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Mattingly unconcerned about changing chemistry

Posted on July 29, 2012 by Danzig

ByKen Gurnick/MLB.com|07/29/12 4:15 PM ET

SAN FRANCISCO -- With rumors of the Dodgers seeking multiple additions such as Ryan Dempster, Shane Victorino, etc., before Tuesday's Trade Deadline, manager Don Mattingly was asked about the balance between roster improvement and clubhouse chemistry.

"You've always got to try to get better," Mattingly said. "You do worry a little if you have a clubhouse that gets along; you want to create a baseball environment for everybody. But this is professional sports and we're here to win and be the best club we can be.

"It's hard to say, 'We need to get rid of this guy and get another guy in.' If we get guys that don't fit, they won't stay around."

In addition to Dempster and Victorino, who clearly are the Dodgers' top two targets, the club has been rumored in talks for starting pitchers James Shields and Matt Garza, slugger Corey Hart, reliever Brandon League and outfielder Hunter Pence.

SAN FRANCISCO -- In the four games Hanley Ramirez has played for the Dodgers, he's 6-for-16 at the plate. In those same four games, Luis Cruz is 5-for-16.

Not that Cruz should be considered of the same caliber as Ramirez, but he's done enough since taking over for injured shortstop Dee Gordon to stay in the lineup.

"He's not Ozzie Smith at shortstop, but if he gets his glove on the ball, he catches it and throws them out," said manager Don Mattingly. "He's stabilized the position and swung the bat well."

Mattingly expects Ramirez to slide over to his original position of shortstop, although he still takes more pregame ground balls at third base, where he started again Sunday, with Cruz still at shortstop.

Cruz said he's just grateful to be playing anywhere after a journeyman's career spent mostly in the Minor Leagues, with three previous callups of no significance.

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Mattingly unconcerned about changing chemistry

Chemistry a factor for Reds on trade front

Posted on July 31, 2012 by Danzig

CINCINNATI -- While the first-place Reds have been winning a lot lately and entered Monday tied with the Nationals for the best record in baseball, there's been a lot of trade rumors surrounding the club.

It's no secret that general manager Walt Jocketty has been trying to land upgrades at the leadoff spot and the bench, and he wouldn't mind improvements for the already strong pitching staff ahead of Tuesday's Trade Deadline.

Some players, including Ryan Ludwick, have recently talked about the team's chemistry being so good. Another player, Drew Stubbs -- who could be displaced if the potential leadoff acquisition is a center fielder -- also felt the current chemistry was strong and could be affected by a deal.

"Looking at what we've done so far this year, it's hard to argue with the success we've had," Stubbs said. "I don't think a move is necessary unless you're going to make a significant improvement to the team. ... I feel like so many people this time of year in a playoff race feel like you should make a move just to make a move. I don't think that's necessary for us, especially with the chemistry we have and the way everybody has been playing lately."

Reds manager Dusty Baker is kept in the loop about potential deals, but he doesn't have the last word, calling himself the "shop foreman." Baker hoped that if a trade was made before the 4 p.m. ET Deadline, that it didn't upset the balance in the clubhouse.

"That's why you're very careful," Baker said. "People don't understand about making deals or making trades is that you could end up getting rid of some guys that are an integral part of what you've got going on right now. Or bring in somebody that's not on the same page that we are, which could be a bad apple that ruins your basket. It takes a while."

CINCINNATI -- It was albeit a small step, but injured Reds first baseman Joey Votto's rehab from knee surgery went to the next level on Monday, when he began doing some baseball activity.

It wasn't much. Votto played catch and took some throws at first base. He had arthroscopic surgery July 17 to repair torn meniscus in his left knee. The 28-year-old cornerstone player has been doing rehab and running, but is not moving around at 100 percent yet.

"I feel like I'm making subtle improvements every day," Votto said. "If it was pain-free, I would be playing right now."

When exactly Votto might return remains murky as he and the Reds have not laid down an exact timetable. The club estimated after the operation that it would take three to four weeks to return. Votto is eligible for activation from the 15-day disabled list as soon as Tuesday. That clearly won't happen.

