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Rangers' chemistry helps them fight back

Posted on June 4, 2012 by Danzig

ANAHEIM -- Michael Young understands the fragile psyches of fans. He didn't need to be told there were growing concerns deep in the hearts of Texans as the Angels -- these remodeled Albert Pujols, C.J. Wilson Angels -- rose from their April slumber and began making threatening noises.

Victories in the first two games of a June weekend series at Angel Stadium presented manager Mike Scioscia's troupe with the opportunity on Sunday for a sweep that would shave the Rangers' American League West lead to 2 1/2 games.

Drawing on its inner reserves and deep resources, Texas muzzled Pujols in the game's most compelling moment and went on to whack his new club, 7-3. The lead is 4 1/2-games.

"I'm a fan," said Young, who grew up in the Los Angeles area cheering for the local teams but has become attached to the Cowboys since his Raiders returned for Oakland. "I watch the Lakers and Cowboys, and they lose, and there's a beer on the floor, some chips on the floor. I'm not happy.

"So I can take a step back and see how they feel about us. Our fans are emotionally invested in us, and we certainly appreciate that. They're all in. But there's a difference. It's easier for us because we can control it and move forward."

The Rangers took control on Sunday, but not until Dan Haren managed to string out their weekend frustration by stranding seven runners in five innings. The Rangers led 2-1 when Haren, his pitch count at 104, departed.

It would have been tied, if Pujols at first base had handled a one-hopper by Young that scooted past his back hand for a two-out, run-scoring single in the fifth. It brought home Ian Kinsler, who'd doubled leading off the inning.

"It's tough to see on the corners here in the daylight, on a bright day like this," Young said. "That's a tough play for Albert. He's holding the runner [Adrian Beltre] on, and he doesn't expect a right to hit a ball like that."

Young's second hit, a line-drive single to left, would be followed by a monstrous home run by Nelson Cruz in the seventh against Bobby Cassevah for a 5-2 lead. Given the 3-0 green light by manager Ron Washington, Cruz launched it an estimated 484 feet -- longest of the season and 11th longest since 2006 according to ESPN STATS & INFO.

"That's the farthest I've seen in this park," said Texas shortstop Elvis Andrus, who made dazzling plays deep in the hole, robbing Erick Aybar and Mark Trumbo, behind starter Matt Harrison and reliever Mike Adams. "Nelson and Josh [Hamilton] and Beltre are the only ones who can do it."

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Rangers' chemistry helps them fight back

The world’s smallest swingball

Posted on June 3, 2012 by Danzig

While discussing an article this morning here at Chez Chemistry World, Patrick spies the images inside and says: ‘Look, it’s the world’s smallest swingball!’ And here it is, the world’s smallest swingball.

What you’re looking at here is a microbead attached to a microthread tethered to a tiny pole. The team responsible achieved this by making the post structure, then adding a water-based photoresist to the sample. They trapped a silica microbead with optical tweezers in the liquid photoresist and used a pulsed laser to create the microthread, with the initial fabrication point on the bead. The free end of the thread was optically trapped and secured to the top of the post using multiphoton absorption polymerisation. They then optically trapped and manoeuvred the thread, wrapping it around the post. The bead was fastened to the side of the post using a polymer.

Next up is the one we initially thought was kind of like a desk toy for bored execs, but it’s actually more like a thread going through the eye of a needle. This is the microthread being manipulated to go through the eye using optical tweezers.

The team plaited one of the microthreads using optical tweezers as well, and created a maze and a pyramid. Looks as though John Fourkas and his busy team at the University of Maryland in the US have had a little fun with this! But, as well as demonstrating a concept, the structures do have a purpose: they could be used in biological applications such as mimicking structures in the extracellular matrix and to study individual cells.

Elinor Hughes

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Chemistry in its element – heavy water

Posted on June 3, 2012 by Danzig

In the second world war, this little molecule was essential to the German nuclear energy programme, and a prime target for Allied assualts. Peter Wothers tells the story of heavy water, the molecular star of the Heroes of Telemark, in this week’s Chemistry in its element podcast.

