Chemistry

Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) discovered that the Earth orbits the Sun, thus paving the way for our modern view of the world.  It took a few hundred years for religion to apologize for the reception his discovery got but luckily the  the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) only took a dozen years after the discovery of element 112 to honor him. Element 112 was discovered at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung (Center for Heavy Ion Research) in Darmstadt. "After IUPAC officially recognized our discovery, we – that is all scientists involved in…

Researchers have developed an environmentally-friendly lubricating grease based on ricin oil and cellulose derivatives, according to the journal Green Chemistry. Bonus: the new formula does not include any of the contaminating components used to manufacture traditional industrial lubricants. Lubricants used in industry are made from non-biodegradable components, such as synthetic oils or petroleum derivatives, and thickeners made with metallic soaps or polyurea derivatives (a family of synthetic polymers). These are currently the best performers, but they also imply more problems from an…

A new National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) assay using a “glow or no glow” technique may soon help the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) defend the nation against a spectrum of biological weapons that could be used in a terrorist attack. One very dangerous toxin on the list is ricin, a protein derived from castor beans that is lethal in doses as small as 500 micrograms—about the size of a grain of salt. As part of its efforts to address the threat, DHS is working with NIST to create a standardized ricin sample with a known potency. Such a standard is needed both to…

Stress and strain research got a boost thanks to research from NIST, where scientists have recently found evidence of an important similarity between the behavior of polycrystalline materials, like metals and ceramics, and glasses. Most metals and ceramics used in manufacturing are polycrystals. The steel in a bridge girder is formed from innumerable tiny metal crystals that grew together in a patchwork as the molten steel cooled and solidified. Each crystal, or “grain,” is highly ordered on the inside, but in the thin boundaries it shares with the grains around it, the molecules are quite…

The likes of Snoop Doggy Dawg are joining the ubiquitous periodic table. Super-heavy element 112 is poised to join the ranks more than a decade after its discovery by German scientists. The team, led by Sigurd Hofmann at the Centre for Heavy Ion Research, produced the first single atom of 112 back in 1996. Various names have been proposed -- I'm voting for Cordozar 112 and a double platinum deal with Death Row Records.

There is beauty in strange places. An ordinary life can leave traces of us that gather into something oddly appealing. Something more than the sum of its parts. Those of you who live near the sea understand the compulsion to collect shells. They add a little something to our homes and gardens. Most end up in dishes in the bathroom. This could just reflect the color scheme and shouldn't be taken too personally by the relegated object. As well as beautiful debris, shells also played an embalming role as they collect in shell middens from coastal communities. These …

Five-fold symmetry is considered to be impossible in crystallography for the same reason that pentagonal tiles do not exist - it is not possible to cover a floor or wall simply using tiles with five sides of all the same length. The only way around the problem is to use other geometrical shapes to fill in the gaps, a principal used by the builders of mosques as long ago as the 15th century. The complex ornamental structure was "rediscovered“ by mathematicians last century. Roger Penrose demonstrated a pattern named the Penrose Parquet, which achieves complete coverage following simple rules…

Scientists in Germany and India are reporting development of a new cobalt imprinted polymer that reduces the amount of radioactive waste produced during routine operation of nuclear reactors. Their study, which details a first-of-its-kind discovery, has been published in Industrial&Engineering Chemistry Research. Börje Sellergren and colleagues note that structural materials such as carbon steel in power plants' water cooling systems form deposits of metal oxides when they interact with coolants. In nuclear power plants, these oxides trap radioactive ions, leading to buildups of…

If you want to learn a little something about 'characteristic curvature', you're in the right place.   Hydrophilic surfactants love water, but lipophilic surfactants love oils and dislike water. Okay, if you were expecting an article about Jessica Alba, you can stop reading. But if chemistry is your thing, a new research protocol developed by Dr. Acosta and colleagues from the University of Toronto's Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry builds on more than 30 years of phase behavior studies of microemulsions, the clear, stable liquid mixtures of oil, water and…

When the Chinese invented gunpowder round about the 800s, they founded one half of the science of chemistry, namely bangs, the other half of course being stinks.  They quickly applied it to warfare, both as an explosive in bombs, and as a propellant in rockets.  It remained the explosive for about a millennium, but in the 19th century demands both from the military and from industry created a demand for new explosive.unpowder was a low explosive which burns swiftly rather than detonates.   As such it could propel a rocket, bullet or cannonball, but to create an explosion it had…