers and contract research organizations, contract development and manufacturing organizations. Those ecosystems are healthy and vibrant. But what we are also seeing now is a resurgence, in my view of the market, of internal investment. This is based on that market immersion in working with these different perspectives and clients. What I see is a shift back to investment in core infrastructure, like technology platforms, robotics and automation. I wont go into the reasons behind that resurgence, but I do think that it feels like the scientists working on really pivotal projects want to have a shift back into a more balanced portfolio between internal and external work.

I could surmise or assume that theres several reasons for that. One might be the ability to collaborate at the project team level. I dont think that the technology that supports collaboration has fully replaced the level of, well call it quality, face-to-face collaboration Certainly there are efforts to use technology to make geographically disparate collaborators work more effectively together. But when you look at the level of cross-functional effort that goes on to work through the drug discovery and development and commercialization process, those folks at times need to work very closely together. Thats one reason. The other is, from my perspective, advances in experimentation technology. You can have in-house staff that are today using far more productive technology than they were in the past.

Early adopters of this new technology have realized productivity gains in their drug discovery and development processing. As an example, utilizing high throughput experimentation technology you can produce materials at a rate faster than you could in the past. Now there are drawbacks, but certainly the high throughput experimentation paradigm is yielding benefits. We do see an uplifted interest in investing in automation and so you have in-house capabilities that are highly productive. Youre certainly going to continue to leverage externalized resources for work that doesnt require automation. But I think balancing between the two is really important and we do see that senior leaders within these organizations are also recognizing the value of that balance. I do see an uplift in hiring of internal staff in parts of the world where major pharmaceutical R&D operations are being performed.

What I see is a lot of chemists moving into those organizations. Now, the chemist of today is a different chemist than they were even five years ago.

RM: How has the role of a chemist today changed from five years ago?AA: Lets pretend youre a medicinal chemist in a pharmaceutical organization. Your responsibility is to determine how to optimize a particular lead compound and make it into something that would be nominated for candidacy to clinical development. In the old world your responsibility was largely focused around a fume hood, and your work would be often devoted to some design work, understanding what molecule to make based on things like structure to activity relationships. You may even do modeling to determine how a particular molecule might fit into a particular drug target and optimize the molecule based on how it should fit in.

Now, a changing factor is artificial intelligence, where you have machines prescribing what to make. That is a realistic future where youre using in silico tools to help augment the scientists decision making around what to make next.

Following a machine-augmented approach to defining what to make, you now decide how to make it. Youll want to make these materials and subject them to physical assays, in vitro assays etc. You would then utilize tools to help prescribe the process of making a particular material. If you have heard anything about the innovation in retrosynthetic analysis and reaction prediction, that is an area where scientists of today will utilize those technologies. What that then implies is if youre having machine learning applications or artificial intelligence applications prescribing what to make and how to make it, presumably that process can be very fast with the speed of computers and other factors.

Where the bottleneck moves to is in how to make things in parallel and in high throughput. The next technological innovation is in high throughput experimentation. Where youre able to produce more materials faster than you could in the past. Historically, youd work on one or a small set of reactions at one time and weve seen in todays paradigm or maybe the short-term futures paradigm, depending on what company youre talking to, you can now use automation tools to produce up to 1500 molecules at a time. The rate of going through that traditional trial and error process to arrive at a drug development candidate is much faster if you utilize the combination of artificial intelligence for design, artificial intelligence for reaction planning and then automation tools for high throughput and parallel experimentation.

The final thing youll want to have is what Id call no loss fidelity decision support interfaces. What a lot of companies are also investing in is looking across, from design to execution to task, all of the data that is generated during those discrete unit operations in the scientific process to be able to present that data in a holistic fashion to decision makers.

From my perspective what that means for the scientist is in addition to their chemistry knowledge and their biology knowledge, their pharmaceutical knowledge they also need to be able to deal with a lot of data. Part of their job transitions from being a chemist to almost being like a data scientist or a data engineer.