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Chemistry World competition launched

Posted on June 3, 2012 by Danzig

How often have you visited Chemistry World and wished that you too were a glamorous science journalist, putting science in the spotlight, mopping its sweaty brow with the flannel of inquisition and then wringing out the musky essence for eager consumption by a thirsty public? Perhaps you’ve dreamed of seeing your name in print as the author of a story in Chemistry World? Maybe you think writing is for the (a lien) dinosaurs and you’d like to show off your multimedia skills? Well, now’s your chance. This summer, we’re launching the first Chemistry World science communication competition.

All you have to do is write an 800 word article on a topic related to the chemical sciences or produce an audio or video clip no more than five minutes in length. You can even enter both if you like. The shortlisted entries will be judged by a panel of esteemed scientists and science communicators.

The competition is open now and will close at the end of August.

Shortlisted entrants will be invited to an evening reception at The Chemistry Centre, Burlington House, London where the winners will be announced. Winning entries will be featured in Chemistry World in print and/or online, and there’s also some hard cash on offer.

To find out more and submit an entry go to http://www.rsc.org/CWcompetition

Philip Robinson

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VeruTEK®, an Environmental Remediation and Enhanced Oil Recovery Chemistry Provider, to Webcast Presentation at Ardour …

Posted on June 2, 2012 by Danzig

NEW YORK & BLOOMFIELD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

VeruTEK Technologies, Inc., (OTC Pink: VTKT), a developer and manufacturer of patented Green Chemistry solutions for environmental remediation and Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) applications announced today that its CEO Dan Socci will present at the 10th Annual Ardour Capital Energy Technology Conference on Friday, June 8th at 12:15 pm ET. The presentation will be webcast live and available online for replay.

Mr. Socci will also be available for one-on-one meetings earlier in the day. The conference, which is for institutional clients of Ardour, is being held in New York, NY.

Webcast Live/Replay: http://wsw.com/webcast/ardour3/vtkt/ or http://www.verutek.com

Presentation Slides: http://www.verutek.com/investors

About Ardour Capital Investments, LLC (www.ardourcapital.com)

Ardour Capital is a New York City-based, full service investment banking and brokerage firm and founder of the Ardour Global Alternative Energy Indexes, a family of pure-play alternative energy indexes. Ardour is focused on small capitalization growth companies in the Clean and Renewable Technologies, Alternative Energy and Power, and Energy Technology sectors. Its services include corporate finance, business strategy, equity research, investment banking, raising capital, corporate branding, trading, and brokerage.

About VeruTEK Technologies, Inc. (www.verutek.com)

VeruTEK is a green chemistry company with a new, field-proven approach to addressing difficult environmental issues. The company has developed innovative, patented, time-controlled chemistry to deliver safe, high performing and lower cost solutions. VeruTEK's technology platform addresses a broad range of applications including soil/ groundwater remediation and enhanced oil recovery as well as industrial cleaning products for surface cleanup of oil spills and PCB contamination. VeruTEK is publicly traded under the symbol VTKT.

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VeruTEK®, an Environmental Remediation and Enhanced Oil Recovery Chemistry Provider, to Webcast Presentation at Ardour ...

Boston College chemistry center evacuated after spill

Posted on June 2, 2012 by Danzig

A Boston College grad student was transported to a local hospital after he came in contact with a powerful chemical that spilled on his skin and clothing and emitted an odor that led authorities to evacuate a Beacon Street facility this morning.

Boston firefighters and BC police cleared students and staff from the Merkert Chemistry Center where a student researcher spilled a chemical called piperidine, said Ed Hayward, spokesman for the college.

The researcher was removing the chemical in a container from a packing box. The container broke and might have been cracked, Hayward told the Herald. The chemical spilled on his hands and clothing, but he used the labs decontamination facility to rinse the chemical off.

Members of BCs chemistry department along with Boston College police followed protocol to ensure the students safety as the Boston Fire Department hazmat unit got on scene and cleared the building because of the chemicals strong odor.

