Chemistry

Self-cleaning walls, counter tops, fabrics, even micro-robots that can walk on water -- all those things and more could be closer to reality because of research recently completed by scientists at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and at Japan's RIKEN institute.  Humans have marveled for millennia at how water beads up and rolls off flowers, caterpillars and some insects, and how insects like water striders are able to walk effortlessly on water. It's a property called super hydrophobia and it's been examined seriously by scientists since at least the 1930s.  "A lot of people study…

The description of compounds and interactions between atoms is one of the basic objectives of chemistry. Admittedly, chemical bonding models, which describe these properties very well, already exist. However, any deviation from the normal factors may lead to improving the models further. Chemists with Professor Thomas M. Klapötke at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) München have now analyzed a molecule, which has an extremely short bond length. The carbon atom and the chlorine atom in the so-called chlorotrinitromethane molecule are only 1.69 Angstroms apart from one another. "Non-covalent…

If you like blue jeans, well, I think you're really a lazy dresser, but you are at least not alone historically.   Since the Middle Ages, blue has also been the color worn by nobility. For kings, the dye was made from a plant that had to be imported from India (and used since around 2500 BC) - Indigo, cleverly called that because it is an extract of the Indigo plant.  But some dyes for lesser men were also made from a European plant since the 13th century, Dyers Woad (Isatis tinctoria L. Family: Brassicaceae (Cruciferae)), which grows as a winter annual, biennial or short-lived…

There is beauty in strange places. We collect shells to add a little something to our homes and gardens. Most end up in dishes in the bathroom, though the shell should take no notice. This could just reflect the color scheme and shouldn't be taken too personally. As well as beautiful debris, shells also played an embalming role as they collect in shell middens from coastal communities. These piles of discarded shells, now garbage, holdsinterest for those who study archaeology, a term used since garbology didn't sound as scientific.  Having food “packaging”…

Summer is coming. The time of camping and icy cold drinks. I've been working on developing a freeze dried beer that comes in a small pack and rehydrates fully carbonated with all its alcohol intact. Once it goes to market you can say you knew me when. In the meantime, I can help with getting that warm six pack or vodka cooler cold in minutes. Geeky, yes, and yet you'll be so much more popular at summer parties.   Understanding how salt and ice interact will save you from many a warm bevvie this summer. Water freezes at 32 degrees F. (0 degrees C ) When the compound salt…

A traditional Chinese extract from the bark of the magnolia tree could give you fresh breath and kill off the oral microbes that cause halitosis. I’m rather fond of magnolia’s both for their beauty and longevity. Magnolia is an ancient genus going back some 95-million years. My favorite individual tree, if I may be so geeky, is the magnolia growing on the grounds at Balboa Park. If you go there, you’ll know the one. It is a magnificent example of the family Magnoliaceae.

Summer is coming. The time of camping and cold, frosty drinks. I've been working on developing a freeze dried beer that comes in a small pack and rehydrates fully carbonated with all its alcohol intact. Once it goes to market you can say you knew me when. In the meantime, I can help with getting that warm six pack or vodka cooler cold in minutes.   Understanding how salt and ice interact will save you from many a warm bevvie this summer. Water freezes at 32 degrees F. (0 degrees C ) When the compound salt is added to water and ice, a new solution with a lower freezing…

See this on Earth Day! Credit: Timothy Newhouse, Chad A. Lewis and Phil S. Baran.[1] And see it any day on Earth. Kapakahines B and F are both awesome in the eye of some of us. They are still beautiful for the rest of us because they are promising big things like this one, our planet, Earth. Credit: Wikipedia (and the USA-public) And chemistry dates Earth:  Chemists Celebrate Earth Day [2] Theme: “Air—The Sky’s the Limit” P.S. Kapakahine B (or F), named after the Hawaiian word kapakahi for "twisted," has an unusual molecular structure that gives…

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Combating several human pathogens, including some biological warfare agents, may one day become a bit easier thanks to research reported by a University of Iowa chemist and his colleagues in the April 16 issue of the journal Nature. Amnon Kohen, associate professor of chemistry in the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said that the study indicated a new mechanism by which certain organisms manufacture the DNA base thymidylate. This new mechanism is so very different from the way humans synthesize this base that drugs targeting this biosynthetic path in the pathogens are unlikely to…