Periodic Tabloid

Transitions

Tom Tritton — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 01:00:00 PDT

Chemistry is all about transitions. Starting in November, a new CHF blog will amplify, expand, and build upon on the many types of content we already generate, from public programs, podcasts, Chemical Heritage magazine, scholarly publication, and our burgeoning web presence.

The Geography of the Semiconductor: Lessons from Herman Fialkov

David C. Brock — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 01:00:00 PDT

The story of Herman Fialkov, who died earlier this year, provides an exemplary lesson on semiconductor electronics and venture capital on both the East and West coasts.

First Person: Hidden Stories

Sarah Hunter-Lascoskie — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 01:00:00 PDT

First Person mainly deals with the subjects of oral histories at CHF, but I thought it might be an interesting change of pace to take you behind the scenes of the oral history process. Today I’ll be highlighting the people and processes that make those oral histories possible.

What is Chemistry’s Version of the Higgs Boson?

Tom Tritton — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 01:00:00 PDT

What would be the chemistry equivalent of the Higgs boson? What would attract such widespread media froth and public exhilaration?

Collective Voice: More Martian Science!

Rosie Cook — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 01:00:00 PDT

Did you know the analytical instruments contained within Curiosity have a direct link to the historical instruments in the collection here at CHF?

Preconception and Learning

Tom Tritton — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 01:00:00 PDT

Suppose when you were a small child you believed that the sun revolves around the earth. This wouldn’t be surprising since nothing in your experience would refute the idea. Then one day you go to school and your teacher informs you that the opposite is true—the earth revolves around the sun—and this has been fully accepted by all leading thinkers for nearly five centuries. Would the new information replace your old view, or merely suppress it?

Nuclear Powered Martian Science!

Benjamin Gross — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 01:00:00 PDT

Curiosity is equipped with an impressive array of geochemical instrumentation. The rover's SAM (Sample Analysis at Mars) instrument suite contains a gas chromatograph and a mass spectrometer, enabling it to identify a wide range of organic compounds in the planet's soil and atmosphere.

Blood, Sweat, and Tears

Jennifer Dionisio — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 01:00:00 PDT

Our vital fluids are more than just bodily emissions—they can also be considered the purest expressions of our humanity, at least metaphorically speaking. In a three-part podcast and video series, the Distillations team checks out some of their lesser-known properties.

Chemistry, Science, and the Olympics

Tom Tritton — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 01:00:00 PDT

A provocative series of articles in Nature raises the tricky subject of how far we should allow science to go in conferring advantage to an athlete in competition.

Rad Tats

Rebecca Guenard — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 01:00:00 PDT

Imagine the challenge of developing a chemical monitor to implant beneath the skin. The technology would provide non-invasive, constant monitoring of glucose in diabetic patients instead of current sporadic measurements requiring blood withdrawal. But its development is a rubix cube—all aspects of the puzzle must be considered with every turn; focus on one face and the other five will be a mess.

Beckman at 25: Jeremiah James

Carin Berkowitz — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 01:00:00 PDT

2012 is the 25th anniversary of CHF’s Beckman Center for the History of Chemistry. To celebrate the Beckman Center’s remarkable achievements and its many accomplished fellows, we will be profiling one former fellow each month over the course of the year. This month we’d like you to meet Jeremiah James.

Coffee Drinkers Rejoice

Tom Tritton — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 01:00:00 PDT

The health risks of coffee have always been an issue, from the minor addictive qualities to the many contradictory studies on the excess risk for nasty maladies like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. A new and massive research study may not completely lay the question to rest but it will be a source of solace for all those who can’t get going in the morning without their cup of java.

The Age of Plastic

Benjamin Gross — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 01:00:00 PDT

In June I attended the “The Age of Plastic,” a Smithsonian symposium which drew historians, conservators, artists, and industrial scientists all eager to discuss the implications of humanity’s growing reliance on synthetic materials.

Guilt By Association

Tom Tritton — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 01:00:00 PDT

When clever chemists come up with a new medicine there are two essential hurdles to clear. First, does it work, and second, is it safe?

First Person: Madeleine Joullié

Hilary Domush — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 01:00:00 PDT

Sometimes we take safety for granted. Today’s chemistry sets are filled with innocuous chemicals designed to prevent explosions; undergraduate science laboratories utilize cookbook style teaching that doesn’t encourage experimentation; and the stereotype of the scientist always includes protective glasses. Safety is taught as one of the foundations of modern chemistry and other sciences. It’s easy to forget that it wasn’t always so.

Relaxin'

Tom Tritton — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 01:00:00 PDT

This week marks my annual trek to Lake Sebago in southern Maine.

Collective Voice: The 12,000 Pounds That Changed History

Ashley Levine — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 01:00:00 PDT

Today Periodic Tabloid welcomes guest blogger Ashley Levine. Levine participated in the authentication of a shield Willard Libby used in research on carbon dating, which won him a 1960 Nobel Prize. The instrument was donated to CHF by the Department of Homeland Security in February 2012.

The Quest Begins!

Jenn Landry — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 01:00:00 PDT

Exhibit installation is one of the most rewarding parts of the exhibition planning and creation process. You start with a blank canvas and design plans and watch it all move into place and unfold into something beautiful, something beyond what you could have imagined. I’ve often thought that a time-lapse video of an installation would be fun, but some snapshots from the week will have to do.

Fireworks: Physics and Chemistry Juxtaposed

Tom Tritton — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 01:00:00 PDT

Philadelphia’s annual July 4th fireworks display on the Delaware River never fails to impress. The uniquely historic setting helps—in this city the American nation began its emergence onto the world stage. But the sizzling combination of colors and sounds from aerial fireworks, so much more astonishing than when I was a kid, set me thinking about the science of it all.

Beckman at 25: Matthew Eisler

Carin Berkowitz — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 01:00:00 PDT

Bias, Yours and Mine

Tom Tritton — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 01:00:00 PDT

Most of us think we are free of bias. We’re pretty convinced we reach conclusions, make decisions, rank priorities, and do related acts of judgment based on evidence, not bias or prejudice.

A History of Chemistry in Two Words

Periodic Tabloid Staff — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 01:00:00 PDT

As fans of CHF no doubt know, alchemy was once the name given to “the science of matter;” only around the latter half of the sixteenth century did the term chemistry begin to appear in Western sources. The theories behind this shift in use, and the source of the root word – chem – nicely encapsulates the history of chemistry itself, and the questions that remain about its origins.

BIO Award

Tom Tritton — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 01:00:00 PDT

Dr. Nancy Chang is the first woman to be inducted in the Biotechnology Hall of Fame. Like many previous awardees, her life has been one of overcoming obstacles, rising above circumstances, being inspired, and finally, being an inspiration to others.

More Professional Firsts for Women

Sarah Reisert — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 01:00:00 PDT

Yesterday Nancy Chang became the first woman to win the Biotechnology Heritage Award. But did you know that the world’s first chemist may have been a woman?

First Person: William McMillan

Sarah Hunter-Lascoskie — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 01:00:00 PDT

In the interest of history, chemist William McMillan wrote two volumes reflecting on his work in the Manhattan Project. But as of the date of his oral history—1999—those documents were still classified.

Metabolism and Cancer

Tom Tritton — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 01:00:00 PDT

A new paper makes a contribution to identifying a common unifying abnormality in cancer using mass spectrometry.

Collective Voice: The Balloon in Literature

Andrew Mangravite — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 01:00:00 PDT

To celebrate ballooning history this summer, CHF’s collections team is highlighting the ballooning postcards held by the Othmer Library of Chemical History. In this month’s Collective Voice we explore how balloons captured centuries of imagination—producing ideas more than just flights of fancy.

Doomsday Science

Tom Tritton — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 01:00:00 PDT

Detailed analysis of years of data from the Hubble Space Telescope reveal that our very own Milky Way galaxy is headed for a direct head-on collision with the Andromeda galaxy.

In Praise of Scholarship

Tom Tritton — Thu, 31 May 2012 01:00:00 PDT

Why does scholarly purpose matter? Because without it, knowledge would cease to expand. If there were no original research, there would be nothing new to teach, just reworking of the same ledger of human accomplishment over and over again.

Beckman at 25: Gabriele Ferrario and David Schleifer

Carin Berkowitz — Thu, 31 May 2012 01:00:00 PDT

2012 is the 25 th anniversary of CHF’s Beckman Center for the History of Chemistry. To celebrate the Beckman Center’s remarkable achievements and its many accomplished fellows, we will be profiling one former fellow each month over the course of the year. This month we’d like you to belatedly meet Gabriele Ferrario (profiled in April but never posted on the blog), and David Schleifer, our pick for May.

Alchemical Actors in the Hach Gallery

Christy Schneider — Wed, 30 May 2012 01:00:00 PDT

For the Hach Gallery exhibit that features rare books from the Othmer Library, The Alchemical Quest, exhibit designer Keith Ragone aims to create a “set design for the actors which are the books.”

Elemental News

Tom Tritton — Thu, 24 May 2012 01:00:00 PDT

If you watch the news today (or perhaps tomorrow) you will be among the first to know that not just one, but two elements (114 and 116) will be baptized with their newly official names.

The Amazing Adventures of Spider Silk

Rebecca Guenard — Wed, 23 May 2012 01:00:00 PDT

Spidey’s secret identity is being revealed, and it has nothing to do with Peter Parker. Chemists and biochemists are manipulating spider silk in ways that a few years ago would have been possible only in a comic book.

Banish STEM

Tom Tritton — Thu, 17 May 2012 01:00:00 PDT

The STEM acronym: what is it good for? Possibly nothing.

Book Learnin'

Jeff Guin — Wed, 16 May 2012 01:00:00 PDT

In a heritage institution, the marriage between technology and interpretation more often feels arranged than passionate. Communicating historic objects authentically in a new medium requires new thought patterns. Enter The Alchemical Quest interactive project, which attempts to thwart this tradition. Here's what we're learning.

First Person: Vladimir Prelog

Hilary Domush — Tue, 15 May 2012 01:00:00 PDT

Sometimes important discoveries happen in the lab; sometimes they happen in unexpected spaces. In 1954 Vladimir Prelog learned that a formal ball was just the place to work out an important scientific issue.

Genes and Identity

Tom Tritton — Thu, 10 May 2012 01:00:00 PDT

When the human genome was sequenced a decade ago it stirred hope that knowing the chemical identity of our own personal DNA would yield precise clues about what to expect in our lives. Alas, DNA predictions are not that easy, at least according to a recent scrutiny from Johns Hopkins and Harvard researchers.

Collective Voice: Museum Staff Takes Minneapolis

Rosie Cook — Tue, 08 May 2012 01:00:00 PDT

Last week some fellow staff members and I boarded a plane headed to Minneapolis for the American Association of Museums conference. I came back with snapshots to share.

Dead Bacteria

Tom Tritton — Thu, 03 May 2012 01:00:00 PDT

There are a goodly number of medicinal agents that remain useful for treating bacterial infections, even despite the specter of antibiotic resistance. But a recent study reveals that the mechanism by which they kill bad bacteria is more complicated than we ever expected.

How to Make History of Science Interesting: Part II

Michal Meyer — Tue, 01 May 2012 01:00:00 PDT

It’s an old case, but not a cold case. Isaac Newton left clues in his own hand . “Two women clothed riding on two lyons each with a heart in her hand....The right hand lyon farts on a company of young lions behind it….” Rather than an example of bad taste, Newton’s farting lion is part of a sophisticated chemical process. Unfortunately, no one has yet unlocked its meaning.

Oil Spill Cleanup

Tom Tritton — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 01:00:00 PDT

Most have heard the phrase “fight fire with fire,” which is generally taken to mean using the same tactics as your attacker. Although perhaps a stretch, attacking oil spills with carbon may be an equivalent concept, or at least one can so infer from a recent paper.

The Materiality of Music

Benjamin Gross — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 01:00:00 PDT

The emergence of the semiconductor industry has opened up new frontiers in electronic music. The effects of this transition recently became apparent to me while designing The College of New Jersey’s From Etherphone to Microchip , an exhibit that spans the history of electronics from radio to high-definition television, including several milestones from the history of electronic music.

How to Make History of Science Interesting: Part I

Michal Meyer — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 01:00:00 PDT

Chemistry can be a dirty business—just ask Isaac Newton. He begins one of his alchemical recipes with “Take of Urin one Barrel.” He then instructs the person with the newly acquired barrel of urine to let it ferment for three months in the summer. Neighbors back then must have been a less litigious bunch.

Intoxicated Creativity

Tom Tritton — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 01:00:00 PDT

Alcohol limits high cognitive function, as anyone who’s tried to complete a challenging mental task under the influence will attest. But can alcohol also provide the spark of creative genius, as some chronicles of popular culture maintain? A new publication from the University of Illinois at Chicago lends the idea some credibility.

First Person: Manson Benedict

Sarah Hunter-Lascoskie — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 01:00:00 PDT

Sometimes the path to becoming a chemist isn’t straightforward. Though Manson Benedict would later play a pivotal role in the Manhattan Project, serve on the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, and win the National Medal of Science, the Great Depression made him question his decision to study physical chemistry.

A Rare Problem

Tom Tritton — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 01:00:00 PDT

Rare earth elements are much in the news these days. Chemical and Engineering News , Forbes , and CHF’s own First Friday each offer their take on the subject, albeit with very different audiences in mind. Why the fuss? Modern life depends on the availability of the rare earths.

Collective Voice: 50 th Anniversary of LCD Research

Benjamin Gross — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 01:00:00 PDT

In September 1962 The Jetsons premiered on ABC, bringing flying cars, robotic housemaids, and flat-panel displays to primetime. The last we now take for granted, but in 1962 the idea of a television thin enough to mount on the wall was as farfetched as a pair of antigravity boots. Few Americans knew that a chemist working for the Radio Corporation of America had—50 years ago today—already taken the first step toward transforming that science-fiction dream into a reality.

Not Good News on Cancer

Tom Tritton — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 01:00:00 PDT

Cancer drugs like Gleevec, Erbitux, and Herceptin target essential growth pathways gone haywire in cancer. These can be very effective in patients whose cancer contains the altered target, but this is not all patients and even for the “lucky” ones, the specter of acquired drug resistance is ever present. And now comes worse news.

Fat Tuesday: Why Chocolate Tastes So Good

Rebecca Guenard — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 01:00:00 PDT

For those of you who will be enjoying Easter candy this weekend (or just the discounted crème eggs next week), guest blogger and former chemistry prof Rebecca Guenard of Atomic-o-licious explains the inescapable power of chocolate.

Chemistry’s Contributors

Tom Tritton — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 01:00:00 PDT

March is Women’s History Month in the U.S. and International Women’s Month in the U.K., so it seems the perfect time to call attention to women in science. And since March is also the kickoff to the season of awards that CHF stewards, we are proud to note that three of this year’s luminaries are women.

Beckman at 25: Jennifer Rampling

Carin Berkowitz — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 01:00:00 PDT

2012 is the 25 th anniversary of CHF’s Beckman Center for the History of Chemistry. To celebrate the Beckman Center’s remarkable achievements and its many accomplished fellows, we will be profiling one former fellow each month over the course of the year. This month we’d like you to meet Jennifer (Jenny) Rampling.

Hit the Gym

Tom Tritton — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 01:00:00 PDT

Much research exists showing the health benefits of regular physical activity, including reducing the risk of disorders everyone would dearly like to avoid like diabetes, cancer, and depression. Complicating such analyses is the fact that people who exercise are largely self-selected so it’s hard to prove causality rather than just association with untoward outcomes.