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Chemistry a factor for Reds on trade front

Chemistry in its element – Lycra

Posted on July 29, 2012 by Danzig

On your marks, get set, GO! With the Olympics just days away, Brian Clegg dons his speed-suit to take a quick dash through the chemistry of Lycra (also known as spandex in the US) in this week’s Chemistry in its element podcast.

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CW competition blog – Adam Hart-Davis

Posted on July 29, 2012 by Danzig

This is a guest post from one of our judges for the Chemistry World Science Communication Competition

50 years ago, while taking a gap year teaching in India, I used to write home to my parents every week (no email or mobiles then). In one letter, I asked my dad, a highly respected editor, how to write good English. He wrote back: ‘Use short sentences, and don’t start them with “It…”‘. I have followed this advice ruthlessly ever since, also applying it when editing texts of all kinds from various unfortunate authors, and it has served me well.

I have spent my entire career trying to make science accessible, and have found that short words and phrases help, as well as short sentences. So I tend to use ‘chose’ rather than ‘selected’ and ‘now’ rather than ‘at the present moment in time’ – just as William Tyndale, translating the Bible into English for the first time, used words of one syllable wherever he could: ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’.

And I try to avoid hype. Listening to commentary on recent tennis and cricket matches, I have been dismayed as shot after shot is described as ‘unbelievable’ or ‘incredible’. No; we have just seen them; they were brilliant, but not unbelievable.

So my advice is: keep the language simple. Using long words, excessive hype, and scientific jargon may make your text sound more important, but will always get in the way of understanding.

Adam Hart-Davis is a writer and broadcaster based in Devon, UK

Read Philip Ball’s competition blog post.

Find out about the Chemistry World Science Communication Competition and submit your entry here.

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Brandon Lloyd, Tom Brady working on chemistry

Posted on July 29, 2012 by Danzig

Though training camp still is in the early stages, wide receiver Brandon Lloyd appears to be giving the New England Patriots exactly what they wanted when they signed him to a three-year contract that could be worth as much as $15.5 million.

According to Mary Paoletti of Comcast SportsNet New England, Lloyd and quarterback Tom Brady have connected on deep passes that have been the highlight of each of the Patriots' practices thus far, drawing "oohs" and "ahhs" from spectators. Those kinds of plays were commonplace when Brady and Randy Moss were lighting up opposing secondaries but were absent during the failed Chad Ochocinco experiment of 2011.

Lloyd, whose yards-per-catch average dropped from 18.8 in 2010 to 13.8 in 2011, has produced solid numbers in Josh McDaniels-led offenses, which was a big part in his decision to sign with the Patriots.

Playing with an elite quarterback like Brady was the main draw, however, and Lloyd said he and Brady still are working on their chemistry.

"(The relationship with Brady) just takes time," Lloyd said. "We're continuing to talk and work together and seeing what one another is expecting out of the route running and eventually it will just start clicking."

Focus turns to state investigator in UCLA lab death case

Posted on July 27, 2012 by Danzig

Criminal proceedings against UCLA chemistry professor Patrick Harran took a bizarre turn Thursday when the defense alleged in court papers that the state's chief investigator in the accidental death of a lab worker committed murder as a teenager in 1985.

The investigator, Brian Baudendistel, denied it.

"It's not true," he told The Times earlier this week. "Look, it's not me."

Baudendistel, a senior special investigator for the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, was instrumental in building the criminal case against Harran and UCLA with a 95-page report that blamed both in the death of 23-year-old Sheharbano "Sheri" Sangji. She suffered fatal burns when a experiment burst into flames in December 2008.

Sangji, who graduated that year from Pomona College in Claremont with a bachelor's degree in chemistry, had worked in Harran's organic chemistry lab for less than three months. She was transferring about 1.8 ounces of t-butyl lithium from one sealed container to another when a plastic syringe came apart in her hands, spewing a chemical compound that ignites when exposed to air. The synthetic sweater she was wearing caught fire and melted onto her skin. She died 18 days later.