The powerful chemical piperidine is a very common organic compound used in chemistry research, said Hayward, adding that no one else was affected by the spill.

The student researcher was transported to Beth Israel Medical Center as a precaution. Authorities said he didnt suffer any life-threatening injuries.

The fire department has mostly cleared the scene, and the building is expected to reopen later this afternoon.

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Boston College chemistry center evacuated after spill

Better aging with (social) chemistry

Posted on June 2, 2012 by Danzig

When they move in together this summer, the residents of Wolf Willow plan to share cars and weekly dinners. They will walk to the theatre together and to the farmers market on Saturday morning and, perhaps, start their own yoga class in the courtyard. If someone falls and breaks a hip, theres a guest room for a caregiver, and a shower that fits a wheelchair. They will bring meals to each other during illness, and collect mail when anyones away. In the evenings, there will be jam sessions in the music room.

The 36 soon-to-be residents of this Saskatoon residence range in age from the mid-50s to 80, and none of them wanted to go to a retirement home where strangers would live next door and a for-profit company would make the rules. They certainly wanted to avoid a nursing home for as long as possible. So they designed and built their own place to age; this August, Wolf Willow will become the first senior co-housing development in Canada.

Many of us have come through looking after our parents. For many, that meant nursing homes and wrenching demands on all sides, says Margo Day, 64, who with her husband, Ken Wiggins, 61, will leave their acreage outside Saskatoon for Wolf Willow in a couple months. We hope that our senior years might be a little more graceful.

In co-housing arrangements, residents have private apartments and share communal space and resources. The movement began in Denmark in the 1960s, and today Canada has about a dozen family-oriented co-housing locations. But as baby boomers begin to worry about the loneliness and limitations of old age, the burdens they may place on their adult children and even their own ecological footprints, senior co-housing has begun cropping up across Europe and North America. In addition to Wolf Willow, projects are under way in the Sooke community on Vancouver Island, as well as in Chilliwack and Smithers, B.C.

The numbers revealed this week from the 2011 census emphasized how quickly Canada is going grey and how many more Canadian will live into extreme old age. More than a quarter of seniors and nearly half of all Canadian women over the age of 65 live on their own, which research has consistently linked to a higher risk of health problems, particularly falls that lead to lengthy hospital stays or expensive home care.

Research has shown that most elderly Canadians could live independently for longer with just a little help getting groceries, for instance, or a daily check-in, the kind of assistance that an overwhelmed home-care system and faraway adult children often struggle to provide.

Everyone wants to age in place, says Margaret Critchlow, professor emeritus at York University who studies communal living and will be part of the senior co-housing project in Sooke. Ultimately, she says, the draw is building community into her retirement plans. Think how much people devote to their finances. What if we put a similar amount of effort into developing our social portfolios?

We have a lot of seniors who are increasingly cast adrift and warehoused, says Charles Durrett, a California architect who has helped to spearhead the North American co-housing trend and recently published The Senior Co-Housing Handbook. He cites Danish research that has shown that seniors in co-housing eat better and are more active and socially connected factors that can help them live independently for eight to 12 years longer than their more isolated and sedentary peers.

If the government ever wanted to do something to save themselves billions of dollars, Mr. Durrett says, they would help catalyze new projects. Unfortunately, they arent that forward-looking. Governments do boost co-housing initiatives in Denmark and Sweden.

Co-housing projects are specifically designed to construct an instant neighbourhood. The Wolf Willow complex is shaped like a horseshoe, to create casual contact between residences, Mr. Wiggins explains. The 21 accessible and green-friendly private residences open into an airy courtyard; the shared laundry room is beside the communal kitchen so that people can meet serendipitously for coffee. (Unlike in most retirement homes, residents are permitted up to two pets, and there are guest rooms for visiting family members.) The residents will already know each other well they have worked together for four years to design the project.