First Person: Alfred O.C. Nier

Hilary Domush — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 01:00:00 PDT

In his 1989 oral history interview University of Minnesota physics professor Alfred O. C. Nier claimed, “I suspect I’ve worked longer and more continuously in mass spectrometry than anybody ever has.” Nier’s career spanned decades, and with his specialization in an extremely technical field, he made an impact on some of the most important and exciting scientific achievements of the 20 th century.

Water, Water Everywhere

Tom Tritton — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 01:00:00 PDT

Last week Erik Fyrwald, president of Ecolab (recently merged with Nalco) presented an address to CHF’s Joseph Priestley Society entitled “The Water Challenge: Improving Resourcefulness to Overcome Limited Resources.” In front of a packed lunchtime house he enumerated three overarching water challenges.

Collective Voice: Inspiring Youth in Chemistry

Jenn Landry and Gigi Naglak — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 01:00:00 PDT

Anyone who is a regular reader of Periodic Tabloid could not have missed our celebration of the 2011 International Year of Chemistry. CHF wanted to cap the year with a retrospective exhibit that highlighted some of IYC's activities. The curatorial team decided to focus the exhibit around the IYC goal of “encouraging interest in chemistry among young people,” and developed the just-opened Inspiring Youth in Chemistry .

Science Faculty Survival

Tom Tritton — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 00:00:00 PST

Young scientists hunting for their first academic faculty appointment face a daunting prospect. Naturally one wonders: how many make the grade and navigate an initial faculty appointment to promotion and a secure tenured university professorship?

Animated GIF Tuesday: The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Celebrates the Periodic Table

Periodic Tabloid Staff — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 00:00:00 PST

When the Fresh Prince (known today as one Will Smith) was still living in West Philadelphia, CHF was in its infancy. So it’s doubtful he ever visited. Judging from this GIF, however, we think he might enjoy it.

Material Girl

Tom Tritton — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 00:00:00 PST

Madonna’s iconic 1985 song “Material Girl” was an evocation of the physical world’s importance compared to the more often heralded—in music at least—emotional domain. The song and its associated music video were provocative and controversial, but also helped elevate the artist to the superstar level. Wary of comparative hyperbole, CHF and Discover Magazine nonetheless followed suit with a recent evening event called "Advanced Materials: Stories of Innovation."

Beckman at 25: Bruce Lewenstein

Carin Berkowitz — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PST

LCD Pioneers Honored with Draper Prize

Benjamin Gross — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PST

At a ceremony last week the Charles Stark Draper Prize, one of the world’s preeminent awards for engineering achievement, was awarded to George H. Heilmeier, Wolfgang Helfrich, Martin Schadt, and T. Peter Brody. Sometimes referred to as “the Nobel Prize of engineering,” the Draper Prize is a $500,000 annual award that recognizes engineers whose accomplishments “have led to important benefits and significant improvement in the well-being and freedom of humanity.”

Electric Bugs

Tom Tritton — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PST

Generating enough power for all the demands of modern society presents enough challenges to keep creative scientists thoroughly engaged and busy. For example, wouldn’t it be nice to have a tiny fuel cell that could be implanted in the body and that converted the chemical energy of sugar and oxygen into useful electricity to power micro-devices? New research from Case Western Reserve University creates just such a device—implanted not under your skin, but in the lowly and universally unloved cockroach.

First Person: Calvin Fuller

Sarah Hunter-Lascoskie — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PST

While CHF's oral history interviewees are often distinguished scientists with lengthy careers, it's rare that one can say he or she made it to Hollywood. But Calvin Fuller of Bell Labs did—due in part to his role in World War II synthetic rubber research.

Solar Army

Tom Tritton — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PST

Only those with their heads in the sand are unaware of the energy challenges we face. And besides the obvious danger of asphyxiation, having one’s head in the sand has two additional detractions: it’s a waste of silicon, which could be more usefully employed in solar panels, and it reduces the body surface area available to absorb the warmth of the sun.

Collective Voice: Intermission

Gigi Naglak — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PST

Imagine if you never gave your house a spring cleaning. Now imagine that, in addition to all this, your house had more than 600 individual artifacts and hundreds of people walking through it every month. That’s our reality: we haven’t shut down the Museum at CHF for a serious cleaning since opening in October 2008. But we finally found the time this year, and closed the museum for eight days at the beginning of February.

Drugs and Poisons

Tom Tritton — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PST

What if the side effects of a useful medicine could be predicted in advance just by knowing its chemical structure? This isn’t strictly possible with current techniques, but a significant advance in foreseeing adverse drug reactions is reported by a Harvard group using sophisticated statistical modeling.

Who’s Afraid of History of Science?

Michal Meyer — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PST

Three historians of science got together last week in Philadelphia to talk about what matters in the history of science and what’s useful about it. I went into the talk convinced of the importance of the history of science. After all, I wouldn’t be a historian of science if I didn’t think it important. But I did have one concern.

Biochemistry of Learning

Tom Tritton — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PST

A new study peers into the brains of mollusks for clues on how timing and spacing impacts humans' learning abilities.

Beckman at 25: Seymour Mauskopf

Carin Berkowitz — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST

Candlepower

Tom Tritton — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST

An amphiphobic material—one that rejects both water and oil—would be the holy grail of coatings, because of its potential to produce self cleaning surfaces, unsullied by any foreign intrusion. A new publication brings this particular fantasy a bit closer to reality, with an unlikely hero: a candle.

Can We Talk About Creationism?

Michal Meyer — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST

I recently received a letter criticizing Chemical Heritage for running an article on a creationist. A fair criticism, right? After all, we run a science and history magazine, not a religion magazine. Except that the creationist in question is a chemist. As the editor of the magazine I approved the inclusion. I had three reasons.

Darkness

Tom Tritton — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST

“A mathematician is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat which isn't there.” This remark contains the truism that looking for a black object in the dark is challenging, even if the object is there. And what is the blackest known material? A recent report from the University of Michigan reveals that single-walled carbon nanotube forests fit the bill as the blackest of them all.

First Person: Orlando Battista

Sarah Hunter-Lascoskie — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST

Orlando Battista was a prolific polymer chemist; there are over 65 patents to his name. But his scientific career wouldn't have happened without his non-scientific talents.

The Secret of a Stradivarius: Physics or Chemistry?

Tom Tritton — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST

Music aficionados swear that instruments by Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri are the very definition of superlative. Could it be physics: the shape and structure of the instrument producing perfect intonation? Or could it be chemistry: the varnish and other finishes adding the final definitive touch to timbre excellence? A new study suggests it may be neither.

Collective Voice: Sing a Chemical Self

Christy Schneider — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST

The ubiquitous elements that are both in our bodies and our environment are the focus of Dove Bradshaw’s 2004 print Song of Which (Evelina kneeling, looking left) . Bradshaw, an internationally acclaimed artist based in New York, recently offered to donate this work to CHF's collections. We are thrilled to have a work that poetically suggests that we are physical and chemical selves, made up of the same carbon and nitrogen that is in the soil and the stars.

Resolutions

Tom Tritton — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST

Most people’s resolutions are old favorites like losing weight, exercising more, not obsessing about things you can’t change, or volunteering for a favorite charity. We no longer have the happiness of 2011’s International Year of Chemistry, but since I'm still intent on taking a chemistry centric view, I offer the following resolutions for 2012.

The Year in Chemistry

Periodic Tabloid Staff — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST

The International Year of Chemistry technically ended with 2011, but it’s clear from IYC’s event page that the celebrations – and discussions – aren’t over.

Happy New Year

Tom Tritton — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 00:00:00 PST

As the International Year of Chemistry draws to a close it seems fitting to offer seasonal greetings to all those in the chemical and wider scientific communities who believe in the power of chemistry to make life better. Thus, I offer the traditional salutation in several languages of CHF friends and supporters.

Stinky Bacteria

Tom Tritton — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:00:00 PST

Hydrogen sulfide is toxic, flammable, and smelly. Think rotten eggs and you’ve identified this simple gas. It is commonly found in natural gas and has uses in the synthetic chemistry of sulfur compounds. H 2 S is also produced by many kinds of bacteria, but until illuminated by a recent paper its function was generally a mystery. The new work reveals that inactivation of H 2 S production renders clinically nasty bacteria much more susceptible to most ordinary antibiotics.

First Person: Claire Schultz

Sarah Hunter-Lascoskie — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 00:00:00 PST

Most of CHF’s oral histories focus on scientists—the individuals producing scientific research. But CHF also has an insider’s look into how that research gets to others, via the interviewees in our Scientific and Technical Information Systems collection. One of these interviewees is Claire Schultz, who observed wartime technologies turn into to computerization and, ultimately, the internet – a tool that would revolutionize scientific research and human knowledge worldwide.

Holiday Chemistry Gift Guide

Tom Tritton — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 00:00:00 PST

A popular sport at this time of year is the gift guide—suggestions of cool items for every possible taste. You can find guides for men, women, teens, babies, and other assorted humans, for techies, for design and arts fans, and even for tree huggers. I couldn’t find one for chemistry aficionados, however, so here is my own offering to fill this vital gap.

Using CO 2

Tom Tritton — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 00:00:00 PST

Watching the United Nations climate change conference going on in Durban, South Africa this week, it’s evident that the world’s political systems are largely deadlocked on ways to slow the rate of addition of CO2 to the atmosphere. But what if we could recycle CO2 by using it as a starting material for the carbon-based chemistry that now originates with oil?

We May Soon Be Talking About Rare Earths Less Rarely

Eric J. Schelter and Justin Bogart — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 00:00:00 PST

It’s not often that chemical issues drive international politics. But China’s recent decision to temporarily halt most of its production of rare earth elements has been a hot news topic. What’s all the fuss about?

Energy: Cheap, Clean, and Forever

Tom Tritton — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:00:00 PST

What if we had a source of power that generated no greenhouse gases and was essentially limitless? We do. It’s called hydrogen, and every molecule of water on earth contains a molecule of H2, just itching to be combusted for energy.

Christmas Countdown with the Othmer Plates

Jenn Landry — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 00:00:00 PST

CHF supporters may recognize Donald and Mildred Othmer as the founders of the Donald F. and Mildred Topp Othmer Library of Chemical History at CHF. But friends and family knew them as Don and Mid. This holiday season we would like to share CHF’s collection of the Othmers' Christmas plates. A different plate will be unveiled each day leading up to December 25.

Holidays and Hunger

Tom Tritton — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 00:00:00 PST

Today is Thanksgiving and most Americans are celebrating with friends, families, and feasts. Such occasions raise our spirits and lie on the plus side of the ledger. It’s also worth reflecting that not all of our fellow citizens share in the banquet.

How Bjork is Mining the Historical Intersection of Science and Music

Ryan Carty — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 00:00:00 PST

Science and music have always fascinated me, but for different reasons. I turn to one for its promise of explaining nature and humanity, the other for its emotional and introspective qualities. This is why I was surprised to learn about Icelandic singer and electronic musician Bjork’s latest album, Biophilia . In it, she transforms scientific instruments into just, well, instruments.

Blog Review: Chem Engineering Posts

Ryan Carty — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:00:00 PST

Concerned with the decline of student interest in chemical engineering, CHF board member Peter Spitz has started a new blog, Chem Engineering Posts, drawing on his experience and extensive knowledge about the chemical engineering industry. There are few blogs devoted to chemical engineering, so Spitz’s is a welcome and accessible addition

Alternate Realities

Tom Tritton — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 00:00:00 PST

The news last month from Europe was that a research team at CERN near the French/Swiss border observed neutrinos arriving at a detector faster than the speed of light. Naturally, the experiment is being repeated, checked, parsed, and thoroughly debated because physicists aren’t really all that anxious to rethink everything held dear for the past century. Personally, I hope it turns out that neutrinos can travel faster than light because, really, what could be more fun than to totally re-imagine the basic nature of the universe?

First Person: Kathryn Hach-Darrow

Sarah Hunter-Lascoskie — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 00:00:00 PST

"I had a date with Clifford Hach. He came up to the door and had a nice little package all wrapped up for me. I thought, 'It’s a box of candy.' He gave me the package, I opened it up, and there was a book for me to read by Dr. Otto Eisenschiml - Without Fame: The Romance of a Profession. Cliff said, 'I want you to read this because we’re going to build a chemical company.' His ambition was already very clear, even back in those days."

Feeding the World

William Herkewitz — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 00:00:00 PST

The world population is rapidly growing and there doesn’t seem to be any end in sight. By the end of 2011, which the United Nations has designated the International Year of Chemistry, the population is estimated to exceed 7 billion people - and may have already. By 2050 even modest projections place this same figure above 9 billion. Among other issues such unprecedented growth raises is one stark and glaring question: How can the world feed that many people?

Pure Carbon to the Rescue

Tom Tritton — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 00:00:00 PST

Both the iPad and the cell phone are hard, very stiff, and prone to damage if dropped. But suppose they could be made of a flexible material that could be rolled up, squished at will, and stuck anywhere? Sounds impossible based on current technology, but a group of chemists based in Korea and Illinois have an intriguing new possibility—graphene transistors.

Collective Voice: When Midland Mourned

Jenn Landry — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 00:00:00 PST

This month’s item comes hot off the processor’s desk. One of our archivists is currently processing a collection and came across a newspaper from Midland, Michigan (home to Dow Chemical) on the day that the company’s founder, Herbert H. Dow passed away.

Oil from Pond Scum

Tom Tritton — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Oil powers the modern world, both as a source of fuel and as the supply for many of the fundamental building blocks of organic chemistry. Someday—exactly when is the basis of much debate—we will run out of oil, so naturally one wonders what we will do in that eventuality. One prospect was announced two years ago when the oil giant ExxonMobil teamed up with the ambitious biotech Synthetic Genomics on a project to create biofuels from lowly algae.

The End of Fluoride?

Jesse Hicks — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Think your fluoridated drinking water protects you from Halloween-related cavities? A recent article in The New York Times carried the headline, “Looking to Save Money, More Places Decide to Stop Fluoridating the Water.” It follows last year’s report from the National Center for Health Statistics, which showing an increased occurrence of dental fluorosis, a flecking or mottling of the tooth enamel that occurs when children ingest too much fluoride. Does the combination of increased fluorosis and cash-strapped governments mean the end of fluoridated water?

Dirty Science

Tom Tritton — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Observation of nature is a pleasant task—field work is surely one motivation for choosing to become a scientist—but such work can also be tedious and time consuming. Is there a faster alternative? The answer is dirt, specifically the DNA fragments left behind in dirt by living creatures.

Planet Money on the Future of Energy

Periodic Tabloid Staff — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Planet Money is a great podcast that explores timely stories and issues through a global economic lens. Sound wonky? You might be surprised. You might also be surprised how often economics and chemistry overlap. The show a few weeks ago focused on the economics of energy and featured an interview with author Daniel Yergin about his new book The Quest, which focuses on the engineers and scientists who are searching for energy alternatives.

First Person: Julius Blank

Hilary Domush — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Julius Blank, a co-founder of Fairchild Semiconductor, passed away last month. In his obituary The New York Times described Blank as one of the two key engineers who built the microchip machinery that continues to power our world. One of his greatest achievements, along with Eugene Kleiner, was engineering the mass production of silicon chips from the ground up.