From the outset, UCLA and Harran have cast her death as a tragic accident and said she was a seasoned chemist who was trained in the experiment and chose not to wear a protective lab coat.

In late December, however, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office charged Harran and the UC regents with three counts each of willfully violating occupational safety and health standards. After months of plea negotiations, the defendants are due back in Superior Court on Friday to be arraigned or to announce if any deals have been struck.

In his filing, which includes a motion to quash Harran's arrest warrant, his defense attorney, Thomas O'Brien, signaled that he would seek to put Baudendistel's credibility on trial. The filing states that a judge would not have relied on the investigator's report in issuing a warrant for Harran if the investigator's juvenile record had been known.

"Incredibly, the affidavit failed to disclose ... that at age 16, Investigator Baudendistel murdered a man in cold blood during a failed drug deal and almost certainly lied or deliberately misled the District Attorney within the past two months about his involvement in that heinous crime," the filing states.

If the warrant were quashed, Harran's lawyers contend, it would mean that "no prosecution was properly brought" against Harran within the three-year statute of limitations. That could mean the charges would have to be dropped.

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Focus turns to state investigator in UCLA lab death case

UC regents strike plea deal in UCLA chemistry lab death

Posted on July 28, 2012 by Danzig

Half of the felony charges stemming from a 2008 lab accident that killed UCLA research assistant Sheri Sangji were dropped Friday when the University of California regents agreed to follow comprehensive safety measures and endow a $500,000 scholarship in her name.

"The regents acknowledge and accept responsibility for the conditions under which the laboratory operated on Dec. 29, 2008," the agreement read in part, referring to the date that Sangji, 23, suffered fatal burns.

Charges remain against her supervisor, chemistry professor Patrick Harran. His arraignment was postponed to Sept. 5 to allow the judge to consider defense motions, including one challenging the credibility of the state's chief investigator on the case.

Sangji was transferring about 1.8 ounces of t-butyl lithium from one sealed container to another when a plastic syringe came apart in her hands, spewing a chemical compound that ignites when exposed to air. Her synthetic sweater caught fire and melted onto her skin. She died 18 days later.

UCLA and Harran have called her death a tragic accident and said she was a seasoned chemist who chose not to wear a protective lab coat.

In December, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office charged Harran and the regents with three counts each of willfully violating occupational health and safety standards.

In settling the case, the regents agreed to maintain a comprehensive lab safety program across UC campuses, including enhanced safety training and protective equipment. The board also will endow a $500,000 environmental law scholarship in Sangji's name at UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law, from which Sangji had received an acceptance letter.

Her older sister, Naveen Sangji, has pressed for prosecution of Harran and UCLA but welcomed the admission of responsibility.

"UCLA and the regents have finally admitted that they wronged Sheri terribly," she said. "Our family's pain will not diminish, but our hope, of course, is that no one else has to suffer the way Sheri did and that such tragedies are avoided in the future."

UC officials said Friday that they stand by Harran. They and Harran's lawyer, Thomas O'Brien, expressed sympathy for Sangji's family, but said charges against the professor are unwarranted.

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UC regents strike plea deal in UCLA chemistry lab death

Rewriting Archimedes’ principle

Posted on July 29, 2012 by Danzig

Archimedes’ principle does not work in the nanoworld. So say Roberto Piazza, from Milan Polytechnic in Italy, and his colleagues. The principle, a law of physics established 23 centuries ago, states that a body immersed in a fluid is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the fluid it displaces, but, as Piazza has found, this does not hold for objects a millionth of a millimetre in size.

‘It works for footballs, but not in the microscopic world,’ Piazza said in a recent interview. ‘What we have done is just a generalisation; had Archimedes had such small particles at his disposal, he could have done the same,’ he added.

Piazza’s team noticed that when they added gold nanoparticles (20 times more dense than water) to an aqueous suspension of plastic particles just slightly denser than water and six times larger than the nanoparticles, the gold nanoparticles floated to the top, forming a thin layer on the surface after a few days. ‘What happens is that not only is the liquid displaced, but the submerged object gets an additional upward push owing to the perturbation induced by the distribution of the other particles,’ explained Piazza. The larger particles slowly push the nanoparticles towards the surface.