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Better aging with (social) chemistry

Jermichael Finley Aaron Rodgers bad chemistry on Green Bay Packers 060112

Posted on June 2, 2012 by Danzig

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Jermichael Finley believes he's ready to take his game to the next level, but there's one issue standing in the way of that happening for the Packers' talented young tight end: a lack of chemistry with quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Finley admits he struggled getting on the same page last season with the league's MVP.

"I'm not blaming it on my offseason, but me and the QB didn't have chemistry," Finley said this week after a Packers OTA practice. "The routes were off sometimes, and that'll mess with your head when the ball comes."

Finley led Green Bay in drops with 12, the most among NFL tight ends. With his 55 receptions last season, that put Finley's drop rate at 17.91 percent. According to ProFootballFocus.com, the only player in the league with a higher drop rate was Cleveland Browns rookie wide receiver Greg Little.

Despite the drops, Finley is an elite athlete who just turned 25 and appears to have the ability to become a dominating force on offense. It was with that in mind that the Packers gave Finley a two-year, $15 million extension this offseason.

"Catching comes second-nature to me," Finley said. "All I've got to do is focus a little bit more. I know I can catch the ball. I know I'm going to catch the ball this year for sure I'm going to catch it.

"I feel like I've been playing like a robot lately. I just need to get out there and freestyle it: Play fast, not count my steps, not worrying about how the defense is playing me or what the defense is doing and just 'do me.' If I do me, it can take my game to the next level.

"That's where I struggle. I get out there and think too much. If you go out there with too much on your head, it can mess up your game."

Finley missed the majority of Green Bay's Super-Bowl winning year in 2010 after suffering a season-ending knee injury in Week 5.During his 2011contract year, Finley wanted to have a healthy season to prove that his knees wouldn't be an issue moving forward, but those lingering thoughts did have a negative effect on his play.

"Every time somebody got around my legs, I was like, Watch out,' " Finley said. "I was thinking about that next injury. I can say it was because of the injury last year, for sure.

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Jermichael Finley Aaron Rodgers bad chemistry on Green Bay Packers 060112

BC chemistry lab evacuated after graduate assistant is exposed to dangerous chemical

Posted on June 2, 2012 by Danzig

By Alli Knothe, Globe Correspondent

A graduate assistant in the Boston College chemistry department was taken to a local hospital after he came in contact with a dangerous chemical this morning that forced officials to evacuate the building, authorities said.

The man was unpacking a box in a chemistry laboratory when he was exposed to a chemical that had spilled in the box. It was exposed to his skin and clothing, said Ed Hayward, spokesman for the school.

The man decontaminated himself using facilities in the building and was later transported to a local hospital, authorities said.

A Boston Fire Department Hazmat team responded to the scene and has evacuated the Merkert Chemistry Center at 2609 Beacon St.

It is unclear how many people were in the building at the time.

Hayward also reported that all students are safe and there is no immediate threat to the school.

The exposure did not cause life-threatening injuries for the man, he said. He could not identify the chemical.

Boston Fire spokesman Steve MacDonald said the chemical was identified as Piperdine.

No further information was immediately available.

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BC chemistry lab evacuated after graduate assistant is exposed to dangerous chemical

Chemistry key for Fyfe, Foltz

Posted on June 1, 2012 by Danzig

LINCOLN Ryker Fyfe and Sam Foltz know each other pretty well.

The two former Grand Island Senior High athletes played football together for four years. Now, theyre heading as walk-ons to play for Nebraska this fall in Lincoln.

But before that, they have one more chance to hook up on a long pass or maybe a slant across the middle as teammates on the North team at the 2012 Shrine Bowl at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln.

Definitely the slant, Foltz said when asked about his favorite play Thursday at the Shrine Bowl Media Day at Nebraska Wesleyan University. Its hard to defend the slant.

Fyfe had a different favorite.

The deep ball is pretty nice, Fyfe said. I like that route. He can run fast. He can catch. Hes big and strong.

How about the slant?

The slant? Fyfe said. Our timing is good, so that works, too.

Just about everything worked for Fyfe and Foltz during their senior season last fall. The two were key players in the Islanders 9-2 season that ended in the second round of the state playoffs.