Cancer and Memory: A Molecular Connection

Tom Tritton — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 01:00:00 PDT

There is a large class of proteins called cyclins that regulate normal cell growth and division. Since cancer is a result of aberrant growth it comes as no surprise that cyclin over-expression is associated with many types of cancer. It would also follow that drugs aimed at suppressing hyperactive cyclins would present an intriguing opportunity as new therapeutic agents. Alas, no such drug yet exists for the treatment of human cancer.

How Not to Win the Nobel Prize

Neil Gussman — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 01:00:00 PDT

The Nobel Prize is a symbol of great achievement in science and literature, but the history of this sought-after award says that the best man (or woman) does not always win. The tale of one American physical chemist illustrates why.

Kids at Play: Philadelphia’s Community Arts Festival 2011

Jennifer Dionisio — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Yesterday a group of local art, science, and education organizations convened in Philadelphia’s Crane Arts Building to inspire the next generation of young artists and environmentalists. My colleague Gigi Naglak and I were thrilled to set up a CHF booth amidst food trucks and musical acts to participate in this mighty effort.

What is CHF's Board?

Tom Tritton — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Today CHF’s Board of Directors gathers in Philadelphia for an intensive day and a half of meetings. The board is made up of 16 individuals who fall into one or more of the following categories: eminent scientists and engineers; business leaders; scions of important cultural organizations; generalist wizards.

Alfred Nobel, the Man Behind the Medal

Lauren Zalut — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Today Periodic Tabloid welcomes Lauren Zalut, guest blogger and Alfred Nobel fan from the American Swedish Historical Museum in Philadelphia. A short biography of the prize founder, much in the news lately, after the jump.

Telling Stories

Michal Meyer — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 01:00:00 PDT

If you are alive, chemistry is part of your life. As such, I’ve always been surprised that people are put off by it. Until I read “ Chemistry: All About You .” This outreach website almost turned me off chemistry.

Video Monday: Artificial Leaf

Periodic Tabloid Staff — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 01:00:00 PDT

We've been buzzing about personalized energy ever since MIT’s Dan Nocera came by CHF to discuss a fascinating technology called the “artificial leaf.” What’s it all about? An explanation after the jump.

Red Museum Boerhaave!

Jenn Landry — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 01:00:00 PDT

I had the privilege last week of attending the annual Artefacts conference in Leiden, Netherlands. Artefacts is a group of historians and curators in the history of science and technology that seeks to promote the use of objects in historical study. The conference was lively and full of engaging discussion – made all the more poignant by the fact that our host, the Museum Boerhaave, is under threat of closure.

Undergraduate Research: Joys and Perils

Tom Tritton — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 01:00:00 PDT

It is an article of faith among scientists that undergraduate students benefit from participating in research. But wouldn’t it be nice to know what students themselves expect to obtain from a research experience? And wouldn’t it also be nice to know whether their experiences match their expectations? A recent study from the University of Georgia attempts to answer these questions.

Inconvenience Food

Jennifer Dionisio — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 01:00:00 PDT

In the days before pre-packaged cake mixes and electric mixers, baking a cake was an arduous process. Pretend you're living more than a century ago. How long do you think you can hand-blend ingredients without tiring? Ready your biceps, everyone. There's a long road ahead.

Chemophobia

Michal Meyer — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Books with the word “chemistry” in their title often sell poorly, though books that include lots of chemistry often end up doing well. Take, for example, Deborah Blum's The Poisoner’s Handbook , Rebecca Skloot's The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, or Sam Kean's The Disappearing Spoon : all bestsellers. So what’s in a word?

Geological Pace

William Herkewitz — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 01:00:00 PDT

The newest episode of Distillations focuses on a much loved childhood favorite: dinosaurs. It seems that popular perception of these Mesozoic monsters is in for yet another momentous change. But how are we just now figuring out that many of these dinosaurs were feathered?

Ig Nobel Simulcast is Better Than Ever...

Neil Gussman — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Arturas Zuokas, the mayor of Vilnius, Lithuania, won the 2011 Ig Nobel Peace Prize for "demonstrating that the problem of illegally parked luxury cars can be solved by running them over with an armored tank."

Bug Off

Tom Tritton — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Developed by the U.S. Army for use in the jungle, DEET sprays and lotions are now commonly available to anyone seeking relief from annoying bugs. It works well and many outdoorsy types wouldn’t leave home without it. But how does DEET work on the molecular level?

Nuclear News Analysis

Michal Meyer — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Secrets are hard to keep in the news world, which is usually a good thing. But what happens when the knowledge that bursts into the headlines is difficult to understand, incomplete, or badly translated by experts? “Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima: An analysis of traditional and new media coverage of nuclear accidents and radiation,” a recent report in The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists , looked at just that question.

Food for Thought

Jennifer Dionisio — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Surprise! When it comes to taste you can thank your brain, not your tongue, according to an article published recently in Science .

Happy Belated Birthday, Michael Faraday

William Herkewitz — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Michael Faraday was born September 22, 1791. He was raised with no formal education beyond primary school and was by all accounts, even well into adulthood, mathematically illiterate. Yet this same Michael Faraday would grow to become one of the greatest and most prolific scientific minds of all time.

Get the Lead Out!

Neil Gussman — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 01:00:00 PDT

At the beginning of the 2007 NASCAR season Dale Earnhardt, Jr. dropped out of a race and finished at the back of a 43-car field. His reason: the team’s engine builders had trouble with a new NASCAR rule mandating that high-octane fuel be lead free. This year Earnhardt is racing in a Chevrolet Impala race car making more than 800 horsepower—with unleaded fuel.

Climate Conflict

Tom Tritton — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Many readers will be familiar with the Bayh-Dole Act, passed by Congress in 1980 to promote technology transfer. Three decades later it seems fair to ask whether the act achieved its intended result. An issue of the journal Research Policy addresses the subject from several points of view.

Video Wednesday: Chemical Party

Andrew Mangravite — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 01:00:00 PDT

This video may be old news, but things do move a bit more slowly here at CHF - it only made the rounds around our office recently. Produced by Marie Curie Actions, a funding group within the EU Commission on Research and Innovation, the 2-minute short presents some of the basic relationships between the elements. To a thrumming techno beat!

Innovation Day 2011

Sarah Reisert — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 01:00:00 PDT

It’s Innovation Day at CHF! Innovation Day is a bit of a misnomer, actually, because the event spans two days. Now in its eighth year, Innovation Day brings together young innovators and industry leaders, both to celebrate breakthroughs in chemistry and seek solutions for tomorrow’s challenges.

First Person: Donald Noyce

Hilary Domush — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 01:00:00 PDT

The life of a graduate student in chemistry can be pretty mundane; most time is spent in the laboratory and there are often few opportunities for outside socializing. This was as true sixty years ago as it is today; Donald Noyce recalls this feeling in his CHF oral history – in 1946 he was a graduate student at Columbia University, studying the structure of Aspergillus ustus , a mold metabolite that was thought to kill tuberculosis.

Climate Conflict

Tom Tritton — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Why worry about climate change? Does it really matter if the earth gets a couple of degrees hotter A new study in Nature approaches such questions by examining the relationship between global climate and civil conflicts. History tells us that weather can influence conflicts: think George Washington’s troops in the Valley Forge winter, or navies unable to fight because of severe thunderstorms.

The Real World: South Carolina

Jennifer Dionisio — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 01:00:00 PDT

"This is the story of eight colleagues, picked to present at a conference, and have their panels blogged about. This is what happens when people stop being polite...and start talking about public history."

A History of Chemistry in Two Words

Periodic Tabloid Staff — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 01:00:00 PDT

What Teaching Taught Me

Christy Martin — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Last Thursday Tom described a study that suggested early career graduate students (students like me) were found to be better researchers if given some teaching experience. While this might seem surprising to some people, it comes as no shock to me. I taught high school science between college and graduate school and without a doubt, that year informs my research even now.

Collective Voice: "Rotating and Resolving" Recovered

Andrew Mangravite — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 01:00:00 PDT

In 1911 future Nobel Laureate Paul Karrer, then a student at work in the laboratory of Nobel Laureate Alfred Werner, took a break from his arduous studies to pen an amusing verse play for a Christmas celebration. These Weihnachtskommers were a chance for students to let their hair down and even poke some gentle fun at their professors.

Teaching vs. Research

Tom Tritton — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 01:00:00 PDT

It is commonly accepted that doing research on the frontiers of knowledge makes one a more effective—or at least a more authoritative—teacher. But is the reverse true as well, i.e. does teaching experience improve research proficiency? Thanks to a recent publication, there is now data on the seemingly age-old dichotomy of teaching and research.

Reconsidering Anti-Science

Neil Gussman — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 01:00:00 PDT

A recent New York Times editorial characterized the Republican Party as the anti-science party. In the polarized world of the 21st-century United States, anti-science is an often-used label, but it obscures the actual modern nature of the beliefs of candidates like Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, and Sarah Palin, as well as 2008 candidate Mike Huckabee.

Getting Here is Half the Fun

James Voelkel — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Books carry traces of where they’ve been. The history of the rare books collection’s newest addition, Benedikt Hermann’s Über die allgemeinen Eigenschaften des Kupfers (Leipzig, 1812), is hinted at even on its title page.

The Three Best Things About This Week’s ACS Meeting

Tom Tritton — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 01:00:00 PDT

The semiannual ACS national meeting is in Denver this week. Thousands of chemists, chemical engineers, and assorted hangers-on gathered in the mile high city to learn the newest results, enjoy each other’s company, and check out new offerings in the trade show exposition. Never mind that the economy is still sluggish and even showing signs of slipping backwards—it takes worse than this to dampen the enthusiasm of the gathered scientific community.

Today's Magic Bullet

Gigi Naglak — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 01:00:00 PDT

102 years ago today, Paul Ehrlich developed a chemical compound to effectively treat the scourge of his day: syphilis. Ehrlich’s compound, a derivative of arsenic called Salvarsan, was also the first successful chemotherapeutic agent. But the miracle drug, which Ehrlich called his “magic bullet,” was not without its problems.

Color, Cut, Clarity, Carat…and Carbon

Christy Martin — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Though I’ve been staring at my stunningly sparkly diamond engagement ring for just over two months now, I’m still wondering where it came from. I don’t mean blood diamonds—my natural, mined stone is certified conflict-free. I mean where it originally came from and how it was made. As a lover of chemistry I see my diamond for what it really is: carbon.

CHF Book Club Recap

Jennifer Dionisio — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Did you get a chance to read this month’s book club selection? Read on to hear the thoughts of participating CHF staff, as well as our pick for next month.

Old Drug, New Use (Again)

Tom Tritton — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Malaria is one of the nastier scourges confronting humankind. The grand challenge for treating it, as it is with all infectious diseases, is drug resistance. A recent paper by a high-powered collaboration between the NIH and Columbia University rises to this challenge.

Did You Feel It?

Periodic Tabloid Staff — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 01:00:00 PDT

I spent the morning playing – I mean, doing research – with all the pretty maps and graphs over at the United States Geological Survey’s website. Because oh yeah, a 5.8 magnitude earthquake forced us all to evacuate the building yesterday.

Human Science

Michal Meyer — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Online science magazine LiveScience interviewed historian of science Naomir Oreskes recently. I appreciated her comment that science is a human process, involving human dynamics.

Coffeehouse Culture at CHF

Mike Wronski — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 01:00:00 PDT

London Coffeehouse, a frequent destination for Joseph Priestley, was a place to exchange ideas, engage in thought-provoking conversation, and meet new people. CHF continues this tradition over two centuries later through the Joseph Priestley Society.

First Person: Ernest H. Volwiler

Hilary Domush — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 01:00:00 PDT

At the close of World War II, Ernest H. Volwiler was asked to do something out of the ordinary for an industrial chemist: visit German chemistry facilities on an intelligence mission. It was, he explained in his 1986 oral history, “a very interesting development, because we didn't have a good idea about the kinds of activities the Germans were involved in and how intensive they were.”

Tall Tales

Tom Tritton — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 01:00:00 PDT

There are certain advantages to being tall. Basketball prowess, for example, or potential as a “tall, dark, and handsome “movie star. On the other hand, disadvantages to surplus height include not fitting in airline seats and having to duck when entering a room. Now there is a new downside to tallness—susceptibility to cancer.

Student Science

Gigi Naglak — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 01:00:00 PDT

To build the next generation of science-literate citizens, CHF has started with one of the most science-phobic groups in this country: high school students. Studies have shown that the number of American students pursuing higher education and careers in the sciences has dropped steadily in recent years, leaving the United States faced with the prospect of losing its competitive edge in global scientific innovation and research if this doesn’t change.

The Real Marie Curie

Hilary Domush — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Marie Curie is one of the few scientists the public can name, but how much do we know about her really? Three articles in the new issue of Chemical Heritage get to the bottom of the woman behind the myth.

Collective Voice: Happy Birthday, PC

Jenn Landry — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Thirty years ago today, IBM issued a press release announcing the IBM Personal Computer, the company’s “smallest, lowest-priced computer system.” The personal computer has changed our daily lives in ways that would have seemed other-worldly in 1981. It has also changed laboratories. For the PC’s 30th anniversary, I thought it would be interesting to look at some laboratory images from CHF’s photographic collections that demonstrative the transformative effects of the electronic age.

Semantic Math

Tom Tritton — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 01:00:00 PDT

I ran across a paper analyzing common expressions intended to convey fuzzy quantitative meaning. At first I wondered if the work was a hoax similar to the famous Sokal Affair: the prose is off-puttingly dense and the text filled with odd equations. But the title conveys the gist of the study: "Bags of Talent, A Touch of Panic, and a Bit of Luck: The Case of Non-numerical Vague Quantifiers."

Your Summer Science Mix Tape

Gigi Naglak — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Summertime, and the living is easy…or so it has been sung. In celebration of the dog days of August, today Periodic Tabloid offers you a pop soundtrack with a science flair for your summertime adventures.

Strangers in the Lab

Jennifer Dionisio — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Yesterday the New York Times invited readers to take a multiple-choice quiz to identify famous scientists based solely on their portraits. Many CHF staff members were shocked to see their abysmal scores. What does that say for the rest of the population?

Go Figure

Jennifer Dionisio — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 01:00:00 PDT

The most recent weight-loss fad being pitched in the news turns out to be as medically questionable as the rest. Why do we keep falling for scientifically-dubious diets?

Electric Life

Michal Meyer — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Today we remember Luigi Galvani and Alessandro Volta through such words as “galvanized” and “volt.” But the curious (and somewhat creepy) experiments connected to their work ought not to be forgotten.

Time Travel

Tom Tritton — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Many of science's geratest achievements once seemed unimaginable lunacy. If we can make objects invisible, is it so unreasonable to imagine we might be able to travel in time some day?

Discount DNA

Sarah Hunter-Lascoskie — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Researchers are working hard to lower the cost of DNA sequencing. What are the benefits and why does this matter? CHF oral history interviewee George Church weighs in.

Behind the Scenes: First Fridays at CHF

Gigi Naglak — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 01:00:00 PDT

On the First Friday of the month, CHF’s museum joins other Old City Philadelphia galleries, museums, and shops in hosting a community-wide open house. Take a look at last month's event !

If This is a Man (of Science)

Jacqueline Boytim — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 01:00:00 PDT

“Linking the destinies of an individual and a molecule, chemistry defines very specific relationships between man and matter: neither domination nor submission, but a perpetual negotiation—through alliances or hand-to-hand struggles—among individual materials and human demands," explain Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent and Isabel Stengers in their history of chemistry. Some of the most beautiful reflections on such negotiations were penned by Italian chemist Primo Levi.

