news 2009

Chemistry - Life Sciences - 21.05
Researchers identify how plant skins are stitched together
For the first time, scientists have identified how a plant's skin is assembled. All plants have a skin, called a cuticle, that covers the above-ground surfaces. It is composed of waxes and a polymer network - a large molecule made of fatty acid building blocks called cutin that are bonded together.

Chemistry - Life Sciences - 14.05
Microbe That Can Handle Ionic Liquids
In the search for technology by which economically competitive biofuels can be produced from cellulosic biomass, the combination of sugar-fermenting microbes and ionic liquid solvents looks to be a winner save for one major problem: the ionic liquids used to make cellulosic biomass more digestible for microbes can also be toxic to them.

Physics/Astronomy - Chemistry - 8.05
UCLA life scientists unlock mystery of how ’handedness’ arises
The overwhelming majority of proteins and other functional molecules in our bodies display a striking molecular characteristic: They can exist in two distinct forms that are mirror images of each other, like your right hand and left hand.

Physics/Astronomy - Chemistry - 1.05
New UCLA method quickly IDs nanomaterials that can cause oxidative damage to cells
Engineered nanomaterials, prized for their unique semiconducting properties, are already prevalent in everyday consumer products — from sunscreens, cosmetics and paints to textiles and solar batteries — and economic forecasters are predicting the industry will grow into $1 trillion business in the next few years.

Chemistry - Environmental Sciences - 25.04
New study sheds light on debate over organic vs. conventional agriculture
Researchers at McGill, Univ. of Minnesota call for combining best of both approaches Can organic agriculture feed the world? Although organic techniques may not be able to do the job alone, they do have an important role to play in feeding a growing global population while minimizing environmental damage, according to researchers at McGill University and the University of Minnesota.

Earth Sciences - Chemistry - 18.04
Evidence for a geologic trigger of the Cambrian explosion
The oceans teemed with life 600 million years ago, but the simple, soft-bodied creatures would have been hardly recognizable as the ancestors of nearly all animals on Earth today. Then something happened.

Chemistry - Life Sciences - 13.04
Decoding Worm Lingo
All animals seem to have ways of exchanging information—monkeys vocalize complex messages, ants create scent trails to food, and fireflies light up their bellies to attract mates. Yet, despite the fact that nematodes, or roundworms, are among the most abundant animals on the planet, little is known about the way they network.

Physics/Astronomy - Chemistry - 11.04
Ferroelectric oxides do the twist
Some materials, by their nature, do what we want them to do - notably, the ubiquitous, semiconducting silicon found in almost every electronic device. But sometimes, naturally occurring materials need a little nudge - or in the case of recent Cornell research, a twist - to make them useful.

Physics/Astronomy - Chemistry - 2.04
’Tunable’ metal nanostructures for fuel cells, batteries and solar energy
For catalysts in fuel cells and electrodes in batteries, engineers would like to manufacture metal films that are porous, to make more surface area available for chemical reactions, and highly conductive, to carry off the electricity.

Physics/Astronomy - Chemistry - 28.03
UC San Diego Physicists Find Patterns in New State of Matter
Physicists at the University of California, San Diego have discovered patterns which underlie the properties of a new state of matter. the scientists describe the emergence of "spontaneous coherence," "spin textures" and "phase singularities" when excitons - the bound pairs of electrons and holes that determine the optical properties of semiconductors and enable them to function as novel optoelectronic devices - are cooled to near absolute zero.

Physics/Astronomy - Chemistry - 20.03
Penn Works With Columbia Engineers to Increase Speed of Single-Molecule Measurements
As nanotechnology becomes ever more ubiquitous, researchers are using it to make medical diagnostics smaller, faster and cheaper in order to better diagnose diseases, learn more about inherited traits and more.

History/Philosophy - Chemistry - 13.03
Data Support Theory on Location of Lost Leonardo da Vinci Painting
CISA3 researcher and National Geographic Fellow Maurizio Seracini (foreground) and his team view footage captured by the endoscope behind the Vasari wall. All photos by Dave Yoder.

Life Sciences - Chemistry - 12.03
What drives honeybees and humans to explore is curiously similar, study finds
A new study in Science reveals that honeybees that scout for new food sources or nest sites have patterns of gene activity in their brains known to be associated with novelty-seeking in humans. The study found that certain bees in a colony show consistently high levels of exploratory behavior.

Chemistry - Life Sciences - 8.03
Origami-Inspired Paper Sensor Could Test for Malaria and HIV for Less than 10 Cents, Report Chemists
AUSTIN, Texas — Inspired by the paper-folding art of origami, chemists at The University of Texas at Austin have developed a 3-D paper sensor that may be able to test for diseases such as malaria and HIV for less than 10 cents a pop.

Chemistry - Medicine/Pharmacology - 7.03
Study suggests hydrofracking is killing farm animals, pets
A new report has found dozens of cases of illness, death and reproductive issues in cows, horses, goats, llamas, chickens, dogs, cats, fish and other wildlife, and humans. It says these conditions could be the result of exposure to gas drilling operations.