The 6-foot-5 Fyfe finished the year as one of the top passers in Class A, completing 120-of-204 passes for 1,921 yards and 20 touchdowns.

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Chemistry key for Fyfe, Foltz

Solon teen tries out for international chemistry team

Posted on June 1, 2012 by Danzig

SOLON For Stephen Tang, a junior at Solon High School, life is all about discovery.

I feel like we take a lot of things for granted, he said. Even plastic bags at the grocery store are a result of very complicated engineering and specialized processes.

In many ways, Tang sees the world as a big science experiment. Now he will have the opportunity to gather with some of the nations brightest students who share his interest in chemistry.

Tang earned the title of national chemistry champion and in doing so has qualified to compete for one of only four spots on the U.S. Chemistry Team. He originally competed against more than 12,000 high school students, taking a series of tests that led to the final 20 individuals.

Although he hopes to get a spot at the international competition, Tang said he has a bigger goal in mind of just having fun and meeting new people.

Im looking forward to meeting these other students who share my passion, he said. I just want to have fun and enjoy this opportunity.

The final four students will be selected as a result of their performance at a two-week intensive study camp at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado. Students will compete at the camp June 5-20.

Every morning well get up, have breakfast, have four hours of chemistry lectures, have lunch and then have four hours of lab work, Tang explained.

The group will have a short break in the evening, and then after dinner they will have a daily assessment.

The camp ends with a comprehensive assessment, and that determines who will make it through, Tang said.

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Solon teen tries out for international chemistry team

Shahid-Priyanka chemistry had to be developed

Posted on June 1, 2012 by Danzig

"This so-called chemistry has to be developed much before actors come in front of the camera," says Kunal who can be credited for some crackling chemistry he brought alive between his actors in films like HUM TUM and FANAA, "It is also the function of the script because in order to get those lovey-dovey encounters come alive on screen, you first need to get them right on paper."

CHECK OUT: Neha Sharma is Shahid's love interest in TERI MERI KAHAANI!

Kunal worked on that by writing the characters of Shahid and Priyanka in such a manner that they turned out to be extremely endearing.

"The thing is that today's ever demanding audience wants something different from its actors all the time. They want Shahid to do different things and push the envelope. This was the demand of TERI MERI KAHAANI as well as we are indeed doing something altogether different in the film. That made me zero in on Shahid," divulges Kunal, "As for Priyanka then well, she hasn't done too many love stories; especially a film like TERI MERI KAHAANI which is an out and out romantic entertainer. I felt that it was about time we bring her and Shahid together in a quintessential music love story like this."

Also starring Neha Sharma and Prachi Desai in principal roles, TERI MERI KAHAANI with music by Sajid-Wajid releases all over on 22nd June.

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Shahid-Priyanka chemistry had to be developed

Chemistry 101: John Beilein says 5 new elements will help Michigan basketball team's cohesion

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Danzig

Attrition, as John Beilein puts it, is normal.

While statistics show that the Michigan basketball coach is probably right, there's nothing ordinary about having to replace five bodies inside every corner of your program.

Five new faces at practice, five new voices in the locker room, five new plates at the dinner table -- and five new personalities that need to be meshed together in an incredibly short amount of time for a program with extremely lofty immediate expectations.

Is Beilein worried?

Not really. He's the opposite, actually.

"My early sense for the younger guys coming in, I've watched some of them for three years, some for three months," Beilein told reporters earlier this month. "But I sense that they're all really good teammates, and they'll enhance team chemistry the minute they walk out here.

"Because they really have a great spirit about them."

Beilein expected to lose departed senior co-captains Zack Novak and Stu Douglass, the team's backbone, but didn't think he'd have to replace three other bodies.

That's exactly what happened, though, when Evan Smotrycz, Colton Christian and Carlton Brundidge left the program shortly after the season closed.

Michigan coach John Beilein believes his five incoming freshmen will enhance team chemistry because "they really have a great spirit about them."