Regarding Evidence

Tom Tritton — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 01:00:00 PDT

What happens when truly false information is offered in a public forum and perhaps is even repeated over and over again? A research study from Australia attempts to answer this question and the results seem especially pertinent in an age when misinformation swirls constantly through our many channels of communication.

Something Smells at the Museum

Rosie Cook — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 01:00:00 PDT

History museums are beginning to experiment with smells in exhibitions, but they must tread carefully not to simply incorporate smells without thinking about context.

An Uncool Discovery

Neil Gussman — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Holding up in the heat? Across the country, people are praising their air conditioning units. But decades ago these appliances came with dangerous and environmentally-devastating risks.

Not to Be Tabled

Ben Guarino — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Last month, students from a science journalism class at the University of Pennsylvania visited CHF to review our museum. It was their final assignment and an informal contest of sorts: CHF staff chose their favorite review for publication on Periodic Tabloid. The winning piece, Ben Guarino’s “Not to Be Tabled,” appears after the jump.

Join CHF's Book Club!

Jennifer Dionisio — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Each month CHF staff members get together to discuss a chemistry-related title. But you don't have to be in the building to join in. August's pick after the jump.

Notebooks Can Be Beautiful!

Andrew Mangravite — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Chemists’ notebooks are the movie stars of CHF’s archival collections. Not only do they open up a window into the thought processes of their owners, but they are frequently embellished with sketches of those thoughts.

An Ounce of Prevention

Tom Tritton — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Ben Franklin knew what he was talking about when he advised, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Though Franklin was generalizing about the superiority of preventing problems rather than trying to fix them after the fact, his 18 th -century idiom applies quite aptly to modern medicine.

There's Always Room

Gigi Naglak — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Jell-O is having a mini-moment. Its cheerful, jaunty colors can be found in the pages of the Wall Street Journal, Martha Stewart Weddings, and even a spread in Vogue. If this is a fad, it wouldn't be the first; molded gelatin has a surprisingly long history.

The (Prehistoric) History of the Elements

Christy Martin — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 01:00:00 PDT

One second after the Big Bang, our universe consisted only of protons, neutrons, electrons, and other elementary particles. From the first three minutes to the first 20 minutes of our universe, the hydrogen nuclei combined to make helium and even a little lithium. The story of the heavier elements, however, is a little more explosive.

First Person: Henry Earl Lumpkin

Hilary Domush — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 01:00:00 PDT

One luxury of an oral history is the space it permits for exploring lesser-known, but no less important, parts of a subject’s life. Henry Earl Lumpkin, for example, who was interviewed in 1992 for the American Society for Mass Spectrometry project, had a long and distinguished career in the field. But during World War II, he also served in the U.S. Army Air Corps, a fore-runner of the U.S. Air Force.

Vacation Thursday

Tom Tritton — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Nothing much to report this week, mainly because I’m on vacation. In case you are curious, the location is Lake Sebago, Maine where my wife and I have been going for over 30 years to escape the pressures and realities of contemporary life.

A Look at the Helfand Collection, Part II

Andrew Mangravite — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Inspired by “Health for Sale,” the current Philadelphia Museum of Art show featuring prints and posters donated by Dr. William Helfand, on Tuesday we started examining one of the images from CHF’s own Helfand Collection.

Suburb vs. City Fight Ends in a Draw

Jennifer Dionisio — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Urban planners – and smug urbanites – have long celebrated the energy efficiency of densely populated areas (a topic we recently covered on Distillations ). But a new report published in the journal Environmental Research Letters suggests this might not be the case.

A Look at the Helfand Collection

Andrew Mangravite — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Dr. William Helfand is a longtime collector of prints and posters relating to the history of medicine. “Health for Sale,” an exhibit highlighting some of the gems of his collection, is currently delighting audiences at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Dr. Helfand is also a longtime friend and supporter of CHF, and has donated a number of unique pieces to our collection. Today Periodic Tabloid examines one of them.

Summer Reading

Mike Wronski — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 01:00:00 PDT

While settling into my new job at CHF and leaving to my wife the daunting task of selling our house in Massachusetts, I am living a Spartan, bachelor existence. In my Old City sublet you will find no television, stereo, or computer; in my free time I wander weathered cobblestones and read books about chemistry.

Collective Voice: The Magic of Paris

Jenn Landry — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 01:00:00 PDT

June's conference "Renewing the Heritage of Chemistry" was an incredible opportunity in itself, but while in Paris we also discovered another treasure: the Librairie Alain Brieux, an antique and rare book shop that specializes in science and medicine. Robert Anderson let Rosie Cook and me in on its secrets.

Drug Togetherness

Tom Tritton — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Drug combinations for infections could be very useful since discovery of totally new agents is rare, and drug resistance a relentless and intractable problem. One possibility is using drugs approved for other maladies in combination with proven antibiotics. This cool idea was recently put to the test by a Canadian and Scottish research collaboration.

No Dark Corners

Gigi Naglak — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 01:00:00 PDT

A May episode of Distillations , CHF’s award-winning podcast, focuses on the science and history of gas lighting. This week, we were delighted to find a cartoon in the collection from that same history.

Current Research by Future Scientists

Christy Martin — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Walking around as a “guest scientist” at the Science Leadership Academy (SLA) 9th-grade science fair last month, I felt more like a collaborator at an American Chemical Society meeting than a judge. Far from cookie-cutter “sunlight and plants” projects, students presented real research, motivated by curiosity, with results ready to jump off their posters.

Holiday Video Blog: Fireworks

Periodic Tabloid Staff — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Fireworks being the most watched chemical reaction in popular culture, July 4th presents a prime opportunity to talk up electrons and elements to your friends. Seriously, this is one day people will listen to you. Make sure you’ve got it right.

Civil War Medicine at CHF Science Fair

Gigi Naglak — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 01:00:00 PDT

It’s First Friday at CHF, and we’re ready to celebrate with “Stars, Stripes, and Science,” our annual science fair. We know, of course, that the July 4th holiday commemorates the signing of the Declaration of Independence. But this year we are commemorating another important anniversary in American history: the sesquicentennial of the Civil War.

Eating the Periodic Table

Tom Tritton — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Inedible as the elements may be, the symbolism of the periodic table has proved just as irresistible to restaurateurs as it has to other borrowers of the genre. At the Miracle of Science Bar + Grill, which bills itself as “the leader in geek-chic”, the menu display uses Mendeleevian graphics almost exclusively.

What Is, Geeking Out on Jeopardy! ?

Margo Bresnen — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 01:00:00 PDT

When CHF learned that the June 21 episode of Jeopardy! would include a category devoted to IYC 2011 we were quite excited. Perhaps none more than I, a particularly avid fan of “America’s favorite quiz show.” I’m not kidding—the IBM Watson challenge was a high point of my year. But how would an IYC 2011 category play out?

Kitchen 101: Poached Eggs

Jennifer Dionisio — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Cooking, as you might know, is a science—chemistry, for the most part—and learning the reasons behind the techniques can up your confidence in the kitchen. That’s my hope, anyway; in “Kitchen 101,” an occasional series on Periodic Tabloid, I’ll learn and share the proper way to make simple foods that until this time have utterly stumped me.

CHF Abroad

Jenn Landry — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Bonjour from beautiful Paris! A group of four CHF staff are in Paris this week for the Commission on the History of Modern Chemistry's symposium, "Renewing the Heritage of Chemistry in the 21st Century."

Water Still Surprises

Tom Tritton — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 01:00:00 PDT

You might have thought that any chemical controversy about water was settled when Lavoisier definitively established its composition over two centuries ago. You would be wrong, of course, to assume such, even on a molecule as simple as H 2 O.

Summer Sun

Neil Gussman — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Summer officially begins today across the northern hemisphere, so it's time to get serious about sunscreen. If last June’s bottle of SPF 100 gave you a smug feeling of superiority, be prepared: manufacturers can now only tout protection up to SPF 50. Nothing higher has demonstrated any increase in protection – protection that is provided by our friend titanium dioxide.

To Dad

Tom Tritton — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Father's Day this past weekend was a special treat. My youngest daughter Christi – expressing both her irrepressible inner artist and a connection to the old man – created a periodic table card for the occasion. What could be better?

Fathers and Sons (and Daughters!)

Gigi Naglak — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Science is often a family business; there have been six Nobel Prize-winning fathers and sons in the award’s history – all in science disciplines. No one in my family has this kind of hardware decorating the mantel in the living room, I must admit. But I still look up to my pharmacist and former chemistry teacher dad.

First Person: Tadeus Reichstein

Hilary Domush — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 01:00:00 PDT

At 88 years old, Dr. Tadeus Reichstein participated in a CHF oral history interview at his office in Basel, Switzerland. When asked for his secret to longevity, Reichstein replied, “There's no secret, but I think that as long as you are interested in life, and you can work, this is probably the best you can do for yourself.” Reichstein was living evidence of that credo.

Rational Science Policy

Tom Tritton — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 01:00:00 PDT

"If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.” So said Steven Jay Gould. He was talking about schools, universities, and assorted other educational settings. But alas, ignorance is also in evidence when public policy is considered around scientific matters. The problem boils down to choice. What research has the most importance to the public good?

Women Share Struggles, Successes in Science

Hilary Domush — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Four top female scientists gathered in New York City as part of the World Science Festival recently to discuss their lives in the field. Similarly, CHF has been conducting oral histories of women in chemistry to better understand the changes that have occurred in the scientific workplace. There is, unsurprisingly, a lot of overlap.

Tri, Tri Again

Christy Schneider — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Where is the reusable cup that serves both hot and cold coffee needs, and is made of a material safe for my health? The Tervis Tumbler FAQ page assures me the product contains no Bisphenol A – it’s made using the polymer Tritan, from Eastman Chemical Company. But can I trust this magic cup?

NYC's World Science Festival

Josette Hammerstone — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Guest blogger Josette Hammerstone: "As our country struggles with a dwindling economy, we’ve started to look at how to bring science and technology back into American hearts and minds. Many have found that the biggest challenge lies in changing our culture of celebrity. Events like the recent World Science Festival in New York City are becoming an increasingly common way to celebrate science and popularize its heroes."

Collective Voice: Gumshoe

Rosie Cook — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 01:00:00 PDT

As the registrar at CHF, I sometimes come across things in the object collection that are a total mystery. In my opinion, these are some of the best finds, because they mean I get to play detective and try to figure out what the object is and what it was used for.

You Can Call Me 114

Gigi Naglak — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 01:00:00 PDT

The official recognition of two new elements – 114 and 116 – on June 1 was kind of a big deal. 116 lasts only milliseconds before it decays into 114, and 114 lasts less than a second before it decays into 112. Because these elements are so unstable, little is known about their properties. Right now, most people are just talking about their names.

Revealing MRIs

Christy Martin — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 01:00:00 PDT

After watching POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (Morgan Spurlock’s documentary about product placement), I’m looking at advertisements very differently. No one product stuck in my head – instead, what I’m thinking about is the science sliced in the center of the film.

Newton Would U+2661 Unicode 6.0

Periodic Tabloid Staff — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Unicode 6.0 includes a new code block: alchemical symbols. These were submitted and moved through a long approval process by our colleagues at the Chymistry of Isaac Newton project. CHF helped out by providing numerous examples of tables of (al)chemical symbols from the 17th-, and 18th-century books in our collections.

Rosalyn S. Yalow, 1921 - 2011

Hilary Domush — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 01:00:00 PDT

In 1977 Rosalyn Yalow was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine – only the second woman to do so in that category. While Yalow undeniably deserved the award and the recognition that accompanied it, women in the mid-1970s were only beginning to make serious in-roads into scientific fields.

Why a Peach Sent Me to the Emergency Room

Sarah Hunter-Lascoskie — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Ever since early childhood, a ripe plum, apple, or another select fruit would sometimes create a series of hives on my lips and cause a tickly sensation in the back of my throat. But as I ate my peach that night, the sensation didn’t go away, even with the assistance of an antihistamine.

Learning Science

Tom Tritton — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 01:00:00 PDT

In science education, it is an uncontested article of faith that modern instruction is best when it involves active participation rather than passive reception of information through lectures. Who would dare to challenge this cherished assumption?

Harder Sell: Chemistry or Death?

Jennifer Dionisio — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Getting a general audience excited to visit a chemistry museum can be a bit daunting. Therefore, it was with much sympathy that I recently visited a museum about death.

Office Calisthenics, Anyone?

Periodic Tabloid Staff — Tue, 31 May 2011 01:00:00 PDT

The calorie, scientifically popularized by an agricultural chemist, was once used as a tool to maximize efficiency among laborers: to “promote the largest production of brick per man.” But as you may be aware, America doesn’t make a lot of bricks anymore. I was reminded of this when I saw a new report linking long-term shifts in the job market with a corresponding rise in obesity rates.

Chow Baby

Neil Gussman — Mon, 30 May 2011 01:00:00 PDT

On this Memorial Day, ceremonies in towns, cities and villages across America honor those who served and who are now serving in the U.S. military. Since I am one of those who served in the past and are now serving again, I want to remember and celebrate Army field rations: remember the 1970s C-rations and celebrate today’s MREs.

Study: 80% of Baby Products are Toxic

Neil Gussman — Fri, 27 May 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Fox News used this alarming headline last week in reporting on a study published in the journal Environmental Science and Toxicology . At issue is risk and how risk is perceived and assessed.

Public Engagement with Science

Tom Tritton — Thu, 26 May 2011 01:00:00 PDT

The goal of public engagement is to find creative ways to help people understand the basic principles of science and how its methods produce new knowledge. To this end CHF gathered a group of 13 top thinkers for a daylong exploration of the subject.

Back... to the Future!

Gigi Naglak — Wed, 25 May 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Greetings from the American Association of Museums conference in Houston! My colleagues and I are have gathered here to discuss what the museum of the future might look like—including CHF.

Dark Matters and the Periodic Table

Christy Martin — Tue, 24 May 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Late in the 19th century, Dmitri Mendeleev embarked on a most modest journey to create a table of all that was known, and yet to be known, of elemental matters. Yet scientists today believe that the elements in the periodic table make up only about 5% of all the mass in the entire Universe. That’s less than you give the government in sales tax each time you buy something!

First Person: Mary L. Good

Hilary Domush — Fri, 20 May 2011 01:00:00 PDT

The Cold War influenced chemist Mary L. Good’s education and career, providing not only the funding but much of the public rationale for scientific research and training. As the tensions of the 50s and 60s eased, part of her job as a political science advisor was to convince both the government and the public to continue their support.

Boom and Bust (the Bad Guys)

Tom Tritton — Thu, 19 May 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Considerable research has gone into highly sensitive detection systems that can be used to screen airports and other potential targets for explosive devices. One promising strategy is described in a new publication from the Department of Chemical Engineering at MIT, which uses a chemical sensor to detect as little as one molecule of TNT.

Carbon Cycle

Neil Gussman — Wed, 18 May 2011 01:00:00 PDT

National Bike to Work Week has been difficult this year: rain in the northeast has stopped all but the most addicted riders from a two-wheeled commute. But the sun will be out soon. In the meantime, you might consider how bicycling is the most chemistry (and chemical) friendly ride in the world.

Unlikely Allies

Michal Meyer — Tue, 17 May 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Science and religion are commonly believed to be in a state of perpetual battle. So why is the Vatican proposing we act to prevent global warming?