RM: Does that mean that todays analytical chemist will spend less time in the fume hood, or will they be expecting to spend the same amount in the fume hood, and on top of that analyze data?AA: I would say that in the future there is no fume hood and what I mean by that is instead of interfacing with what youd classically visualize as a fume hood with reaction flasks and the like, the future paradigm or even the current paradigm is youre walking up to robots who are ins
ide the fume hood or glove box. Where youre effectively providing machine instructions to the robots who go and do the work for you, okay? The transition is that the scientists arent touching materials any more. Youre essentially providing machines with instructions across this set of unit operations you would execute during the process. Thats certainly different than what you would do even three years ago as a traditional chemist. Youre really interfacing with robotics and digital software interfaces.

RM: How can software help chemists in this new role?AA: Its the transcription and translation between systems. Certainly, there is a significant amount of human effort. We talked about this data engineering need currently to be able to transcribe information from one system to another and a simple example is if Ive executed a reaction with an automated reactor system I would say the majority of analysis that is performed is off the deck. What I mean by that is the reaction deck that has a robot, a robotic arm, that dispenses materials into containers, those containers will serve as reaction vessels, those reaction vessels are subjected to different environmental conditions, like heating or stirring or pressurization, etc.

At the conclusion or even during the experiment youll want to perform some sort of analysis to determine how the reaction is going. Often times what that means is the robot will sample either at the end of the experiment or during the experiment and create analysis samples. The analysis equipment is usually separate from the reaction equipment.

I need to make sure that the data that I generate from the analytical experiment is somehow associated through the sample provenance to my reaction experiment. Thats indeed one of the challenges right now is interfacing between these systems. What were a strong advocate for is to make software do that work of transcription and translation; make a software do that for you. What we work on is helping our customers interface the reaction equipment and the analysis equipment by creating digital representations of that sample provenance and then formatting those digital representations so that they can be consumed by, for example, analysis equipment.

A practical example is if Ive sampled a 96-well plates worth of reactions at the end of the experiment, the reaction, Im going to sample and drop into 96 HPLC vials and then Id walk over and load those HPLC vials. What I need are identifiers that associate the HPLC vial to the position in the 96-well plate so that I know what the sample belongs to.

Within our Katalyst application we have identifiers for the reaction plate, and we map those identifiers to the sample plate that you would load onto the system. Furthermore we prepare a sequence file for those samples, where the sample identifier relationships, are accounted for. Whether its a comment field or the name of the file or a variety of ways to make that association. Then, what we do is once the data is acquired, we read, so Katalyst will read the sample identifier, make the association to the appropriate reaction information.

What that then gives is a software experience that has all of the reaction information, like what reagents did I add and what product did I make, and I have all the analytical data associated to that reaction information. Now what Im able to do is walk up to a software interface that has all of that information in one place. Traditionally what scientists would have to do after this whole experiment is take data from the analytical software package and data from the reaction and make the associations themselves. That can be quite time-consuming work. We reduced that work practically to zero.

RM: Will software advances mean that scientists dont need all this data-handling training or will it just take a lot of the manual labor of data handling out of the equation?AA: Theres two schools of thought from my perspective. The first is that you build tightly integrated monolithic systems. There are certain companies that build these very high-end platforms with perfectly integrated monolithic applications. These are robotics platforms coupled with software, all tightly integrated. While those are great and, in that paradigm, you see less data engineering, because these are monoliths, theyre not modular.

Theres a consequence; if the scientific experiment youre performing doesnt fit into the platform, it wont be supported by the platform. Ill give you an example to illustrate the point. Say you had a type of chemistry that required a pressure level that the platform couldnt support. Now youre relegated back to doing the fume hood chemistry that you would do traditionally. Your platform doesnt support it. The breadth of experiments that you can perform with those monolithic platforms is limited. The analogy I like to say is that its like you have a house and all you want to do is move the couch, but you have to rebuild the house to do so. In these examples the monoliths, while they are efficient for the intended scope, if the scope changes its very difficult.

Another trend we see is modular automation. If you need to change a particular element or a unit operation in your automated process, there are plenty of options for that particular unit. Its the data integration that becomes a burden.

What we try to do is offer an ability to integrate or change different components of the platform using software and integration tools to reduce the risk of creating monoliths in a platform, make them modular a priori. You do that with effective software integration. Your data gets integrated. As opposed to doing hard code like building software that operates equipment in a monolith, were effectively using the software that exists in the modular component and providing instruction lists between them. That instruction list can be human-delivered or software-delivered. It depends on the modular components application programming interface and what it can receive and support, etc.