The finding may have implications for biology and geology research, Piazza said. These include techniques to separate biological fluids from nanomaterials and getting a better idea of how sedimentary rocks form.

Elinor Hughes

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University of Utah chemist receives prestigious award

Posted on July 26, 2012 by Danzig

SALT LAKE CITY University of Utah chemistry professor Peter Stang has been named as the 2013 receipient of the Priestley Medal, the highest honor given by the American Chemical Society.

In addition to receiving the medal, Stang and U. professor Henry White were inducted as fellows of the American Chemical Society the world's largest scientific group with 164,000 members.

"I am truly delighted and honored to receive this most prestigious American Chemical Society award," Stang said in a prepared statement. "It's humbling to be listed among the distinguished previous recipients."

Stang has served as a member of the U. faculty for more than 40 years, according to the university. For the past 20 years, he has pioneered the field of supramolecular chemistry.

Last year, Stang was ranked 69th on a list of the world's top 100 chemists by Times Higher Education in Britain. Also in 2011, Stang was honored by President Barack Obama at the White House as a winner of the National Medal of Science, the highest U.S. honor for a scientist or engineer.

Stang was elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences in 2000 and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2002, according to U. officials.

"I am exceedingly proud of Peter and this is a fitting tribute to his lifelong dedication to chemistry," U. President David Pershing said in a prepared statement. "He is absolutely committed to the highest research standards and the best education for his students."

Benjamin Wood

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University of Utah chemist receives prestigious award

Former students sues school over "C+"

Posted on July 27, 2012 by Danzig

ALBANY, Calif. (KGO) -- A former Albany High School student is taking legal action for a "C+" he received in chemistry. Bowen Bethards say he was earning an "A" in the class until the teacher refused to let him make up missed work.

Based on grades, Bowen is a good student. In his first two years at Albany High School, he received only two "Bs," the rest were "As", which is why he was so devastated when he received a "C+" in chemistry, a grade he and his mother say, he didn't deserve.

Bethards is a year away from college and dreams of going to UCLA. But the "C+" he received in chemistry his sophomore year at Albany High could jeopardize his chances.

He and his mother Laureen are now suing the chemistry teacher, the principal and the district.

"They allowed a rogue teacher to deny him what he had worked so hard for and what he had earned to basically steal from him," Laureen Bethards said.

She says the whole ordeal began when Bowen missed a lab to attend an adoption hearing of his younger sister. Bethards says the teacher, award-winning, district veteran Peggy Carlock initially agreed to let Bowen make-up the lab, but then changed her mind and gave him a failing grade for lab work.

Bethards says because of that, Bowen's "A+" in chemistry turned into a "C+" for the semester.

"If Laureen is a helicopter mom, she's a Black Hawk attack helicopter and we're going to get justice," family attorney Daniel Horowitz said.

District officials have since changed Bowen's "C+" to a "B", but the Bethards family wants either an "A+" or the opportunity to make up the missed work. They are also seeking $10,000 from the district and damages for severe emotional distress.

Bowen's mom says there is much at stake.

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Former students sues school over "C+"

Rice University building evacuated after ammonia leak in chemistry lab

Posted on July 26, 2012 by Danzig

A building on Rice University's campus was evacuated Wednesday afternoon because of an ammonia leak, according to a campus alert.

The Rice University Police Department said that crews are repairing the leak that was on the fourth floor of Dell Butcher Hall that started this afternoon around 1 p.m.

Officials said that no one was injured, said Rice spokesman B.J. Almond.

He said that there was a valve on a tank of ammonia that did not close completely and a small amount went into the chemical exhaust.

Houston Fire department Chief Ruy Lozano said the leak was from a 200-pound cylinder that was in an organic chemistry lab in the building.

He said the firefighters could not determine a specific reason why it leaked.

Two Hazmat units and close to 80 firefighters responded to the scene. The building will reopen after investigators do a wide sweep of the area, Lozano said.