Collective Voice: The 13 th Element

Rosie Cook — Fri, 13 May 2011 01:00:00 PDT

In the collection at CHF, quite a few of our machines have large pieces of aluminum foil attached to them. Some of our photographs show laboratory instruments wrapped in the stuff, and among our artifacts is even a roll of Fisher Scientific brand aluminum foil. Do chemists just love shiny things, or is there something else going on here?

Stellar Commissions

Tom Tritton — Thu, 12 May 2011 01:00:00 PDT

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences recently announced the formation of a commission to raise the visibility, status, and impact of the humanities and the social sciences. The effort complements a National Research Council project with similar goals for the sciences.

Breakfast Rx

Neil Gussman — Wed, 11 May 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Can food be medicine, or medicine food? It’s not as simple as comparing apples and…syringes. According to Donna Messner, CHF’s current Gordon Cain Fellow in Technology, Policy, and Entrepreneurship, the distinction between what is food and what is medicine began to blur around the turn of the 20th century.

Cookies + Candy = Classroom?

Periodic Tabloid Staff — Tue, 10 May 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Joanne Manaster, an online course developer and lecturer at the University of Illinois, uses some fun tools to explain a not-so-fun experience for a number of us at CHF: allergies. Even if you are blissfully sniffle-free this time of year, it’s worth watching to see what happens when the hammer is introduced.

Mourning with Marie Curie

Margo Bresnen — Mon, 09 May 2011 01:00:00 PDT

During the final days of the Philadelphia Science Festival, I got to know Marie Curie. I don’t just mean that I got to know about Marie Curie (though I certainly did), but rather that her appearance—in the form of storyteller Susan Marie Frontczak—left me feeling acquainted with a brilliant and complex woman, not just a celebrated persona.

Women in Chemistry 2011: A Recap

Hilary Domush — Fri, 06 May 2011 01:00:00 PDT

A 2006 UNESCO report estimates that only 27% of scientists worldwide are women. While women in chemistry fare slightly better than some in other disciplines, their rate of retention within the industry still causes concern . As part of its ongoing commitment to women in science, last week CHF held a two-day celebration of female chemists.

Too Many Docs?

Tom Tritton — Thu, 05 May 2011 01:00:00 PDT

The April 21 issue of Nature has a whole section devoted to “The Future of the PhD.” The gist is that the world’s system of doctoral education needs to be fixed, overhauled, or done away with.

Border Crossings

Michal Meyer — Wed, 04 May 2011 01:00:00 PDT

In 1980 physicist Luis Alvarez and his chemist compatriots published a paper arguing that an iridium-rich meteorite smashed into the earth 65 million years ago, causing mass extinctions, and leaving behind its signature in the form of an iridium layer. Artist Lynn A. MacIntyre turned this piece of science history into art.

What’s in a Name?

Neil Gussman — Tue, 03 May 2011 01:00:00 PDT

If you are reading this blog, you probably know that the Chemical Heritage Foundation is a library, a museum, and a center for scholars. But I often field press inquires from reporters who don’t. Maybe they want to know something about fireworks, disinfectant, chemistry sets, or the history of anesthesia; regardless of the question, some of them are stopped short by our name. “Does well-known conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation have a chemical division?” they wonder.

Lighten Up

Jennifer Dionisio — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Since the weather turned warm I’ve been a giddy and distractible mess. I swear, it’s out of my control: I coo and laugh at pretty much everything. My eyelashes won’t stop batting. Today I found absolution with a quick Google search. Spring Fever is real !

Bacteriamageddon

Tom Tritton — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 01:00:00 PDT

For the past several decades low level antibiotics have been widely used to promote growth in farm animals. Estimates are that up to 70% of antibiotic use is for this purpose rather than to treat infections. The practice is effective and makes economic sense. Unfortunately, it is also a very efficient way to promote the emergence of drug resistant organisms which may in turn cause untreatable infections.

Scientific Communities: They're Just Like Us!

Hilary Domush — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Last week Sarah Hunter and I presented at the Oral History in the Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference . The theme of the conference was "Displacement and Community: Using Oral History to Document Transitions, Evolutions, and Adaptation." While most other presentations focused on communities people have heard of but may not know much about (New York City taxi drivers, community organizers in West Mount Airy, or cloistered nuns) Sarah and I were the only people who spoke about scientists and science.

Great Events at CHF for Science Festival Week Two

Neil Gussman — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Since its launch last Saturday on the Ben Franklin Parkway, the Philadelphia Science Festival has delighted thousands of science buffs with events across the city. And the party continues in the coming week with dozens of events still to go, including two at CHF.

Old and Sleepy

Tom Tritton — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 01:00:00 PDT

In college I could sleep like a champ. Staying up way past midnight and then snoozing till noon on weekends was routine. Alas, senior year Physical Chemistry at 8am five days a week prevented such lifestyle luxury on school days.

First Person: Hubert N. Alyea

Hilary Domush — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 01:00:00 PDT

The Oral History Program is excited to start a new series on the Periodic Tabloid: First Person. Every month we will highlight one of the over 400 oral histories in CHF's collection. The first is Hubert N. Alyea.

Reality Check

Neil Gussman — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 01:00:00 PDT

In reaction to IYC2011, a Scientific American blogger confesses: "When we hear 'chemicals' we think death, harm, cancer, birth defects, danger, pain, poison, pollution, hazardous waste, Love Canal, Bhopal. Oh, joy!" Here's why, even as we celebrate chemistry's successes, we must take into account its stigmas.

Pesky Bacteria

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Bacterial infections—once a major cause of human mortality—have been tamed a bit since the widespread introduction of antibiotics in the first half of the 20th century. The chances of dying from common infections are much lower now than before we had sufonamides, penicillins, tetracyclines, and scores of newer useful drugs.

A Scientific Rapture?

Michal Meyer — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 01:00:00 PDT

If you haven’t heard of the Singularity it’s time to pull your head out of the sand. The strange idea of technological utopianism may be going more mainstream, or at least getting air time, now that a computer is king of Jeopardy.

Remembering John Haas

Neil Gussman — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Though it is a lesser-known piece of our history, John Haas, who recently passed away, was crucial to the founding of CHF.

More Rhythm and Blues

Tom Tritton — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 01:00:00 PDT

A few weeks back I mused about recent research showing that disruption of normal circadian rhythms can lead to all manner of health disorders. The work was intriguing because most of us take long flights to different time zones, work all night to meet a deadline, or otherwise perturb our normal rhythms. Left unsolved, however, is the problem of how to explain the results at the biochemical level.

Science Fairs vs. Science Festivals

Periodic Tabloid Staff — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Starting next Friday, The Philadelphia Science Festival will present two impressively packed weeks of lectures, demonstrations, games, science cafes, dinners, panel discussions and more. The idea of a great big science party reminds me of a more familiar, if less celebratory, gathering of minds: the school science fair.

Bridging the Perception Gap on Climate Change

Ron Reynolds — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 01:00:00 PDT

The current debate on climate change is not moving towards a consensus and the public appears dazed and apathetic. Perhaps understanding the history of climate could help.

Be Chemistry Fools This April Fools’ Day

Maia Lee — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Science is all around us—in fact, it's even IN us! Like it or not, we're chock full of chemistry. Here's how to change your name to reflect this.

Food for Thought

Tom Tritton — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Molecular gastronomy is a combination of words one might not ordinarily think belonged together. In truth, it is a respectable field representing a fusion of scientists and chefs trying to understand the chemical and physical processes that occur during food preparation.

What’s the History of Science Good For?

Michal Meyer — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 01:00:00 PDT

With universities around the country cutting their budgets, especially in the humanities, history of science departments might seem like a good place to cut. After all, they aren't money makers for universities—no new patents, technologies, or bankable discoveries tend to come from them. So what is the value of history of science? Nathaniel Comfort at the PACHS blog has taken up the question.

Female Faculty: Another Study from MIT

Hilary Domush — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 01:00:00 PDT

A new study on the Status of Women Faculty at MIT raises questions about the perception of equality versus the reality.

Blog Love

Neil Gussman — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Bloggers write about many sides of CHF

The Case of the Missing Xenon

Tom Tritton — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Xenon is the second heaviest of the Noble gasses. The lighter ones—Neon, Argon, and Krypton—are all present in the atmosphere at about the level expected from predictions of primordial concentration. Big old Xenon, though, is missing in action, with about 90% unaccounted for. Where did the misplaced Xenon go? Previous attempts at explanations include Xenon entrapment in water, ice, or sediments, or possibly escape from the atmosphere into space. All have proven untenable.

Radiation By Numbers

Jennifer Dionisio — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Since Japan's triple-whammy of tragedy struck, we've all been struggling to grasp what damage, if any, humans might face regarding the unfolding nuclear disaster. With so much conflicting, confusing information out there, sometimes a handy chart is all you need to put things in perspective.

A Mad, Mad World

Michal Meyer — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Mad scientist characters like Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll have been popular for centuries. Are they fictional creations or very real reflections of anxious times?

TSCA: From Inception to Reform, a Public Dialogue

Jody Roberts — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 01:00:00 PDT

On March 3, The Center’s Environmental History and Policy program organized “TSCA: From Inception to Reform, a Public Dialogue” at the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, D.C. The event brought together five participants who helped shape the Toxic Substances Control Act to discuss their successes and failures.

Chemistry Kit Chemophobia

Neil Gussman — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 01:00:00 PDT

How can you have a chemistry set with no chemicals?

Bad News for Stem Cells

Tom Tritton — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Considerable promise matched with equally considerable hype surround the subject of stem cells. This is due to the ability of stem cells to differentiate into any specialized type of cell and thus replace injured or diseased tissues. Possibilities include treatments for Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s dementia, heart ailments, and spinal cord injuries.

Elements in Action

Jennifer Dionisio — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Don't know much about gadolinium? Students from our It's Elemental video competition can fix that for you.

Green Energy is the One

Ron Reynolds — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 01:00:00 PDT

Fostering increased innovation in the U.S. as a general principle is hard to oppose and I’m sure we’ll see a government-sponsored program to fund and encourage a wide range of innovations. But to do something big and inspiring with near-term impact you have to concentrate your efforts. Here's why I think green energy should be the cause we rally around.

Old Wine in New Bottle

Tom Tritton — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 00:00:00 PST

Taxol is an ingeniously complex organic molecule originally isolated from the bark of the Pacific Yew tree. You really don’t want to be ingesting Taxol because it likely means you are being treated for lung, ovarian, breast, or head-and-neck cancer. And now comes an idea about Taxol completely unrelated to cancer treatment and that falls in the I-wish-I’d-thought-of-that category.

Did Anybody Order an Oxygen?

Maia Lee — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 00:00:00 PST

Pop culture definitely has a way of making use of the elements: gold and silver jewelry, helium-filled balloons, neon signs, mercury thermometers, but oxygen? Despite being an intrinsic part of the air we breathe and the water we drink, oxygen has become socially commoditized through oxygen bars.

The Future We Create

Hilary Domush — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 00:00:00 PST

60 speakers, 60 perspectives, 60 minutes—all devoted to illuminating the place of women in science.

Chemistry and Innovation

Tom Tritton — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 00:00:00 PST

MIT’s exceedingly useful publication Technology Review just released its 2011 list of the world’s 50 most innovative companies.Naturally, I wondered how big a role chemistry plays.

Unscrambling Chemistry's Boundaries

Michal Meyer — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 00:00:00 PST

Despite the misconception that chemistry is something done solely in a lab, one only needs to scramble an egg to call himself a chemist.

Thinking Outside the Atom

Hilary Domush — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 00:00:00 PST

This year we are celebrating the 100th anniversary of Marie Curie’s Nobel Prize in chemistry. But a recent flurry of articles about the glut of Ph.D. chemists has me thinking about Curie’s Ph.D. thesis.

Alchemy Gets Respect at AAAS Annual Meeting

Neil Gussman — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 00:00:00 PST

Rhythm and Blues

Tom Tritton — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 00:00:00 PST

Humans—most of us, anyway—have exquisite rhythm. Not necessarily the kind of rhythm associated with music, poetry, or athletics, but rather our natural ability to exist in a perfectly repeating 24 hour cycle.

Mixing Fact and Fiction

Michal Meyer — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 00:00:00 PST

Until very recently I hadn't known of any novels with a historian of science as the main character. Honestly, scientists have it easy— historians of science are far lower down the totem pole when authors hand out jobs to major characters. But in a recently published book not only is the major character a historian of science, she is also a historian of alchemy.

Universally Speaking

Will Kearney — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 00:00:00 PST

An old Chemical Heritage article mentions Wilhelm Ostwald's chemical work, which included the invention of the process that makes nitrate from ammonia. Not very surprising—a chemist doing chemistry. But then it says Ostwald was celebrated for his invention of the international language "Ido." What? I had to know more.

Pioneers of Nanotechnology

David C. Brock — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 00:00:00 PST

In January 2011, I conducted an interview with James Von Ehr II, arguably the entrepreneur who has invested the most of his personal resources in nanotechnology, as part of the partnership between the Center for Contemporary History and Policy and the Center for Nanotechnology in Society at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Love’s Chemistry

Tom Tritton — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 00:00:00 PST

During this Valentine’s week, if you type “love” into Google you’ll be rewarded with 3,360,000,000 hits. Bing returns a measly 849,000,000. Either way, it takes a long time to read them all.

Humanizing Regulations

Jody Roberts — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 00:00:00 PST

It’s a new year, a new Congress, and possibly a new opportunity for reform of TSCA, the Toxic Substances Control Act. As part of CHF’s TSCA Oral History Project, on March 3rd CHF will be bringing the stories we’ve gathered to stage as “TSCA: From Inception to Reform, A Public Dialogue.”

CHF on TV Celebrating the International Year of Chemistry

Neil Gussman — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 00:00:00 PST

Michal Meyer, PT blogger and editor-in-chief of Chemical Heritage magazine, appeared on CBS 3 Philadelphia's "Talk Philly." Check it out!

Million Book Search

Tom Tritton — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 00:00:00 PST

Five million books, actually. That’s how many digitized volumes Google has placed in a database that can be searched for word occurrences in works published between 1800 and 2000.

Glowing Gems

Maia Lee — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 00:00:00 PST

According Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes , “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.” Personally, I like gems with a bit more color to them. Recently I came across blue topaz that was so bright I couldn’t take my eyes off it. In an effort to find out more about it, I learned that blue topaz is extremely rare, but the bright stuff more often that not is artificially irradiated.

Percy Julian Speaks in Philadelphia

Neil Gussman — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 00:00:00 PST

Percy Julian, chemist extraordinaire, visited Philadelphia last Thursday. Well, actually it wasn't Percy Julian himself, but he was convincingly portrayed in three performances by the living history interpreter Jim Armstead.

Ode to Joy

Michal Meyer — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 00:00:00 PST

As part of the U.S. kickoff for the International Year of Chemistry last week, CHF hosted a panel, Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions, which focused on the big issues: energy, health, water, and so on. I want to focus on a small part of the so on. At the end of the discussion, a perennial question cropped up: How to get kids interested in science.

Writing About Energy

Hilary Domush — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 00:00:00 PST

Members of the Center for Contemporary History and Policy often write about energy and other environmental science issues. I want to draw your attention to last week's post by Ron Reynolds, Mission Accepted: Clean Energy , as Ron plans to write follow-ups throughout this International Year of Chemistry. Additionally, I want to highlight some of our previous posts on the subject.