Meeting biofuel production targets could change agricultural landscape

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Danzig

Public release date: 31-May-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

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

WASHINGTON, May 31, 2012 The latest episode in the American Chemical Society's (ACS') award-winning Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions podcast series explains that meeting current biofuel production targets with existing technology would require devoting almost 80 percent of current farmland in the U.S. to raising corn for ethanol production or converting 60 percent of existing rangeland to biofuels.

Based on a report by W. Kolby Smith, Ph.D., and colleagues in ACS' journal Environmental Science & Technology, the new podcast is available without charge at iTunes and from http://www.acs.org/globalchallenges.

Smith and colleagues explain that the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) set a goal of increasing U.S. biofuel production from 40 to 136 billion gallons of ethanol per year by 2022. They point out, however, that gaps exist in the ability to establish realistic targets for biofuel production, which the law fills with assumptions about technological developments and the availability and productivity of farmland. In an effort to establish more accurate estimates, they used satellite data about climate, plant cover and usable land to determine how much biofuel the U.S. could produce.

The satellite analysis found that meeting the EISA goals with current technology would require farmers to plant biofuel crops on 80 percent of their farmed land or plant biofuel crops on 60 percent of the land currently used to raise livestock. Both options would significantly reduce the amount of food U.S. farmers produce. The changes also could lead to more polluted freshwater and accelerate global climate change, the report indicated.

###

Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions is a series of podcasts describing some of the 21st century's most daunting problems, and how cutting-edge research in chemistry matters in the quest for solutions. Global Challenges is the centerpiece in an alliance on sustainability between ACS and the Royal Society of Chemistry. Global Challenges is a sweeping panorama of global challenges that includes dilemmas such as providing a hungry, thirsty world with ample supplies of safe food and clean water; developing alternatives to petroleum to fuel society; preserving the environment and assuring a sustainable future for our children and improving human health.

For more entertaining, informative science videos and podcasts from the ACS Office of Public Affairs, view Prized Science, Spellbound, Science Elements and Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions.

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

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Meeting biofuel production targets could change agricultural landscape

US Chemistry Nobel Laureate to arrive in Tehran

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Danzig

Source: ISNA

Chemistry Nobel Laureate Peter Agre, Professor and Director of the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute and Dr. Norman Neureiter the Acting Director of Center for Science, Technology & Security Policy of American Association for the Advancement of Science and the first US scientific ambassador to Europe are to arrive in Tehran in coming days.

Dr, Norman Neureiter is scheduled to deliver a lecture on "International Cooperation on Science and Technology Diplomacy, Opportunities and Challenges in the 21 Century" in Iranian Shahid Beheshti University on June 11.

Also Professor Peter Agre will attend the ceremony.

Peter Agre born on January 30, 1949 is an American medical doctor, professor, and molecular biologist who was awarded the 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (which he shared with Roderick MacKinnon for his discovery of aquaporins. Aquaporins are water-channel proteins that move water molecules through the cell membrane.

In February 2009, Peter Agre was inducted as the 163rd president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the nation's largest scientific organization. He is currently a professor at Johns Hopkins University.

He received his B.A. from Augsburg College in Minneapolis and his M.D. in 1974 from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland.

From 1975 to 1978 he completed his clinical training in Internal Medicine at Case Western Reserve University's Case Medical Center under Charles C.J. Carpenter.

He served as the Vice Chancellor for science and technology at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, where he guided the development of Duke's biomedical research.

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US Chemistry Nobel Laureate to arrive in Tehran

Coutinho: Great Team Chemistry Has Fueled Mets’ Success

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Danzig

(credit: Al Bello/Getty Images)

By Rich Coutinho More Columns

Over the course of a long baseball season, there will be ups and downs, injuries curtailing winning streaks. But allsuccessful teams have one constant: leadership.

Chemistry in the clubhouse.

It can extend winning streaks and snap losing streaks. The Mets have great chemistry, and thats been been of the biggest reasons New York sits in second place in the competitive NL East.

They came into the season with all the experts saying they had too many holes, not enough depth and inferior starting pitching. The fans, for the most part, bought that snow job hook, line and sinker. Thats all they heard from the media. But make no mistake about it the Metsare serious playoff contenders 50 games into the season.