Several campus roads are closed. Campanile Road is closed between entrances 20 and 21 and Alumni Road has been closed between Lab Road and Entrance 20.

-- Chronicle photographer Cody Duty contributed to this report

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Rice University building evacuated after ammonia leak in chemistry lab

U. of U’s Peter Stang garners nation’s top honor for chemistry

Posted on July 26, 2012 by Danzig

(Courtesy photo) University of Utah professor of chemistry Peter Stang, recipient of the 2013 Priestley Medal, the American Chemical Society's highest honor.

U. of Us Peter Stang garners nations top honor for chemistry

University of Utah chemistry professor Peter Stang has earned one of the nations highest honors for a scientist, with the American Chemical Society (ACS) awarding him the 2013 Priestley Medal in recognition of his lifetime achievements in organic chemistry.

The society, the worlds largest scientific group with 164,000 members, highlighted Stangs advances in "supramolecular chemistry," which involves the spontaneous formation of large, complex molecules from pre-designed, simple molecules that Stang compares with building blocks in a Lego toy set. A 43-year faculty member, Stang draws inspiration from Utahs Bryce Canyon in his efforts to understand how organic molecules assemble themselves.

"Nature uses self-assembly because its a very efficient way to build the molecules that are essential for living organisms," he said in a video about his research. "I make small molecules so the pieces recognize each other and come together the right way to make much more complex molecules."

These molecules could lead to targeted drug delivery and improved oil refining, among other technological advances.

"I am exceedingly proud of Peter, and this is a fitting tribute to his lifelong dedication to chemistry," said U. President David Pershing, a long-time chemical engineer at the university, in a statement. "He is absolutely committed to the highest research standards and the best education for his students."

Only a few months ago, President Barack Obama awarded Stang the National Medal of Science. The Priestley medal was established in 1922 in honor of 18th-century theologian Joseph Priestley, the scientist who discovered the element oxygen. It is regarded as the highest honor for U.S. chemists.

At least seven Priestley winners in the past 40 years have also won Nobel Prizes. The current Priestley honoree is MITs Robert Langer, a nanotechnology pioneer, while the U.s Henry Eyring won the honor in 1975.

This year, the ASC also inducted Stang and U. department chairman Henry White as fellows. Stang credited his students and post-doctorate students who actually carried out his experiments over the years.

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U. of U’s Peter Stang garners nation’s top honor for chemistry

U. of Utah’s Peter Stang garners nation’s top honor for chemistry

Posted on July 26, 2012 by Danzig

(Courtesy photo) University of Utah professor of chemistry Peter Stang, recipient of the 2013 Priestley Medal, the American Chemical Society's highest honor.

U. of Us Peter Stang garners nations top honor for chemistry

These molecules could lead to targeted drug delivery and improved oil refining, among other technological advances.

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U. of Utah’s Peter Stang garners nation’s top honor for chemistry

Chemistry award goes to Univ. of Utah prof

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Danzig

Priestley Medal winner Peter J. Stang. Credit: University of Utah

SALT LAKE CITY, July 23 (UPI) -- A University of Utah organic chemist recently given a National Medal of Science by President Obama has won chemistry's highest honor, the school says.

Organic chemist Peter J. Stang has won the American Chemical Society's 2013 Priestley Medal, said to be the highest honor from the world's largest scientific group, a university release reported.

The medal, considered a lifetime achievement award for chemists, was given in recognition of Stang's "cutting-edge research that has had far-reaching implications for many areas of science, including drug development and more efficient ways to produce gasoline and home heating oil."

The 164,000-member ACS announced the honor July 20.

"It is humbling to be listed among the distinguished previous recipients," said Stang, a Utah professor of chemistry whose family fled Hungary when he was a teenager after the Communist takeover in 1956.

The Priestley Medal, first awarded in 1922, is named for British chemist Joseph Priestley (1733-1804), whose discovery of oxygen in 1774 explained why and how things burn, and proved air was made of a mixture of gases.

Stang, who became a naturalized citizen in 1962, has served as editor of the Journal of the American Chemical Society since 2002.