Deep Thoughts

Tom Tritton — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 00:00:00 PST

Last week’s post was from the global kickoff of the International Year of Chemistry in Paris. This week marks the U.S. launch, a collaboration of the American Chemical Society, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, American Chemistry Council, National Academy of Sciences, and CHF.

Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions: Live on the Internet

Jennifer Dionisio — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 00:00:00 PST

CHF is celebrating day two of the U.S. launch of the International Year of Chemistry! Our Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions panel talk this morning has sold out, but there's still a chance for you to hear some of chemistry's most distinguished figures discuss ways we can address the most pressing issues of today.

Mission Accepted: Clean Energy

Ron Reynolds — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 00:00:00 PST

While watching President Obama’s State of the Union address last Tuesday night, I couldn’t help but draw parallels to President Kennedy’s challenge to embark on a lunar landing program. That now famous speech was given to a joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961. I went back and reread it and found the following quotes, still pertinent today.

International Year of Chemistry Opens in Paris

Neil Gussman — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 00:00:00 PST

Yesterday, hundreds of people stood in a line stretching half a city block in front of the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. These invited guests from many nations braved the cold (just below freezing) to hear a series of talks that marked the opening of the International Year of Chemistry.

Rock Stars of Chemistry

Tom Tritton — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 00:00:00 PST

Today and tomorrow mark the official kickoff of the International Year in Chemistry at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. The assembled IYC masses will hear my presentation, The Story of Chemistry from the 18th Century to Today: Great Names, Great Steps .

The Benefits of Being MRS. Curie

Michal Meyer — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 00:00:00 PST

Marie Curie is deservedly recognized as one of the great scientists of the 20th century, and one of the goals of the International Year of Chemistry is to celebrate her. But it’s worth asking whether she would have won two Nobel prizes (or even one ) if she had not married Pierre Curie.

Documenting a Deep Problem

Jennifer Dionisio — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 00:00:00 PST

This morning, the Academy named Gasland , Josh Fox's documentary about the controversy surrounding natural gas drilling in the Appalachian Mountains, as an Oscar nominee for Best Documentary. Like Fox, we've been trying to make sense of the environmental toll this practice is taking on our neighbors.

IYC and Women in Chemistry

Hilary Domush — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 00:00:00 PST

Last week's IYC breakfast provided a perfect opportunity to reflect on Marie Curie and modern women in chemistry.

My Chemical Romance

Neil Gussman — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 00:00:00 PST

Looking for love this Valentine's Day? Don't be surprised that finding it takes... chemistry.

Schizophrenic Molecule

Tom Tritton — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 00:00:00 PST

Oxytocin is a short peptide with many talents. Perhaps most notable to regular citizen types, oxytocin is thought to play a crucial role in some of our best human attributes: trust, empathy, generosity, altruism.

Wintry Mix

Jennifer Dionisio — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 00:00:00 PST

Staff at at CHF's headquarters in Philadelphia slid their way to work today, fighting against fresh sheets of ice formed overnight during yet another blast of winter weather. Today's mission: stop thinking of ice as a dangerous nuisance and more as a wonder of nature.

Rubber Matters: Solving the World War II Rubber Problem

David J. Caruso — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 00:00:00 PST

Rubber Matters, the first Oral History Program online exhibit, recounts the history—the trials and tribulations, the successes and failures—of America’s attempt to address the rubber needs of the armed forces during World War II.

How I Would've Died: Face/Off

Neil Gussman — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 00:00:00 PST

Rocket Fuel

Tom Tritton — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 00:00:00 PST

Some chemical reactions produce lots of heat (exothermic reactions). If you run such reactions in a confined space and direct the resulting gases into a nozzle, this in turn can produce the thrust needed to lift a rocket.

Discovery

Michal Meyer — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 00:00:00 PST

I was recently asked to talk about discovery in science, which means I need to figure out what I actually believe about discovery, especially “chance” discovery. I decided to take a step back and start with the relationship between scientists and the natural world.

Can Fracking Technology And Water Coexist?

Ron Reynolds — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 00:00:00 PST

What do Monarch butterflies, genetically-modified corn, and fracking have to do with each other?

How I Would've Died: Lack of Protocol

Neil Gussman — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 00:00:00 PST

Happy Chemistry Year!

Tom Tritton — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 00:00:00 PST

Finally, it’s our year. Thanks to the good graces of the United Nations, 2011 is the International Year of Chemistry.

Congratulations to Us!

Jennifer Dionisio — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 00:00:00 PST

Like what you see on our Web site? We're proud to announce that judges for the W3 Awards do as well!

Fixing the Sky

Jennifer Dionisio — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 00:00:00 PST

A headline I came across yesterday read "Abu Dhabi Scientists Create Desert Rainstorms." Shocking new development? Not exactly. Humans have been manipulating the weather for centuries.

International Year of Chemistry Starts Tomorrow

Neil Gussman — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 00:00:00 PST

This week I'm taking a break from my ongoing saga of how I cheated death to remind everyone that the International Year of Chemistry 2011 starts tomorrow!

Relief from Holiday Indulgence

Tom Tritton — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 00:00:00 PST

Except for the final revelry of New Years Eve, the 2010 holiday season is nearly over. Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, the Winter Solstice, and the earlier Ramadan, are all fading into pleasant memory.

Does Moore’s Law Apply To New Energy Technologies?

Ron Reynolds — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 00:00:00 PST

People are eager to apply Moore's Law to clean energy technology. Could we?

How I Would Have Died: Traumatic Brain Injury

Neil Gussman — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 00:00:00 PST

A New Greenhouse Gas

Tom Tritton — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 00:00:00 PST

Readers will be familiar with the idea that burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide, which in turn absorbs infrared radiation, and which is then re-emitted as heat in the atmosphere. This is the greenhouse effect and the source underlying the worry about global warming and climate change.

Competing Elements

Jennifer Dionisio — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 00:00:00 PST

With less than three weeks remaining in CHF's It's Elemental video competition, student films interpreting the elements are quickly streaming in. Time to vote for your favorites!

The Virtuous Circle: Chemistry and Electronics

David C. Brock — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 00:00:00 PST

One of the largest instrumentation firms on the planet, Life Technologies, made a splash recently with its announcement of the first commercial DNA sequencer to employ semiconductor sequencing , the latest in a long series of virtuous circles of innovation produced by the intersection of chemistry with electronics.

How I Would Have Died: Breaking My Neck

Neil Gussman — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 00:00:00 PST

Twice this year and a dozen times in the last four decades, I have had a reason to celebrate modern medicine and the chemistry behind it. This series of blog posts explains how I would have died if I had the same injury 100 years ago. Last week, I described the bicycle racing crash that left me in a ditch bleeding with ten broken bones. The worst of those ten broken bones, at least in terms of my short-term and long-term survival, was my seventh cervical vertebra, C-7. How would I have fared if this injury had occurred a century earlier?

Another Reason to Love Gold

Tom Tritton — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 00:00:00 PST

People have always treasured gold for its unique combination of utility and beauty. Now comes a report that gold may be a repository of chemical elements heretofore not known to exist on earth.

A Curious Question

Michal Meyer — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 00:00:00 PST

Curiosity and creativity have always been part of science, as Nightjar Apothecary's Brett Keyser showed at our last First Friday. But what's the relationship between curiosity and technology?

Marie Curie: More Than Mere Icon?

Hilary Domush — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 00:00:00 PST

In 2011, we will celebrate the centennial of Marie Curie's Nobel Prize in Chemistry. How much do you know about her?

How I Would Have Died: Bicycle Racing

Neil Gussman — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 00:00:00 PST

Bad Idea from Public Officials

Tom Tritton — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 00:00:00 PST

Readers may remember the Golden Fleece awards bestowed by former U.S. Senator William Proxmire in the 1970s and 1980s. The idea is back, and this time it’s aimed squarely at the National Science Foundation.

A Holistic Approach to Holiday Stress

Jennifer Dionisio — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 00:00:00 PST

Who besides me is watching their holiday cheer snowball into a there's-so-much-to-do-and-so-little-time panic? Turns out there's a free and effective stress relief tool at your disposal all season long: breathing.

Weird Life

Michal Meyer — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 00:00:00 PST

NASA’s announcement last week that a life form can use arsenic as one of the elemental building blocks of life shows that the best place to look for weird and strange life forms is still the Earth.

EPA at 40

Elizabeth McDonnell — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 00:00:00 PST

The Environmental Protection Agency, which officially opened its doors in December 1970, has just turned 40.

How I Would Have Died: Motorcycle Accident

Neil Gussman — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 00:00:00 PST

After the flip, I landed face down on the road. The main impact points were my knees and face. Both knees hit on their left sides and got scraped so badly I could see the ligaments inside. I didn't see my helmet until after my two-week hospital stay, but the full-coverage helmet had grooves scraped in the chin bar and above the visor.

On Intelligence, Collaboration, and Gender

Tom Tritton — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 00:00:00 PST

A recent study says groups exhibit a communal intellect that is different from the combination of the group member’s parts.

Mystery Solved!

Jennifer Dionisio — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 00:00:00 PST

Earlier this month, CHF served as a backdrop for Radio Hound Productions' Boson Higgs, Science Detective, to solve a serious crime... with chemistry.

Time for Vaccines

Michal Meyer — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 00:00:00 PST

We take our mostly disease-free status for granted. But go back even one generation and fear ruled whole communities. The College of Physicians of Philadelphia has created a fascinating and visually intriguing timeline showing this history.

How I Would Have Died: Thanksgiving Break

Neil Gussman — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 00:00:00 PST

This week I am simply thankful to be able to write about the various ways I could have died.

Susan Solomon on Climate Change

Tom Tritton — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 00:00:00 PST

This year's Ullyot Public Affairs honoree, Susan Solomon of NOAA, held the rapt attention of a capacity crowd.

Max Tishler's Pipeline

Hilary Domush — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 00:00:00 PST

What's the most synthetically complex drug on the market? Hydrocortisone. A CHF oral history with former Merck chemist Max Tishler provides a behind-the-scenes look at its development.

Technology's Cost

Michal Meyer — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 00:00:00 PST

I recently saw Bjorn Lomborg’s new movie, Cool It , about global warming. Lomborg starts from the position that global warming is happening, and he then moves on to what we should be doing in response. I think it’s fair to say that technology plays a big part in his thinking about what we should do. None of this is new.

The Life of Laws

Jody Roberts — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 00:00:00 PST

This past Friday, I was in Washington, D.C. to present the first of CHF's findings from our year long oral history project of the Toxic Substances Control Act.

How I Would Have Died: Smallpox and Polio

Neil Gussman — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 00:00:00 PST

Weighty Subject

Tom Tritton — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 00:00:00 PST

How much does a kilogram weigh? This is reminiscent of those trick questions like: When was the war of 1812? Who is buried in Grant’s tomb?

Brainstorming a Stop to Climate Change

Jennifer Dionisio — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 00:00:00 PST

Tomorrow, NOAA scientist Susan Solomon will speak at CHF's annual Ullyot Public Affairs Lecture about the issues impeding the establishment of international policies to combat climate change. Want to join us?

Stealing Science

Michal Meyer — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 00:00:00 PST

I want to take science away from the scientists. Before anyone calls me a Luddite, a Creationist, or simply crazy, let me explain myself.

University + Industry: It's Complicated

Hilary Domush — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 00:00:00 PST

During a recent oral history interview I conducted, the increasingly complex partnerships between industry scientists and university scientist was discussed. Today's situation is in stark contrast to very causal collaboration and consultation relationships described by some of CHF’s older oral histories.

How I Would Have Died: Shrapnel

Neil Gussman — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 00:00:00 PST

Who is a Chemist?

Tom Tritton — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 00:00:00 PST

I noticed a story in the Wall Street Journal entitled “In Quest for ‘Legal High,’ Chemists Outfox Law.” So who really qualifies as a chemist?

An Evening with the Moon Killer

Jennifer Dionisio — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 00:00:00 PST

The Secret Cinema returns to CHF tonight for the final installment of our vintage sci-fi film screenings. Who's the mysterious murderer terrorizing Manhattan in Doctor X ? Leave it to a fast-talking reporter to get the scoop.

Weird Science

Michal Meyer — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 00:00:00 PST

I’m pretty sure our scientific descendants will think us weird, but maybe not as strange as the Renaissance and early modern practitioners of science appear to us. Specifically me.

Midterm Outlook on Limiting CO 2

Ron Reynolds — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 00:00:00 PST

Much of the debate over efforts to control CO 2 in the past two years revolved around legislatively driven processes. How have the midterm elections changed that?

How I Would Have Died: Bacterial Infection

Neil Gussman — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Twice this year and a dozen times in the last four decades, I have had a reason to celebrate modern medicine and the chemistry behind it. So I am starting a new series of blog posts explaining how I would have died if I had the same injury 100 years ago. I will begin with my most recent brush with medical malaise: bacterial infection.

Gorgeous Science Images

Tom Tritton — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 01:00:00 PDT

I am a dedicated aficionado of still photography and derive deep aesthetic pleasure from well crafted images. Thus, one of my favorite moments is each year’s release of the Nikon Small World competition for best scientific images.

Climate and Congress Change

Jennifer Dionisio — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 01:00:00 PDT

While news pundits debate the consequences of yesterday's elections on topics like the economy and healthcare, others ask: what will the changes in Washington mean for science?

Hungry for Blood

Jennifer Dionisio — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Everything you've ever wanted to know about carnivorous plants, demonstrated by expert Joe Rucker.

Women in Science: Listening and Learning from Nancy Hopkins

Hilary Domush — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Just over a week ago I had the opportunity to hear Nancy Hopkins speak. She did not speak about her biology research focused on zebrafish, but instead she spoke in her capacity as an expert on women in science.

Happy Halloween!

James Voelkel — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Skeletons stalk the pages of many of our rare books. Here’s a crew wishing you a spooky weekend.

Stressed and Burned Out?

Tom Tritton — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Most people in contemporary society experience stress and burnout from time to time. Normally we recover from these periods, but how do such states affect our crucial professional and ethical behaviors?

Water on the Moon?

Victoria M. Indivero — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Until last year, the moon was thought to be completely dry. And just last week scientists reported that there is even more water on the moon than was believed to be there last year.

Museums Past and Present

Michal Meyer — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Last week I visited the Boerhaave Museum in the Netherlands, and found that museums are not just about history, they also have their own history.

A Heartfelt Congratulations to Helen M. Free

David J. Caruso — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Last week President Obama awarded Helen M. Free with a National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the highest honor that the U.S. government can bestow on an American scientist.We were fortunate enough to interview Helen a little over 10 years ago.

Best Free Ticket in November

Neil Gussman — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Susan Solomon, research scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), will deliver the 2010 Ullyot Public Affairs Lecture, “A Tale for Our Times: Something for Everyone about Climate Change and the Reasons for Climate Gridlock.”

E. coli as Chemist

Tom Tritton — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 01:00:00 PDT

With luck—and a combination of good genes and sensible behavior—you’ll never get cancer. If you do unhappily contract this malady, chances are you’ll encounter the chemotherapeutic agent taxol. It’s the leading seller among all the small molecule chemical agents used to treat malignant disease.

CHF Wins Silver Medal

Victoria M. Indivero — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 01:00:00 PDT

CHF has been awarded a silver medal in the 2010 W 3 Awards!

Striking Out... With Science

Jennifer Dionisio — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Go Phillies! In honor of our hometown team, currently on game three of the National League Championship Series, we'd like to point out the science behind America's favorite pastime.