Thatsright Iused the P word.

You want leadership? There are no better in this sport than Johan Santana and David Wright, who lead the right way. They dont do it for the world to see by throwing over a table or scolding a teammate. They do it by example. The younger players see Wright and Santana are the first to arrive, embrace their responsibility to the media, and compete.

Terry Collins deserves a bunch of credit for motivating these players, and so does his coaching staff. Consider the job Tim Teufel has done with Daniel Murphy at second base. Murphy will never be confused with Bill Mazeroski around the bag, but he has been serviceable due in large part to the amount of work he and Teufel put in during the offseason. And that has kept his potent bat in the lineup.

The numbers dont lie. The Metsare 16-10 at Citi Field and 12-12 on the road, the formula for a winning season. Theyre also 15-8 against the National League East, which is why they are only one and half games from the top spot in the division. What they lack in talent they make up for in resiliency, and that speaks to team chemistry. I have never been around a team that pulls for each other like this team even when one player is in competition with another for playing time.

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Coutinho: Great Team Chemistry Has Fueled Mets’ Success

UGA chemistry professors awarded $1.5 million to conduct energy-related research

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Danzig

If you want to increase your cars gas mileage or build a more powerful handheld electronic device, dont bend steel or slice silicon chips. Manipulate nanomaterials and molecules instead.

Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, two University researchers will pursue more efficient methods of energy transmission and storage that involve maneuvering microscopic particles. Tina Salguero and Gary Douberly, assistant professors of chemistry in the UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, will each receive $750,000 for five years from the DOEs Office of Science Early Career Research Program for energy-related projects.

Gary Douberly

This is tremendous news that continues the very strong performance of the chemistry faculty in recent years, said UGA President Michael F. Adams. At a time when this country faces serious questions about the future of its energy supply, research focused on energy efficiency is a national priority. I am proud that Drs. Salguero and Douberly are being supported by the Department of Energy in their groundbreaking research.

Salguero will focus on increasing the energy capacity for compact electrical devices while Douberly looks to new technologies to improve fuel efficiency.

Tina Salguero

Our efforts will develop the first synthetic methods for creating these types of nanosheets, and the characterization studies will show whether they retain their important dielectric properties, she said.

Salguero plans to develop methodologies for preparing ceramics in nanosheet form and to gauge their properties. She will also test two ways to process the nanosheets-first via inkjet printing of liquid crystalline nanosheets and second by mechanically assembling alternating layers of conducting and non-conducting materials to build up dense, hybrid nanosheet structures capable of greater energy storage.

Devices using this technology would have an energy density far exceeding anything possible today, Salguero said. Ceramic nanosheets could enable technological wonders like handheld high-power lasers and mobile electromagnetic launchers.

Douberly will use his funding to capture short-lived molecules and free radicals-highly reactive molecules-that arise during engine ignition. He will use a method called helium nanodroplet isolation to hold molecule groups-or species-that form for brief moments during combustion. Douberly will capture the molecules inside drops of super-cooled liquid helium and subject them to infrared laser spectroscopy to determine their molecular structure and their unique combinations of electromagnetic radiation wavelengths, or spectroscopic signatures.

WAYNE COUNTY: Wayne State chemistry department among top 100 worldwide

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Danzig

Wayne State University's Department of Chemistry is among the top 100 in the world, according to the latest ranking by the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). More than 1,000 universities were ranked in 2011, and the best 500 are published at http://www.shanghairanking.com/.

The ARWU uses six indicators to determine rankings. WSU received high marks in three: highly cited researchers, papers in the Science Citation Index, and percentage of papers published in the top 20 percent of journals.

"The chemistry department is excited to learn that we have been ranked among the elite chemistry departments in the world.Our inclusion among the best in the world is a welcome recognition of our efforts over the last several years to make Wayne State chemistrytruly first-rate in both teaching and research.With the recent opening of the newly renovated A. Paul Schaap Chemistry Building, we are well-positioned to move to the next level of excellence," said Jim Rigby, chemistry department chair.