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Chemistry award goes to Univ. of Utah prof

Ancient alteration of seawater chemistry linked with past climate change

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Danzig

ScienceDaily (July 23, 2012) Scientists have discovered a potential cause of Earth's "icehouse climate" cooling trend of the past 45 million years. It has everything to do with the chemistry of the world's oceans.

"Seawater chemistry is characterized by long phases of stability, which are interrupted by short intervals of rapid change," says geoscientist Ulrich Wortmann of the University of Toronto, lead author of a paper reporting the results and published this week in the journal Science.

"We've established a new framework that helps us better interpret evolutionary trends and climate change over long periods of time. The study focuses on the past 130 million years, but similar interactions have likely occurred through the past 500 million years."

Wortmann and co-author Adina Paytan of the University of California Santa Cruz point to the collision between India and Eurasia approximately 50 million years ago as one example of an interval of rapid change.

This collision enhanced dissolution of the most extensive belt of water-soluble gypsum on Earth, stretching from Oman to Pakistan and well into western India. Remnants of the collision are exposed in the Zagros Mountains in western Iran.

The dissolution or creation of such massive gypsum deposits changes the sulfate content of the ocean, say the scientists, affecting the amount of sulfate aerosols in the atmosphere and thus climate.

"We propose that times of high sulfate concentrations in ocean water correlate with global cooling, just as times of low concentrations correspond with greenhouse [warmer] periods," says Paytan.

"When India and Eurasia collided, it caused dissolution of ancient salt deposits, which resulted in drastic changes in seawater chemistry."

That may have led to the end of the Eocene epoch--the warmest period of the modern-day Cenozoic era--and the transition from a greenhouse to an icehouse climate. "It culminated in the beginning of the rapid expansion of the Antarctic ice sheet," says Paytan.

Canada's Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council supports Wortmann's research and the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) supports Paytan research.

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Ancient alteration of seawater chemistry linked with past climate change

Colliding continents affected climate

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Danzig

Space shuttle view of Earth's "gypsum belt," which likely changed seawater chemistry. Credit: NASA

WASHINGTON, July 23 (UPI) -- An alteration of seawater chemistry caused by a continental collision 50 million years ago has been linked with past climate changes, researchers say.

"Seawater chemistry is characterized by long phases of stability, which are interrupted by short intervals of rapid change," geoscientist Ulrich Wortmann of the University of Toronto said.

Wortmann and co-author Adina Paytan of the University of California Santa Cruz cite the collision between India and Eurasia about 50 million years ago as one example of an interval of rapid change caused by a change in ocean chemistry.

The collision sped up the dissolution of the most extensive belt of water-soluble gypsum on Earth, stretching from Oman to Pakistan and well into western India, they said.

The dissolving of massive gypsum deposits changed the sulfate content of the ocean, the researchers said, affecting the amount of sulfate aerosols in the atmosphere and thus climate.

"We propose that times of high sulfate concentrations in ocean water correlate with global cooling, just as times of low concentrations correspond with greenhouse [warmer] periods," Paytan said

"Abrupt changes in seawater composition are a new twist in our understanding of the links among ocean chemistry, plate tectonics, climate and evolution," said Candace Major, program director in the Division of Ocean Sciences of the National Science Foundation, which supported the research.

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Colliding continents affected climate

American Chemical Society's highest honor goes to pioneer of 'Lego-like' molecules

Posted on July 23, 2012 by Danzig

Public release date: 22-Jul-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Michael Bernstein m_bernstein@acs.org 202-872-6042 American Chemical Society

WASHINGTON, July 23, 2012 Peter J. Stang, Ph.D., distinguished professor of chemistry at the University of Utah and editor of the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS), has been named winner of the 2013 Priestley Medal by the American Chemical Society (ACS). It is the highest honor bestowed by the world's largest scientific society.

The award recognizes Stang's cutting-edge research that has had far-reaching implications for many areas of science, including drug development and more efficient ways to produce gasoline and home heating oil. The annual award includes a gold medallion designed to commemorate the work of Joseph Priestley, who lived from 1733 to 1804, and is best remembered for his 1774 discovery of the gas that would later be named "oxygen."

