The Chemical Menace Inside Glaciers and Icebergs
Ice can trap pollutants and accelerate their breakdown, with troubling environmental consequences......»»
Researchers create nanomembrane to increase reaction rate in chemical production
Flow-through reactors packed with enzymes can produce certain chemicals in a gentle and careful way. However, their performance has so far been limited. A research team from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon and RWTH Aachen University has now been able to.....»»
Coffee grinder, old tires spur creation of sulfur-free oil
Using a coffee grinder, a freezer and a furnace, researchers have discovered a chemical synergy between scrap tires and polystyrene can be harnessed to create sulfur-free, light oil......»»
Tijuana River among most endangered in America due to sewage crisis
The Tijuana River, with frequent flows of sewage and chemical-tainted waters, is among America's top endangered rivers, according to a report that spotlights threats to clean water nationwide......»»
Bumblebees don"t care about pesticide cocktails: Research highlights their resilience to chemical stressors
Bumblebees appear to be quite resistant to common pesticides. This is shown by a new study, the results of which have now been published by scientists from Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU) in the journal Environment International......»»
Palladium nanocluster catalyst supports highly efficient and regioselective hydrogenation of epoxides
Alcohols are widely applied in life sciences and the chemical industry. Selective hydrogenation of epoxides using hydrogen molecules as a reductant is considered to be one of the most facile and atom-economical strategies for alcohol synthesis. Howev.....»»
Chemists stabilize ethylene on silver in search for better ethylene purification technology
Production of ethylene is one of the most important chemical processes used today, with about 300 million metric tons of the tiny chemical produced each year. Ethylene gas is used to create everyday items like shopping bags and plastic film packaging.....»»
Study lists world"s "forever chemical" hotspots
Dangerous concentrations of long-lingering "forever chemicals" have been found in surface and groundwater worldwide, according to a study released Tuesday that showed Australia, the United States and Europe as hotspots......»»
Chemists devise easier new method for making a common type of building block for drugs
Ring-shaped chemical structures called saturated heterocycles are found in most FDA-approved drugs but are often difficult to create. Scripps Research chemists have just developed a surprisingly easy method for making many of these sought-after compo.....»»
Oxidant pollutant ozone removes mating barriers between fly species, study finds
Insect pheromones are odor molecules used for chemical communication within a species. Sex pheromones play a crucial role in the mating of many insects. Species-specific odors attract males and females of the same species. At the same time, they main.....»»
Novel UV broadband spectrometer improves air pollutant analysis
Sunlight has a major influence on chemical processes. Its high-energy UV radiation in particular is strongly absorbed by all materials and triggers photochemical reactions of the substances present in the air. A well-known example is the formation of.....»»
New strategy for assessing the applicability of reactions
Chemists often develop and optimize new chemical reactions using so-called model systems, i.e., simple, easily accessible substrates. They then use up to around 100 other substrates as examples to show that the reaction works. This demonstration of v.....»»
EPA seeks to cut “Cancer Alley” pollutants
Chemical plants will have to monitor how much is escaping and stop leaks. Enlarge / An oil refinery in Louisiana. Facilities such as this have led to a proliferation of petrochemical plants in the area. (credit: Art Wager).....»»
Four decades of glacial data reveals substantial losses and water worries
An analysis of glacial data spanning four decades has provided valuable insights into the changes taking place in the glaciers of the Pir Panjal range within the Kashmir basin in India. The research, published in the International Journal of Hydrolog.....»»
Research unveils biochemical defenses against chemical warfare
In the clandestine world of biochemical warfare, researchers are continuously seeking innovative strategies to counteract lethal agents. Researchers led by Jin Kim Montclare, Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, have.....»»
The science of smell is fragrant with submolecules
A chemical that we smell may be a composite of multiple smell-making pieces. Enlarge (credit: Design Cells) When we catch a whiff of perfume or indulge in a scented candle, we are smelling much more than Floral Fantasy o.....»»
Chemical reactions can scramble quantum information as well as black holes
If you were to throw a message in a bottle into a black hole, all of the information in it, down to the quantum level, would become completely scrambled. Because in black holes this scrambling happens as quickly and thoroughly as quantum mechanics al.....»»
Two sex pheromone receptors for sexual communication found in the American cockroach
Sex pheromones are vital in facilitating the chemical communication that underpins insect courtship and mating behavior. Among female American cockroaches (Periplaneta americana), two key volatile sex pheromone components, periplanone-A (PA) and peri.....»»
Scientists harness chemical dynamics for complex problem solving
At the intersection of chemistry and computation, researchers from the University of Glasgow have developed a hybrid digital-chemical probabilistic computational system based on the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction which can be used for solving com.....»»
Computational chemistry needs to be sustainable too, say researchers
A diverse group of computational chemists is encouraging the research community to embrace a sustainable software ecosystem. That's the message behind a perspective article published in the Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation. The authors disc.....»»
Team develops portable swept-source Raman spectrometer for chemical and biomedical applications
In 1928, Indian physicist Sir C. V. Raman and his colleague K. S. Krishnan discovered that when light interacts with matter, parts of the scattered light undergo changes in energy due to interaction with molecular vibrations, resulting in what is kno.....»»