Chemspy chemistry news, views and videos

Magic mushrooms light up the brain

Robert Slinn — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:30:00 +0000

Magic mushrooms’ effects illuminated in brain imaging studies - Brain scans of people under the influence of the psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, have given scientists the most detailed picture to date of how psychedelic drugs work. The findings of two studies being published in scientific journals this week identify areas of the brain where activity is suppressed by psilocybin and suggest that it helps people to experience memories more vividly.

Chemistry students buck university trend

David Bradley — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:26:43 +0000

The Royal Society of Chemistry's Chemistry World magazine reports that UK university chemistry departments are relieved to discover that applications for chemistry degrees have held steady despite the increase in tuition fees for degree courses in England and Wales and the almost 10% decline in overall applications. Good news for chemistry, although the news that AstraZeneca is laying off thousands of staff in the wake of Pfizer lab closures makes you wonder where all the bright young chemists are going to work. Accountancy, perhaps? Plus ca change.

Students taking chemistry holds steady at UK.

Renewable hype

David Bradley — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:19:46 +0000

Corporate strategist William Banholzer of The Dow Chemical Company in Midland, Michigan, USA, believes it is time to cut through the clean and renewable energy hype. He suggests that too many members of the general public do not have a clear understanding of energy issues and are being duped into accepting plausible-sounding but ultimately impractical solutions to mitigating energy and environmental concerns regarding fuel supply and climate change.

via Renewable Hype.

The world’s first magnetic soap

Robert Slinn — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

The world's first magnetic soap - Researchers have created a liquid surfactant that can be moved by a magnet. The discovery opens the way to soaps and detergents which could be directed to a specific point or removed from a mixture by applying an external magnetic field.

Studying chemistry as it happens in catalytic reactions

Robert Slinn — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:12:00 +0000

Studying the chemistry as it happens in catalytic reactions - While retaining their speed, catalysts have lost some of their secrets, thanks to a new probe built by scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to help clarify the steps catalysts take in promoting reactions. The new device is called a large-sample-volume constant-flow magic angle spinning probe for use in a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer. With it, scientists can flow a gaseous reaction mixture through a solid catalyst and collect NMR data on the intermediates and products generated during the reaction. In addition, using NMR can provide structural information about the catalyst itself during the reaction.

Food chemistry or food culture?

David Bradley — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:49:31 +0000

As we all know, celebrity chefs are gluttons for the odd mix: sweet and sour is nothing to the TV cook who garnishes peppered okra with crème Anglaise washed down with a curried champagne spritzer. There are also those celeb cooks who simply wouldn’t leave their local supermarket without a good selection of cheese and wine...but that's another story.

Is there anything science can say about these combinations and the underlying chemistry of good taste?

My latest Pivot Points article in The Euroscientist, online today: Food chemistry or food culture.

Bilayer graphene works as an insulator

Robert Slinn — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 08:00:00 +0000

Bilayer graphene works as an insulator - A research team led by physicists at the University of California, Riverside has identified a property of "bilayer graphene" that the researchers say is analogous to finding the Higgs boson in particle physics. The physicists found that when the number of electrons on the BLG sheet is close to 0, the material becomes insulating – a finding that has implications for the use of graphene as an electronic material in the semiconductor and electronics industries.

The chemical origins of life

Robert Slinn — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 22:00:00 +0000

Scientists discover new clue to the chemical origins of life - Organic chemists at the University of York have made a significant advance towards establishing the origin of the carbohydrates (sugars) that form the building blocks of life. A team led by Dr Paul Clarke in the Department of Chemistry at York have re-created a process which could have occurred in the prebiotic world. Working with colleagues at the University of Nottingham, they have made the first step towards showing how simple sugars –threose and erythrose—developed. The research is published in Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry.

Envelope for an Artificial Cell

Robert Slinn — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 18:00:00 +0000

Envelope for an Artificial Cell - Chemists have taken an important step in making artificial life forms from scratch. Using a novel chemical reaction, they have created self-assembling cell membranes, the structural envelopes that contain and support the reactions required for life. Instead of complex enzymes embedded in membranes, they used a simple metal ion as the catalyst. By assembling an essential component of earthly life with no biological precursors, they hope to illuminate life's origins.

Shedding light on oxygenated life

Robert Slinn — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:25:00 +0000

New study sheds light on evolutionary origin of oxygen-based cellular respiration - Researchers at the RIKEN SPring-8 Center in Harima, Japan have clarified the crystal structure of quinol dependent nitric oxide reductase (qNOR), a bacterial enzyme that offers clues on the origins of our earliest oxygen-breathing ancestors. In addition to their importance to fundamental science, the findings provide key insights into the production of nitrogen oxide, an ozone-depleting and greenhouse gas hundreds of times more potent than carbon dioxide.