"Stang is a pre-eminent organic chemist with an international reputation and seminal, creative contributions to a broad spectrum of chemistry," said Gabor Somorjai, Ph.D., of the University of California, Berkeley. Somorjai nominated Stang for this award.

Last year, Stang won a National Medal of Science, which is the highest U.S. honor for a scientist or engineer. He received the award from President Barack Obama in a White House ceremony, where he was honored "for his creative contributions to the development of organic supramolecular chemistry and for his outstanding and unique record of public service."

Stang has pioneered the field of supramolecular chemistry, which is the study of how molecules come together and build new substances with complex 2-D and 3-D architectures. The molecules could have uses as drug-delivery vehicles and as key players in making oil refining faster and more efficient.

"It's like a Lego set with individual building units," said Stang. "You can make complicated structures and systems."

Stang has been editor of JACS, the ACS flagship journal, since 2002. As editor, Stang revitalized and enhanced JACS, culminating in an increase in citations and its Impact Factor. The most-cited journal in chemistry, JACS has received 408,307 total citations and has an Impact Factor of 9.907, as reported in the 2011 Journal Citation Reports by Thomson Reuters. JACS is one of more than 40 ACS peer-reviewed journals.

"For many years, Stang has been a force to be reckoned with in the ACS," said Harry B. Gray, Ph.D., who is at the California Institute of Technology. "He brought new ideas to make sure our flagship journal continues to attract the most important work in chemistry. He has done a fabulous job, and chemistry is better for it."

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American Chemical Society's highest honor goes to pioneer of 'Lego-like' molecules

Research and Markets: The Chemistry of Hydroxylamines, Oximes and Hydroxamic Acids. Patai's Chemistry of Functional …

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Danzig

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/jmmgkb/the_chemistry_of_h) has announced the addition of John Wiley and Sons Ltd's new book "The Chemistry of Hydroxylamines, Oximes and Hydroxamic Acids. Patai's Chemistry of Functional Groups" to their offering.

Focusing on an important class of compounds in organic synthesis, this text features contributions by leading experts, and delivers the quality expected from the Patai Series.

Key Topics Covered:

1. Some intrinsic features of hydroxylamines, oximes and hydroxamic acids: Integration of theory and experiment

2. Structural analysis of hydroxylamines, oximes and hydroxamic acids: Trends and patterns

3. The organic thermochemistry of hydroxylamines, oximes, hydroxamic acids and their derivatives

4. NMR spectra of hydroxylamines, oximes and hydroxamic acids

5. Synthesis of hydroxylamines

6. Synthesis of oximes and hydroxamic acids

Researchers connect seawater chemistry with climate change, evolution

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Danzig

This is a satellite view of the Zagros mountain belt in western Iran. The range forms part of the most extensive belt of water-soluble gypsum on Earth, stretching from Oman to Pakistan, and well into Western India. Scientists suggest that the dissolution of ancient salt deposits caused drastic changes in seawater chemistry, which may have triggered long-term global cooling. Credit: US Geological Survey/Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science

Humans get most of the blame for climate change, with little attention paid to the contribution of other natural forces. Now, scientists from the University of Toronto and the University of California Santa Cruz are shedding light on one potential cause of the cooling trend of the past 45 million years that has everything to do with the chemistry of the world's oceans.

"Seawater chemistry is characterized by long phases of stability, which are interrupted by short intervals of rapid change," says Professor Ulrich Wortmann in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Toronto, lead author of a study to be published in Science this week. "We've established a new framework that helps us better interpret evolutionary trends and climate change over long periods of time. The study focuses on the past 130 million years, but similar interactions have likely occurred through the past 500 million years."

Wortmann and co-author Adina Paytan of the Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of California Santa Cruz point to the collision between India and Eurasia approximately 50 million years ago as one example of an interval of rapid change. This collision enhanced dissolution of the most extensive belt of water-soluble gypsum on Earth, stretching from Oman to Pakistan, and well into Western India remnants of which are well exposed in the Zagros mountains.