The point is: I dont think youll ever have to completely not understand data engineering because of that need for modularity. We certainly want to reduce the burden of manual transcription between systems, but we would facilitate either an automated or very convenient and efficient mechanism by which you can translate information, by virtue of automatically reformatting data. If we can reformat that data using software, it greatly reduces the burden on a scientist to transcribe information from one system to another.

RM: Do you have any other advice for new chemists coming into a field which has changed so rapidly in the last five years?AA: I would say that the more you have experience in dealing with predictive applications, certainly that is an important skill set to acquire. The second thing is being able to deal with data using some of the more modern data processing and analysis tools is also equally important. Finally, from my perspective, because were talking about high throughput and parallel, I cant help but think that a good understanding of statistics is an important skill set to acquire. The reason being that if you have access to highly scalable reaction equipment, the ability to assure that youre conducting an effective statistical design of experiment, so that you capture as many variables as possible with the minimum set of experiments, thats a really important knowledge set to have because if you can execute 1536 experience in parallel, its probably a good idea to maximize the amount of information youll glean from those 1536 experiments. One way to do that is to utilize statistical design of experiment math. I think thats an important thing to be aware of. By the way, a lot of AI and a lot of machine learning, a lot of those statistics that you can get double the benefit not just in your experiment design but also in the way you analyze data.

Andrew Anderson was speaking to Ruairi J Mackenzie, Science Writer for Technology Networks

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Changing Science, Changing Scientists: How Technology Has Changed The Role of an Analytical Chemist - Technology Networks

Carbons tetrahedral bonding is a central pillar of modern chemistry, yet the first person to see it in organic molecules using x-ray crystallography is barely known to many chemists. In 1929, Isabel Ellie Knaggs published her x-ray derived structure of pentaerythritol tetraacetate, correctly interpreting the shape bonds around the atom at its centre took on.1

But thats not how history has recorded things. Instead, an International Union of Crystallography newsletter gave the credit to Japanese chemist Isamu Nitta for using x-ray crystallography to confirm the anticipated tetrahedral coordination in methane derivatives.

Nitta and Knaggs had pursued the question separately in the 1920s and 1930s, according to Bart Kahr of New York University in the US. Knaggs confirmed the tetrahedral shape first and more completely, Kahr believes. She went further in trying to place the side chains attached to the carbon atom, and proposing atomic models, he wrote in the paper where he first highlighted Knaggs claim.2

Seeing tetrahedral carbon in an x-ray structure was a big result

Kahr explains that Knaggs success came because she paid close attention to prior findings. By the time Knaggs did her work, the tetrahedral coordination of carbon had been established beyond a shadow of a doubt by Emil Fischer and many others, he says. Her work was more like icing on the cake. Seeing it in an x-ray structure was a big result, more for x-ray crystallography than for structural chemistry I would say.

Ellie Knaggs was born in 1893 in Durban, South Africa, where her English father had moved to relieve his suspected tuberculosis symptoms, Knaggs niece Elaine Mayer explains. Ellie and her sister Marjorie, Mayers mother, moved to England to live with their grandfather and his wealthy fourth wife after their mother died in childbirth. Their new guardians really were ahead of their time in terms of education, says Mayer.

The Knaggs girls attended the North London Collegiate School, where mathematician Sophie Bryant was head. Bryant would have been a striking role model. She the first woman to receive a first class honours Bachelor of Science degree and the first to receive a Doctor of Science degree in Britain and among the first women to own a bicycle. Riding in Bryants tyretracks, Ellie Knaggs studied chemistry at Girton College, not then a full part of the University of Cambridge. At the time, female students could study and sit the university exams but still not receive a degree. She would graduate with a PhD from Imperial College London in 1923, beginning the scientific adventure she would continue throughout her professional life.

Knaggs immediately joined William Henry Bragg at the DavyFaraday Laboratory of the Royal Institution. Her application form can still be found in the Royal Institution archives. It specifically says that her three day-a-week research project would build on her PhD work producing crystal structures of carbon compounds with the formula CX4. But many of Knaggs studies would also involve potentially explosive nitrogen-rich materials possibly related to what Mayer calls her secret war work. For example, she is probably best known for discovering that the azide groups in cyanuric triazide are linear.3

Crystallography entails a great deal of mathematical analysis, nowadays performed by computers. In Knaggs time, it involved analysing spots formed on photographic films by x-rays diffracting off atoms in crystalline materials. To interpret chemical structure information from the spots positions requires very difficult calculations. In their efforts to output the right structures, scientists need to work out which formulae to apply. The choice depends on the symmetry in the crystal, which in Knaggs time was usually only partly known, or completely unknown. Successful results therefore depended on choosing molecules that offered some kind of clue and then getting their symmetry right.