Putting a Price on Carbon is Not Really a Tax

Ron Reynolds — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Opponents of establishing a price on carbon portray it as just another mechanism to tax the American people. The tax could be, in many ways, revenue neutral.

Alchemy is Front-Page News, Again in the Science Times

Neil Gussman — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 01:00:00 PDT

This week alchemy was front page news in the (New York Times) Science Times, Again!

Bucky Celebration

Tom Tritton — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 01:00:00 PDT

The 25 th anniversary of the discovery of Buckminsterfullerene was held this week at Rice University in Houston. According to established nomenclature, this would be the quasiquivigintennial. Easier to remember (and pronounce) is the more common usage—silver anniversary.

Science + Religion

Michal Meyer — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 01:00:00 PDT

The clash between religion and science has been getting lots of press recently, what with Richard Dawkins saying the two are incompatible (and that intelligent people must side with science), Sam Harris pushing morality completely out of the religious sphere and into the scientific one, and many creationists opposed not only to evolution but also the Big Bang.

Secret Cinema at CHF: Things to Come

Andrew Mangravite — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Tomorrow marks the return of our sci-fi film series held in conjunction with the Secret Cinema. CHF archivist Andrew Mangravite, our resident film buff, gives a sneak peek of Things to Come .

New Environmental History Program White Papers

Elizabeth McDonnell — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 01:00:00 PDT

CHF announces the publication of new white papers from two of the Center for Contemporary History and Policy’s 2009 fellows.

Reaction Translation

Hilary Domush — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Earlier this week the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Richard F. Heck, Ei-ichi Negishi, and Akira Suzuki for their work on palladium catalyzed cross-coupling reactions in organic syntheses. Those not versed in synthetic chemistry are wondering: What on earth is that?

Ig-Nobel Prize Winner Finally Wins Real Nobel Prize!

Neil Gussman — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Andre Geim is one of two Russian scientists honored with this year's Nobel Prize in Physics for their work on graphene. But a decade ago Geim won a more dubious prize: an Ig-Nobel for his work levitating frogs with magnets.

Science Employment

Tom Tritton — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Perusing the September 10 issue of Science , I noticed that the journal had somewhat more heft than usual. Further investigation revealed that the red-edged pages in the back of the issue were apparently responsible for the additional poundage.

Practical Magic

Jennifer Dionisio — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 01:00:00 PDT

For centuries scientists have sought to control the weather. With climate change a top concern in modern times, scientists continue to explore drastic options for engineering weather patterns. Historian James Fleming explains how these efforts have panned out over the ages.

A Chemical Story

Michal Meyer — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Coincidence can take people places, and even get them published. Stephen Weininger and Leon Gortler are both retired physical organic chemists who got interested in the history of their field, decided to work on an important but under-appreciated chemist named Paul Bartlett and ended by writing an article on chemistry, racism and two African-American brothers named Knox for Chemical Heritage magazine .

Making Connections: "The Big Picture" and the History of Science

Carin Berkowitz — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 01:00:00 PDT

CHF broadens the lens of what we call the history of science to make it relevant to a broader public.

Innovation Day 2010: CEOs Address Sustainability

Ron Reynolds — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 01:00:00 PDT

A well-attended feature of this year’s Innovation Day at CHF was its closing event: a panel of chemical industry CEOs discussing “Meeting the Sustainability Challenge.” What are their plans?

Medal Winner's Emotional Moments

Neil Gussman — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 01:00:00 PDT

SCI Gordon E. Moore Medal winner Emmett Crawford defies the stereotype of the cold, emotionless scientist while accpeting his award and sharing his struggles en route to success.

Seeing the Invisible

Tom Tritton — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 01:00:00 PDT

There are hundreds of beautifully rendered and highly detailed protein structures available for architectural inspection. But these structures are rigidly frozen and don’t show the lively movements occurring when proteins do their essential business.

Big Fracking Deal: The Marcellus Shale Explained

Victoria M. Indivero — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Residents of the Greater Philadelphia area have been getting geology lessons recently as the local media is turning the phrase “Marcellus Shale” into a household name.

A Sign of Progress

Michal Meyer — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 01:00:00 PDT

A visitor looking up from the first floor to the mezzanine of CHF’s museum can see an oil painting filled with the colors of summer—blues and oranges and tans, with a bit of green and white. No dark shades or dour impressions here. Up close, the warm impression remains but the details change. Instead of a peaceful landscape, clouds of smoke pour out of a dozen stacks in an industrial cluster.

A Successful Innovation Day!

Hyungsub Choi — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 01:00:00 PDT

A large number of industrial scientists and engineers gathered at CHF last week to attend the 2010 SCI-CHF Innovation Day. Talks focused on the challenges for innovation in the 21st century and the broad challenges facing the chemical industry.

Events Every Day Next Week at CHF

Neil Gussman — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 01:00:00 PDT

CHF will host free, public events every day next week—except Monday.

Tongue-Tied Cancer

Tom Tritton — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Two years ago the first cancer genome was sequenced. Now hundreds of cancer genomes are complete and the cost is approaching the relatively affordable $10,000 range.

Neil Gussman on The Disappearing Spoon

Jennifer Dionisio — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Our Periodic Tabloid blogger recently published a book review in Books and Culture.

A Poisoned Society

Michal Meyer — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Imagine living in a society knowing you are surrounded by poison: poisoned wallpaper, poisoned clothes, poisoned food, poisoned medicine, poisoned cosmetics, and poisoned toys. In the 19th century that society did exist, and the culprit was arsenic.

The Life and Times of a Statute Revealed

Jody Roberts — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 01:00:00 PDT

The Center’s Environmental History and Policy program has been working on building a collection of oral histories chronicling the history of the Toxic Substances Control Act, and showing the ways in which law lives and changes long after it leaves the halls of Congress. Now those revelations are ready to be revealed at an event at the American Association for the Advancement of Science on November 19, 2010.

Ig Nobel Simulcast Update

Neil Gussman — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 01:00:00 PDT

It’s official: the Original Miss Sweetie-Poo, Natasha Rosenberg, will be speaking here at CHF just before our simulcast of the 2010 Ig Nobel ceremony.

Women in Science, Blogging, and Alternative Careers

Hilary Domush — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 01:00:00 PDT

An interesting conversation began this week in the blogosphere concerning the number of female science bloggers. And unsurprisingly the conversation evolved from the question:where are the female science bloggers?

Altruistic Bacteria?

Tom Tritton — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Bacteria are smart and tenacious little critters. They grow in any hospitable place, including the nutritious environs of a human body.

Celebrating Frances Oldham Kelsey

Victoria M. Indivero — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Today the first Kelsey Award was presented to its namesake, Frances Oldham Kelsey.

A Scientific Fairy Tale

Michal Meyer — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Fairy tales have no place in science. Unless, that is, you’re a 19th-century author searching for creative ways to explain the concepts of chemistry to kids. In the late 19th century Lucy Rider Meyer and Arabella Buckley both wrote successful books for children that used imagination to make the invisible forces of science real.

The Power to Change Science

Hilary Domush — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Chemical and Engineering News featured an article last week about the retirement of Rep. Vern Ehlers—an important figure in the empowerment of Women in Chemistry Oral History Project interviewee Donna J. Nelson.

Science on Tap Returns on Monday!

Neil Gussman — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Drink a beer and learn more about Beauvais Lyons’ Association of Creative Zoology.

A Calculating Experience

Tom Tritton — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 01:00:00 PDT

My first experience with an electronic calculator was in 1969 as a senior in college. The chemistry department bought a Hewlett-Packard device for about $3000.

Full of Fellows Once More

Carin Berkowitz — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 01:00:00 PDT

A new class of Beckman Center fellows are joining CHF’s scholarly community. Check out what they’re up to.

Forgetting Women

Michal Meyer — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Looking at much of the popular history of science it might seem that women appeared on the scene only recently. Where are the female scientists of the 19th century? They did exist, and many were famous, though almost all are mostly forgotten now.

First Friday: Your Dye Is Bugged—The Process and Ingredients of Dye

Neil Gussman — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Today CHF’s First Friday will focus on dyes from bugs. Karen Karuza of the Philadelphia Art Institute’s Fashion Design Department will discuss her work with a Mexican red dye.

ACS Meeting

Tom Tritton — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Last week was the biannual American Chemical Society meeting in Boston. They’ve done 240 of these previously so one expects—and generally gets—a good show.

Pounds, Ampersands, and Skulls

James Voelkel — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Ever wonder why that # sign is called a “pound sign”? Or, for that matter, why the abbreviation for pound is “lb.”? An alchemical manuscript in Sir Isaac Newton’s handwriting provides part of the answer.

A Crucial Coupling

Ron Reynolds — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 01:00:00 PDT

A breakthrough in oxidation coupling techniques shows how solutions can be found when different disciplines work together.

The Anthropocene Epoch

Michal Meyer — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 01:00:00 PDT

At the American Chemical Society (ACS) Boston meeting I attended last week, some leading scientists convened to discuss the consequences of climate change. For every disagreement on how to tackle this problem (and whether it's a problem at all), agreements were made as well.

Watch the Simulcast of 2010 Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony at CHF

Neil Gussman — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 01:00:00 PDT

On Thursday, September 30th, come to CHF and watch a simulcast of the 2010 Ig Nobel Prize ceremony. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

Sensible Policy

Tom Tritton — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Sensible ________ policy. Readers may fill in the blank with whatever current issue is of high interest: scientific research, immigration, health care, economic development, jobs, climate change, space exploration, campaign financing, infrastructure renewal, etc.

Restriction Rollercoaster

Jennifer Dionisio — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Just when researchers thought it was safe to study stem cells... restrictions and controversy strike again.

The Secret Life of Books

James Voelkel — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 01:00:00 PDT

When visiting researcher José Ramón Bertomeu-Sánchez opened the cover of CHF’s copy of Orfila’s landmark Traité des poisons (Paris, 1814–15) he discovered the writing on the waste paper was in Spanish rather than French. Why would a book published in France contain pages from a Spanish book pasted in the cover? Remarkably, he also recognized the origin of the text.

Co-Innovation of Materials, Standards, and Markets: BASF’s Development of Ecoflex

Ron Reynolds — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Innovation is like motherhood and apple pie—everyone is for it. Yet, how does the innovation process actually take place? How are innovations successfully brought to market? CHF’s Center for Contemporary History and Policy has been examining the subject through its Studies in Materials Innovation project.

Brownfield Clean Up

Victoria M. Indivero — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Brownfield remediation is becoming a better-known topic lately, as more and more brownfields throughout the urban United States are getting cleaned up.

Why Are For-Profit Companies Philanthropic?

Tom Tritton — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 01:00:00 PDT

One very mainstream school of thought says a corporation’s principal duty is to maximize return to shareholders. Taken literally, this means that companies would never give money to charitable organizations because it subtracts from the bottom line.

Parachute Wedding

Jennifer Dionisio — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 01:00:00 PDT

When Patricia Smith married her husband, Bud, the groom wore a tux and the bride wore a parachute.

Public Understanding of the Periodic Table

Hilary Domush — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Is it important for a public understanding of science that people recognize the periodic table and the chemical information held within it?

Women in Chemical Industry

Hilary Domush — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 01:00:00 PDT

This week’s Chemical and Engineering News reports on the current status of women in the chemical industry.

Things to Come... To CHF

Jennifer Dionisio — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 01:00:00 PDT

CHF’s programming team and Secret Cinema’s Jay Schwartz have two special announcements about the third installment of the Secret Cinema at CHF series.

Peeking at Electrons

Tom Tritton — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 01:00:00 PDT

My advisor in college once told me “you’ll know you are a chemist when you can think like an electron.” Far-fetched as it may sound, this insight shows that the real action in chemistry is in the bonds made—or not made—between electrons in the outer shells of the elements.

Periodic Table Fancy

Victoria M. Indivero — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 01:00:00 PDT

The periodic table has become engrained in pop culture.

A Fascination for Fleas

James Voelkel — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 01:00:00 PDT

After Galileo’s spectacular telescopic discoveries—the moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn—the race was on to apply the magnification technology to the mundane world. But microscopes were more difficult to make, and depended a great deal on the skill of the observer wielding what was essentially a glass bead functioning as a really powerful magnifying glass.

Building a Network for Community-Based Science

Jody Roberts — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 01:00:00 PDT

The Center for Contemporary History and Policy’s new Consortium for Community-Based Science brings chemists and community groups together.

There's Always Room For...

Jennifer Dionisio — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Tonight's First Fridays at CHF event, Mid-century Cooking from the Jell-O Cookbook, explores the history of this ubiquitous dessert product. Can't attend our tasting? Try your hand at a popular recipe from the 1930s from the shockingly savory section of the cookbook.

Science & Art: Hand-in-Hand

Tom Tritton — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 01:00:00 PDT

What’s the difference between science and art? In the former, if a discovery isn’t made by one person, if it’s important, it will surely be made by another. In art, a work not created by an artist will likely never exist at all.

Zola and Underground Life

James Voelkel — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 01:00:00 PDT

One of the more arresting books in CHF's collections is Henry William Bristow’s (1817-1889) edition of Mines and Miners; or, Underground Life . As the title implies, this is not merely a book about mining, but about underground life . The narrative teaches everything from how to truss a horse for lowering down a shaft to mine explosions and ripping yarns of entrapment and heroic rescue. It also informed a classic work of literature...

The Secret Life of Elements

Jennifer Dionisio — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Author Sam Kean, who recently published an entertaining expose of the periodic table's population of elements, is providing CHF's Distillations podcast with a special gift.

'Female' Science Professor and Women in Chemistry

Hilary Domush — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 01:00:00 PDT

I just returned from a 3 day business trip conducting an oral history for CHF’s Women in Chemistry Oral History Project . When I got to my desk this morning one of my colleagues had been kind enough to place a recent Chronicle of Higher Education on my desk opened to an article titled, “ Why ‘Female’ Science Professor? ”

Only a Theory

Neil Gussman — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Recently the lead article in the Science Times was about a string theorist who claims gravity does not exist. Many theories, it seems, have fallen out of favor over the years.

You May Have Noticed…

Tom Tritton — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Regular readers of Periodic Tabloid will have noticed that something changed on July 20. That something was CHF’s Web site; the new site is snappier, undergirded with better technology, and contains a great variety of juicy content.

The Life and Death of Biofuel

Victoria M. Indivero — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Will biofuel catch on?

A Picture of Progress

Michal Meyer — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Pictures tell wonderful stories, even in science. One of astronomer (and astrologer) Johannes Kepler’s works gives his views on the progress of science in a single image linking an emperor, muses, history, a temple, and sundry instruments.

Innovation: What was Old is New Again

Hilary Domush — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 01:00:00 PDT

History continues to impact modern science and technology, even innovations in transistor technology from 1925! Long before John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley’s 1947 transistor, Lilienfeld’s designed a junctionless transistor—critical to the recent design of Jean-Pierre Colinge of the Tyndall National Institute in Ireland.

A Different World

Michal Meyer — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Inside CHF’s collections: The Mirror of the Whole of Nature and the Image of Art

Science, Evidence, Belief

Tom Tritton — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 01:00:00 PDT

“Faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof.” So said economist John Kenneth Galbraith.

The Human Genome Turns Ten

Hilary Domush — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 01:00:00 PDT

It has been ten years since the human genome was first mapped, as a recent book review in Science and a series of special features in Nature remind us. Unveiling the human genome was supposed to lead to an era of personalized genomic medicine, but ten years on we are not quite there, as discussed at CHF’s May 2010 Cain Conference.