Enlarge

This is the Zagros mountain belt in western Iran as seen from the space shuttle Atlantis. The range forms part of the most extensive belt of water-soluble gypsum on Earth, stretching from Oman to Pakistan, and well into Western India. Scientists suggest that the dissolution of ancient salt deposits caused drastic changes in seawater chemistry, which may have triggered long-term global cooling. Credit: Photo courtesy of NASA

"When India and Eurasia collided, it caused dissolution of ancient salt deposits which resulted in drastic changes in seawater chemistry," Paytan continues. "This may have led to the demise of the Eocene epoch the warmest period of the modern-day Cenozoic era and the transition from a greenhouse to icehouse climate, culminating in the beginning of the rapid expansion of the Antarctic ice sheet."

The researchers combined data of past seawater sulfur composition, assembled by Paytan in 2004, with Wortmann's recent discovery of the strong link between marine sulfate concentrations and carbon and phosphorus cycling. They were able to explain the seawater sulfate isotope record as a result of massive changes to the accumulation and weathering of gyspum the mineral form of hydrated calcium sulfate.

"While it has been known for a long time that gyspum deposits can be formed and destroyed rapidly, the effect of these processes on seawater chemistry has been overlooked," says Wortmann. "The idea represents a paradigm shift in our understanding of how ocean chemistry changes over time and how these changes are linked to climate."

More information: "Rapid Variability of Seawater Chemistry over the Past 130 Million Years," Science, 2012.

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Researchers connect seawater chemistry with climate change, evolution

CW competition blog – Philip Ball

Posted on July 22, 2012 by Danzig

This is a guest post from one of our judges for the Chemistry World Science Communication Competition

Communicating science, like any kind of journalism, typically has a formula. There are good reasons for this. Readers need to be able to get to the news very quickly, often in the first sentence and usually at least in the first paragraph. They also need to be told what is really new – not generalities such as ‘Researchers have developed an amazing new material/drug/device’, but what really distinguishes the new work from what has gone before – and most of all, why they should care. In attempting to get this right, I always try to repeat to myself the mantra that I learnt from the veteran science writer Tim Radford: ‘No one has to read this stuff.’ The trick is to make them want to read: not with false promises, hype, or sensationalism, but with smart, concise, and perhaps witty writing.

OK, so much for the formula. Rules are, of course, there to be broken – but only if you have a very good reason to do so. A rigid adherence to tradition can be the death of good writing. I don’t advocate gimmicks for their own sake, but there are doubtless more valid ways to grab a reader’s attention than with a first sentence that basically tells the whole story. You might want to use the first paragraph to describe a compelling first-hand scene or encounter, or to pose a tantalising question. To my mind, the winners of this competition might simply do a great job with the standard ‘news story’ template, or might surprise us with a totally new approach. Don’t feel obliged to do either – just think about what will make the piece work.

Be wary of words that strain for effect. Readers won’t necessarily believe that what you’re describing is ‘amazing’, ‘revolutionary’ or ‘gob-smacking’ just because you say it is. Words like this have to earn their place, and usually there are better alternatives anyway. When the writing is good, it doesn’t need to be pumped up with adjectives on steroids; in fact, they usually detract. At the same time, be wary of falling into science-speak. It’s easy enough to avoid obvious jargon, harder to steer clear of scientists’ habitual turns of phrase, such as the passive voice or comments such as ‘The crystal structure showed that…’. When things get a bit technical, it’s often best not to try to explain everything – the trick may be to persuade the reader that they know, rather than reminding them of what they don’t.

Of course, there’s no substitute for a good story. These aren’t easy to find, so take your time. It could be something surprising, or important, or fun, or perhaps even shocking or disturbing. Whatever the case, you have to be clear what the story is, which means being able to express it in a sentence. You might not use that sentence, but you have to be able to write it. Now have fun!

Philip Ball is a science writer based in London, UK

Find out about the Chemistry World Science Communication Competition and submit your entry here.