The only other Michigan university receiving top 100 honors in chemistry was the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

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WAYNE COUNTY: Wayne State chemistry department among top 100 worldwide

Green Chemistry Carving a Bigger Role in Sustainable Manufacturing

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Danzig

Credit: Nathan Walker, CC BY 2.0

Dave Kepler, chief sustainability officer at Dow Chemical Co., believes that to meet the demands of a burgeoning population, we will need more sustainable products and infrastructure in short, a more sustainable economy.

Writing for GreenBiz, Kepler says sustainable chemistry will play a key role in meeting the increasing demands for material goods in an environment of tight resources and energy supply. He writes that more than 95 percent of manufactured goods rely on certain chemical building blocks somewhere in their value chains that is, basic chemicals from which other chemicals get made. For that reason, integrating sustainability and green chemistry concepts sustainable chemistry as a building block is a vitally important part of building a more sustainable economy.

Dows sustainability strategy includes a set of four pillars of sustainable chemistry:

Kepler says Dows green chemistry efforts have led to products such as roofing shingles with integrated photovoltaics that make harnessing the power of the sun affordable, advanced lithium-ion batteries for improved hybrid and electric vehicle efficiency, corn seed traits that increase crop productivity and a joint venture with Mitsui in Brazil to make plastics from sugar cane.

That last detail making plastics from sugar cane is intriguing, especially in light of a recent article, Status Report: Green Chemistry for Polymers, by Sally Humphreys of research firm Applied Market Information. The article discusses a wide variety of efforts in the plastics industry to employ biological substitutes for fossil fuels as feedstocks for producing polymers.

Humphreys also highlights efforts in Brazil to produce plastics from sugar cane:

The Brazilian sugar cane industry is the largest in the world. [Brazilian petrochemical firm] Braskem has used this sugar as a source of feedstock to make its green polyethylene and polypropylene with current capacities at 200 and 30 kilotonnes per year respectively. 86.5 tons of sugar cane gives 7,200 liters of ethanol and 3 tonnes of polyethylene. Brazil has vast areas of arable land that could be used to develop this industry and Braskem is studying all aspects including ways to increase yield.

Sugar cane field in Brazil. Credit: Maria Hsu, CC BY 2.0

As another example, Ford Motor Co. has been testing the use of a soy polyol-based polyurethane foam, a bio-thermoplastic urethane (TPU) developed from renewable sources.

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Green Chemistry Carving a Bigger Role in Sustainable Manufacturing

Chemistry industry applauds federal government's action to end CP strike

Posted on May 28, 2012 by Danzig

OTTAWA, May 28, 2012 /CNW/ - The Chemistry Industry Association of Canada supports the federal government's back-to-work legislation requiring the appointment of an arbitrator to resolve outstanding disputes between Canadian Pacific Railway and its 4,800 striking employees.

CIAC's member-companies rely on rail to ship more than 70 per cent of their products, and the CP strike has hindered their ability to get those products to market. If the strike were to continue, some CIAC plants could be forced to reduce their production by the end of this week.

CIAC estimates that the 2007 rail strike cost chemistry companies - and the Canadian economy - in the order of $200 million dollars. When a chemical plant cannot deliver its products to market, the effects can be felt throughout the economy in sectors such as energy, housing, automobiles, pulp and paper, and consumer products - all of which rely on inputs from the chemistry industry. There can be health and safety implications as well; the industry's chemicals are essential for many Canadian municipalities to treat their water.

On May 22, 2012, CIAC President Richard Paton sent a letter to Labour Minister Lisa Raitt (now posted on http://www.canadianchemistry.ca) urging a quick resolution to the CP strike. The government's back-to-work legislation is an appropriate response to the chemistry industry's calls for action; it will mitigate further economic loss, and prevent damage to Canada's reputation as a reliable link in global supply-chains.

Fiona Cook Director Business & Economics Chemistry Industry Association of Canada 613-297-0509

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