Knaggs work was the first unequivocal statement derived from x-ray data that a methane derivative has tetrahedral coordination

Knaggs knew that Bragg and his son Lawrence had determined that diamond comprises a tetrahedral carbon framework in 1913. Yet the idea that carbon atoms in discrete molecules were also tetrahedral, although widely accepted, had not been confirmed with x-rays. In 1925, Knaggs tackled the molecular carbon question in the explosive pentaerythritol tetranitrate. Her calculations only produced reasonable structures if the central carbons bonds were arranged tetrahedrally.

Studying pentaerythritol tetraacetate, Knaggs also found a tetrahedral arrangement , first communicating her results in a private communication to the Council of Girton College in May 1927. In 1928 a German group published a pyramidal structure for pentaerythritol tetraacetate. In rebutting them in a Nature paper before publishing her full structure Knaggs asserts that the carbon atom plays the part expected of it, meaning it was tetrahedral.4 She makes the first unequivocal statement derived from x-ray data that a methane derivative has tetrahedral coordination as far as I am aware, Kahr writes.

Yet when T H Goodwin and R Hardy from the University of Manchester returned to refine Knaggs preliminary model in 1938 they were dismissive.5 Acknowledging that she had corrected the previously published space group for the crystal, they wrote that no good purpose would be served by discussing her molecular structure. Kahr thinks that this is hardly sporting, as x-ray diffraction was a fast-moving field and much had changed in 10 ten years. Denigrating someone elses work to elevate your own is a strategy that should not stand up to scrutiny, Kahr adds. The collective dismissal of the work of Ellie Knaggs succeeded.

Nitta, meanwhile, published work on pentaerythritols crystal structure in 1926.6 But he didnt commit to whether its central atom is tetrahedral or not. Instead, he partly follows the lead of previous scientists who had suggested an incorrect symmetry for pentaerythritols crystals. He uses his own data to narrow down the symmetry to just two options. But he concludes that these data may not be sufficient to decide upon the symmetry that would yield a tetrahedral structure.

In the influential textbook Fifty Years of X-ray Diffraction, however, Nitta gives a different impression. Going by the shape of pentaerythritol crystals, he writes, he chose a symmetry which enabled the central carbon atom of the molecule to conform with the tetrahedral distribution. Looking back at Nittas papers, Kahr discovered that he hadnt actually decided on the right symmetry until 1937.7 In that paper Nitta writes that there is no other x-ray investigation yet imparted which confirms the presence of tetrahedral carbon atoms in organic crystals, overlooking Knaggs work.

Her absence in the discussion is conspicuous

Research from Geoff and Marelene Rayner-Canham from Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada, made Kahr aware of Knaggs contributions. The Rayner-Canhams have reconstructed womens roles in the early years of x-ray crystallography. In their book Chemistry Was Their Life, the Rayner-Canhams cite crystallographer Helen Megaw, another Girton College alumna, who wrote an obituary for Knaggs in 1981. Megaw described Knaggs as a kind and gentle person, rather shy. She attended scientific meetings, but did not put herself forward, Megaw says.

Mayer agrees that Knaggs was definitely not an extrovert. Among many fond family recollections, she proudly remembers going to a Royal Institution public lecture with her aunt as a child. Mayer moved to Sydney, Australia, in 1954 and Knaggs would ultimately follow in 1977, when she started showing signs of dementia. My sense is that Aunt would have been deeply disappointed and angered but not surprised, by Nittas actions, she says. Perhaps she did not even know the full extent of the scientific theft. Above all she would be protective of her rare position and privilege in working at the RI, which was her life and which sh
e had earned all on her own and against the odds.

Meanwhile, Kahr suspects that Nitta was aware of Knaggs findings, but found them inconvenient. Her absence in his discussion is conspicuous, Kahr says. Gracious authors dont write as he did. Science is a shared practice.

Andy Extance is a science writer based in Exeter, UK

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Ellie Knaggs and tetrahedral carbon | Article - Chemistry World

Car and Parrinello are known for their invention of a method for mapping and predicting the behavior of atoms in motion, known as the Car-Parrinello method. Their original paper detailing this technique, which is a powerful tool for studying chemical structures with applications in both physics and chemistry, was published in Physical Review Letters and is one of the journal's most highly cited papers.

Kapteyn and Murnane, a husband-and-wife research team, are awarded the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics for their groundbreaking research on lasers and light and their contributions to the field of coherent ultra-fast x-ray laser light sources. Their research has led to numerous applications in science, from imaging to energy-efficient electronics.

Laureates will receive their medals and a cash prize of $250,000 each at a ceremony on April 30, 2020, at The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. The Franklin Institute of Philadelphia was founded in 1824 to honor the legacy of Benjamin Franklin. The 2020 recipients of Benjamin Franklin Medals join other notable scientists and inventors including Marie Curie, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking, Jane Goodall, and Bill Gates.

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2020 Benjamin Franklin Medals in Physics and Chemistry Awarded to APS Fellows - Physics

In a backup center, the Sixers could do a lot worse than Al Horford. The 13-year veteran is an improvement across the board over the Sixers backup fives last season.

His pick-and-roll defense is one of the most valuable ways in which hes an upgrade. We got some insight from Horford on how he and the Sixers approach pick-and-roll defense, and we already have plenty of evidence how Horford helps in that area.

The Sixers have a variety of pick-and-roll coverages in their back pocket, but Horford explained their core principles in simple terms.

I think the biggest thing is just communicating, making sure that its the big man, the ones who are looking at everything and communicating to the guards, Horford told NBC Sports Philadelphia before the teams preseason finale. And then once we alert them, its important for the guards to be able to get up onto the ball and force the ball off the screen.

The aggressive objective of forcing the ball off the screen is often difficult to achieve. Matisse Thybulle does it well on the play below, with the help of early communication from Horford, stepping on top of Robert Williams screen and staying attached to Kemba Walker.

When the guard falls a half step behind in his effort to fight over the screen, the Sixers encourage rearview contests. Though Luke Kennard gets in front of Thybulle, the rookie effectively makes his presence felt from behind.

On both of the plays above, Horford drops into what assistant coach Ime Udoka calls center field, which still seems to be at the heart of the teams pick-and-roll coverage. When watching Horford defend the pick-and-roll, you notice his nuanced sense for how far to drop and when to do so.

The more familiar you get with different guys throughout the league, you know their tendencies, he said. Weve watched a lot of film and I have a good sense of how far I need to be up, how much I need to be back. Usuallycoaches do a good job of preparing us and letting us know. But its just a feel in the game. Its kind of to your discretion.

In the play below from the Sixers game against the Pistons, Ben Simmons is buried by Thon Makers screen. Horford drops a few steps into the paint initially in response to Simmonsfalling out of the play, but its not a panicked backpedal. He maintains his balance and doesnt give up more ground than he has to, tightly contesting Tony Snells runner.

This next example is similar to one that hurt the Sixers on many occasions last season, with the guard James Ennis, this case falling out of the play and allowing the ball handler an open mid-range jumper.

The subtle difference, however, is Horford has the skill in those spots to at least contest Brad Wanamakers shot, even if he cant truly put a hand in his face. Its the best Horford can do in this situation when the guard badly loses the first battle.

When Horford drops back into center field, his main goal is frequently just to buy his guard some time to recover. He gives Josh Richardson a chance to make an excellent rearview block on Gordon Hayward here, at first stepping up above the foul line to deter Hayward, then falling back to take Daniel Theis on the roll whenRichardson has worked his way back into the picture.

The result of a Sixers guard being soundly beaten by a ball screen is typically a 2-on-1 for theopponent, at least temporarily. Horford is strong at coping when such a moment occurs.

He positions himself in the right spot during the sequence below, staying in front of Tim Frazier while simultaneously blocking Andre Drummonds path for a roll to the rim. Drummond catching the ball nine or 10 feet from the hoop with Horford on top of him does not pose a serious threat to the Sixers.

Two-on-ones are, of course, not ideal for the defense. Frazier accelerates off Drummonds screen here, which seems to catch Richardson by surprise, and Drummond rolls hard to the rim. Fouling a career 54 percent free throw shooter is not the worst result for the Sixers, given the circumstances.

Udoka has notedhe thinks highly of Horford and Embiids ability to switch, but Horford was clear in saying thats not the heart of the Sixers approach.

I think that to our preference, we probably want to keep our matchups, even though we can switch at least thats what Coach has expressed to us., he said. Well do it how he wants us to do it, and if for some reason we need to make adjustments throughout the game, we will.

Horfords defense at the end of the first half of the Sixers regular-season opener shows why the team is confident in him switching. He comes up high on a pick-and-roll between Walker and Marcus Smart, thenthe Sixers make the late call to switch. Hoforfd does a decent job hanging with the three-time All-Star, and it sure helps to have Embiid behind him in the paint.

Having the foot speed not to get obliterated on a switch, knowing how to survive in the second or two when his guard is out of the play, using fouls in the appropriate moments none of these are flashy qualities. They're all skills Horford possesses, though, and reasonsthe Sixers can feel good about asking their guards to defend pick-and-rolls aggressively.

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PHILADELPHIA

About 200 fans of the Dayton Flyers visited Tom Gola Arena on Thursday night. They were brave souls. Their team had lost four straight games at La Salle.

PHOTOS:Flyers vs. Explorers

Good Dayton teams had lost to average or poor La Salle teams. For whatever reason, La Salle had Daytons number in Philadelphia at least until the first game of 2020.

La Salle (9-4) entered the game with three losses to Penn, Temple and Villanova by a combined 32 points. Dayton beat the Explorers84-58. It was La Salles worst loss since a 77-39 defeat at UD on Senior Night last March.

All credit goes to Dayton, said second-year La Salle coach Ashley Howard. Theyre a really good team. Great chemistry. They play with great pace. Until you see it live, you dont really get a feel for it. Its hard to simulate. We had some scoring issues early in the game that really just affected our fight. I just felt like midway through the first half, we lost our fight once we couldnt generate easy offense, and thats all Dayton.

La Salle trailed 14-12 when Dayton began a 6-0 run. After one basket by La Salle, Dayton then ran off 18 straight points.

They do a great job, Howard said. They communicate at a high level. They have great interchangeable people. Its not just Obi Toppin. Its (Ryan) Mikesell, Trey Landers, (Jalen) Crutcher, Ibi Watson. Those guys are big-time players, and theyre confident and theyve got a good thing going right now. Theyre a great representation of the Atlantic 10.

BIG RUN:Examining Daytons 18-0 spurt in first half

Howard called the game a reality check for his team. La Salle has two top-150 victories, judging by the Ken Pomeroy ratings: 75-64 against No. 141 Murray State and 72-70 against No. 112 Wright State.

We played some opponents that were not at the same level as the Atlantic 10, Howard said. We won those games. I was afraid that we may get a little overconfident and a false sense of where we are. Today put us right back in check to understand we won these games and now we have a lot of work to keep getting better, and Dayton is really good. They might be one of the best teams in the country. They played like it tonight.

Looking ahead: Dayton ended a four-game losing streak at Tom Gola Arena and will try to end a nine-game skid at Saint Josephs on Sunday. The Flyers play the Hawks at Hagan Arena at 1 p.m. Saint Josephs (3-10) lost 84-52 at Richmond in its A-10 opener Thursday.

DECADE IN REVIEW:Best and worst of UD basketball

Philly stay: Dayton practiced at Tom Gola Arena after arriving in Philadelphia on Wednesday. Then on Thursday, they held a morning shootaround across the river in New Jersey on the campus of Rutgers-Camden.

Rising Flyers: Dayton moved from No. 9 to No. 8 in the Pomeroy ratings. Its the highest the program has ever been ranked since the ratings were first published in 2002.

Around the A-10: Duquesne (11-2) beat Saint Louis 73-59 in Pittsburgh on Thursday. Marcus Weathers scored 26 points for the Dukes. The Billikens (11-3) faded after cutting the deficit to four points with under six minutes to play.

Preseason favorite Virginia Commonwealth opened conference play with a 64-46 victory at home against Fordham (6-7). MikeL Simms scored 14.

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La Salle coach: Dayton might be one of the best teams in the country - Dayton Daily News