First Fridays at CHF: July's All-Ages Science Fair

Neil Gussman — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 01:00:00 PDT

CHF celebrated Independence Day weekend with a sparkling display of flashes and bangs led by Thomas Twardowski.

Hot and Bothered

Jennifer Dionisio — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 01:00:00 PDT

A new report out of Stanford University suggests heat waves are going to be an increasing problem in our lifetimes. Could climate engineering be a viable solution?

Right to Know vs. Intellectual Property in the Gulf

Ron Reynolds — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 01:00:00 PDT

An important subplot has emerged in BP’s controversial attempts to mitigate the environmental impact of all the oil spilled in the Gulf: chemical dispersants being used to break up escaping oil vs. the public’s right to know. Where should the line be drawn between proprietary material and the information the public wants and needs regarding chemical exposure and their health?

Talking to Each Other

Tom Tritton — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Scientists charmingly believe that if “the public” merely hears the discovered truth, it will be logically applied in all matters of public policy and personal behavior. If only….

In Vino Veritas

Tom Tritton — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Resveratrol is a naturally occurring organic compound produced by certain plants. One of the best sources is the skin of red grapes. Eating grapes or drinking red wine thus causes exposure to resveratrol. This may not be so bad if you are a fungus, a worm, or a fruit fly since there are various reports that this substance can lengthen their lifespan. Alas, such evidence is not definitive for those of us who are humans.

Fellows Galore!

Ron Brashear — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 01:00:00 PDT

The Ship of Fellows is back in the water after a few months in drydock (yes, you can expect plenty of nautical metaphors from here on out). We have much to catch up on, but first your commodore would like to announce our class of fellows for the 2010–2011 academic year.

Talking About Science

Tom Tritton — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 01:00:00 PDT

If you ask the mythical person-on-the-street for a definition of science, you’d probably get something like, “a body of knowledge about the physical or biological world.” My dictionary chimes in with “a branch of knowledge dealing with a body of facts on the natural world.”

Simple Chemistry Can Solve This One

Tom Tritton — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Have you seen Avatar? Even if the movie isn’t an enduring literary work, you can’t help being impressed with how beguilingly novel the 3D experience is.

The Exercise Urge

Tom Tritton — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 01:00:00 PDT

“Whenever I get the urge to exercise, I just lay down till it goes away.” The quote has been variously ascribed to W. C. Fields and former University of Chicago President Robert Hutchins, but whoever uttered these words captured the sentiment of many modern people.

Chemicals in the Environment

Tom Tritton — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Pharmacology and toxicology are the same science. Both contemplate the effects of chemicals on living systems. The basic principles are virtually the same. The only difference in the respective textbooks is the example chemicals chosen to illustrate a particular point.

Human Ancestry

Tom Tritton — Thu, 27 May 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Many of our fellow citizens would be surprised to learn that every human being on the planet is derived from a single common ancestor. This genealogical view has been understood at least since Darwin’s time, and modern science suggests that the common ancestor may be relatively recent, perhaps only a few thousand years ago.

Searching for Chemistry Images

Tom Tritton — Thu, 20 May 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Most readers know that next year (2011) has been designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Chemistry. Less familiar, but no less important, is that last year was the similarly designated International Year of Astronomy.

Running Interference

Tom Tritton — Thu, 13 May 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Many readers will be familiar with the concept of RNA interference. RNAi is a system in the cells of most higher organisms that regulates gene expression.

Biotechnology Heritage Award

Tom Tritton — Thu, 06 May 2010 01:00:00 PDT

In Chicago yesterday, Arthur Levinson was awarded the Biotechnology Heritage Award. This is the 12th year of the award, co-sponsored by CHF and the Biotechnology Industry Organization. Previous winners are a veritable who’s who of biotech luminaries.

Here We Go Again

Tom Tritton — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 01:00:00 PDT

With depressing regularity we are treated to reports of the scientific illiteracy of our fellow citizens. One such salvo comes from the National Center for Education Statistics.

Gasoline from Biomass without Fermentation

Ron Reynolds — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Most processes currently envisioned to produce alcohols from biomass depend on fermentation. That is, a living organism, often optimized through genetic engineering, converts the sugars or starches to alcohols. Besides being slow, the process usually takes place in a dilute system leading to an expensive water removal step.

How Is Networking Useful, or Why Did I Leave the Lab for This?

Hilary Domush — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 01:00:00 PDT

On April 14, 2010, CHF hosted a networking event for local women chemists. What made this event unique is that the networking was focused on undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctorate women chemists from all over the Philadelphia area. Invitations were sent to all local chemistry departments, and participants represented six local colleges and universities. Intending to attract an audience that may not yet value the power of networking, the title of the panel discussion was How Is Networking Useful, or Why Did I Leave the Lab for This?

What's in a name?

Kavita Hardy — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 01:00:00 PDT

EPA has announced that today, April 22, the Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances (OPPTS) will be renamed the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. Does April 22 ring a bell? It should. As EPA is undoubtedly aware, April 22 is Earth Day . So, what does name change mean, and is it appropriate to Earth Day?

Patent Medicine

Tom Tritton — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Two genes that are linked to breast and ovarian cancer (BRCA1, BRCA2) were patented several years ago by a firm called Myriad Genetics. This meant that the company had exclusive rights to use the genes to diagnose disease and to invent new therapies. They did accomplish the former but, sadly, not the latter.

Industrial Biotech is Accelerating

Ron Reynolds — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Several different news releases make it evident that industrial applications of genetic biotechnology, which seemed to be the domain of futurists, are now becoming a reality. One example of this new reality will be in the area of energy sciences and biofuels.

Seminal Mysteries

Tom Tritton — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 01:00:00 PDT

It probably never occurred to you to wonder what controls ejaculation in insects. A multinational group of investigators did, however, and their results lead to a chemical mystery.

What Can TSCA Do for You?

Kavita Hardy — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 01:00:00 PDT

For the last year, momentum has been building for chemicals reform. Public discussions have largely focused on procedural impediments within TSCA to an effective chemicals policy—confidential business information, insufficient data and the catch-22 to obtain more data, burden of proof, and grandfathered existing chemicals to name a few. As part of an ongoing oral history project , Jody and I have been speaking with the former EPA bureaucrats who were actually given the responsibility of implementing a national chemicals policy. In our discussions, all of these problematic elements of TSCA have been raised. However, many of them have highlighted more fundamental problems with the law that have remained largely unaddressed in these discussions.

Molecular Assist to Cancer Surgeons

Tom Tritton — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 01:00:00 PDT

If you’ve contracted one of the common, nasty cancers of the large organs (lung, colon, breast, etc.), and it hasn’t spread yet, the best course is to cut it out. Surgeons do this pretty well if the tumor is clearly defined and easily discerned from normal tissue.

Sniffing Your Friends

Tom Tritton — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 01:00:00 PDT

We are all familiar with the unique smells associated with particular places or people.

Hard Science

Tom Tritton — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Is science more difficult to understand than other subjects? You might think so, given the sad quality of our national dialogue on scientific subjects.

Thinking about Ada Lovelace

Hilary Domush — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Happy Ada Lovelace Day ! Oh, do you not know who Ada Lovelace is…? Unfortunately you are not alone. Ada Lovelace (1815–1852) was the daughter of Lord Byron and author of the first computer programs. While it is sad to forget the heroines of 19th- and earlier-20th-century science, neither should we forget the heroines of science today. I spent Monday at the American Chemical Society meeting in San Francisco . My day began early with the Women in Industry breakfast. I met amazing women—and not just women in industry but women from all over the chemical world. I also met students who were networking and searching for their first jobs. Many of those young women—undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctorates—have lofty scientific dreams, and they should not fear they will be pushed to the margins as women. While I want to say that they will not be because this is the 21st century, one can never be certain.

Is It Real?

Tom Tritton — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 01:00:00 PDT

Rummaging around your attic one day, you find a painting that looks like a Picasso. How do you know if it is real, and you are about to become very rich, or fake, and the item will be forever relegated to the attic?

The Age of Wonder

Tom Tritton — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 PST

Richard Holmes’ book, The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science, is witty, charming, inspiring, and highly recommended. So is the author, as I learned firsthand at a lecture he delivered at CHF last week.

Science Report Card

Tom Tritton — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:00 PST

Every two years the National Science Board produces a detailed report on the state of U.S. science, engineering, and technology. The new 2010 version can be found here.

Seeking Stability

Tom Tritton — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:00:00 PST

If you hear the phrase “island of stability” you probably conjure up an image of a place where Congress should go. Or perhaps Tiger Woods. Or even yourself, on one of those especially trying days we all have from time to time Chemists have something different in mind.

A Flurry of Applications

Ron Brashear — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:00:00 PST

Hooray, the craziness is over—the deadline for fellowship applications has come and gone. Now it’s time to take stock of the situation. Last year we had 35 total applications for all of our fellowships. Three days before the deadline we had only 7 in hand. I was a bit apprehensive, but I knew that a flood of applications usually comes in at the last minute. This year was no exception, and when it was all said and done, we ended up with 34 applications total.

Reversible Stickiness

Tom Tritton — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00:00 PST

Some years ago I accidentally discovered a polymer-based adhesive that allowed the irreversible joining of two metal strips. Amazingly, the adhered juncture was stronger than the metal itself, but of course the bond was permanent and could not be undone. I haven’t thought much about adhesion in the intervening years, but a new publication from the GM Research & Development Center has rekindled my interest.

How Are You Doing?

Tom Tritton — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 00:00:00 PST

A new study by two economists attempts to make happiness judgments less subjective.

Chemistry.com

Tom Tritton — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 00:00:00 PST

What would you expect to find if you pointed your Web browser to www.chemistry.com? The Chemical Heritage Foundation, perhaps. The American Chemical Society would be another good guess. Or you might anticipate a random site devoted to the wonders and mysteries of chemical science.

Interviewing TSCA

Kavita Hardy — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:00:00 PST

There has been a lot of talk lately about TSCA , the Toxic Substances Control Act. It is in desperate need of reform, and, for the first time since it was enacted in 1976, it seems that Congress might actually revise some of its many failings. Organizations as diverse as the EPA , American Chemistry Council , Safer Chemicals Healthy Families coalition , Environmental Defense Fund , and Consumer Specialty Products Association have all laid out proposals for reforming the law. There is a surprising consensus on the elements of TSCA that need to be addressed, although, as always, the devil is in the details.

My Kingdom for a Methyl Group

Tom Tritton — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:00:00 PST

You might even think that a methyl group here and there would hardly be noticed in the vastness of very large molecules like DNA. And if you did think this, you would be wrong.

Happy New Year!

Ron Brashear — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:00:00 PST

Things have been a little quiet around here during our traditional winter break. We lost our Fearless Fellowship Leader, as Anke has departed for Glasgow (Scotland, not Kentucky). So now it is up to me to carry the torch for all of our Ship of Fellows fans (you know who you are).

Harry Potter’s Invisibility in Jeopardy

Tom Tritton — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:00:00 PST

Last year I wrote about the prospects for an “invisibility cloak” that works by bending light around an object so it can’t be observed. (See my post of 29 January 2009.) Amazing as it seems, this is not only theoretically possible but has already been realized for a limited range of wavelengths.

See the Unseeable

Tom Tritton — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 00:00:00 PST

When I was a graduate student in the 1970s, conventional wisdom held that light microscopy couldn’t resolve anything smaller than the wavelength of visible light (hundreds of nanometers). Electron microscopes overcame this size limitation but required “fixed” samples so no motions could be seen.

Molecular Eats

Tom Tritton — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 00:00:00 PST

Someone once remarked in my presence that the world would be so much better off if we just banned chemicals. Hmmm….

A New Year’s Resolution: Work and Family Balance?

Hilary Domush — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 00:00:00 PST

Last month four female scientists received Nobel prizes in economics, medicine, and chemistry. These women should be lauded for their scientific achievements as they become role models to women around the globe. In October, Science held a phone conference between these women and some science journalists, with highlights from the discussion concerning career and family balance posted on the Science Careers Blog . As of 31 December the blog had received no comments or trackbacks unlike many of the women-in-science blogs found throughout the Internet, which are rife with comments. What is there within the personal stories—even the anonymous stories—found in women-in-science blogs that leads to commenting and an e-community? The community of women’s professional networks and the ways in which career and family can be balanced are topics discussed thoroughly in the Women in Chemistry Oral History Project. Did these new Nobel laureates say anything in their conversation highlights that differs or stands out from the stories of other women or the blogosphere? Yes and no.

A New Year

Tom Tritton — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 00:00:00 PST

Tonight is New Year’s Eve. Traditionally we party to excess, anticipate a long day of college football tomorrow, and scrawl a resolution or two, later to be broken. Sheesh, this is civilization? Setting aside bacchanalia and sports, I still like the idea of resolutions.

Did You Like High School Science?

Tom Tritton — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 00:00:00 PST

Chances are that anyone reading a blog called Periodic Tabloid will have good memories of enjoying high-school science classes. A fondness for high-school science isn’t universally shared, however. Sadly, there are people who harbor a negative association with their high-school science experience. Can this be changed?

Cap and Trade: It Ain’t Over Till . . .

Ron Reynolds — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:00:00 PST

There’s no doubt that the momentum for cap-and-trade legislation in Congress has seriously slowed and could be in trouble. It passed the House with a margin of seven votes and now seems to be stuck in the Senate.

Sleep and Dementia

Tom Tritton — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:00:00 PST

Anyone who makes a living in the knowledge business, or who just simply enjoys the life of the mind, worries about the eventual prospect of dementia. Alzheimer’s and related diseases are relentless, irreversible, and anxiety producing. One antidote to anxiety is sleep.

World Wide Views on Global Warming

Jody Roberts — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:00:00 PST

One of the side events at COP15, sponsored by the Danish Board of Technology (DBT), reported on the results of an international deliberation among citizens from 38 countries. Specifically, the DBT organized national partners to recruit approximately 100 of their citizens, reflecting the demographic diversity of each region, to deliberate over climate change policy and advise their home country’s delegations to COP15. All deliberations were held on September 26, 2009 and the DBT immediately made available all the data on the website for World Wide Views on Global Warming . [Full disclosure: I helped to organize the World Wide Views event in Colorado and am attending COP15 through a National Science Foundation grant to study the outcomes and processes of the project].

Who Needs Labs?

Tom Tritton — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:00:00 PST

Whenever a new drug molecule comes along, industrious biochemists set to work figuring out its mechanism of action. The path of least resistance is for every specialized lab to toss some of the drug molecule into their favorite bioassay and see if anything happens. Usually something does, thereby making it hard to know what the critical target is leading to desired pharmacology.

The Wrong Way to Close ClimateGate

Jody Roberts — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:00:00 PST

Today, the scientific leaders of the IPCC held a “side event” at COP15, presenting the main conclusions from their 2007 report (AR 4), updates on their planned Special Reports on renewable energy sources and extreme climate events, and some clues about their approach to AR 5. But the emails took center stage, as everyone in the room had anticipated.

Ullyot Delight

Tom Tritton — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 00:00:00 PST

For the past 20 years the Chemical Heritage Foundation’s Ullyot Public Affairs Lecture has brought people of the highest distinction to Philadelphia for an evening of lively discussion. Academics, CEOs, government officials, university presidents, and others have all offered their perspectives on the chemical sciences’ contributions to society. This year’s honoree was Dr. Joseph M. DeSimone of the University of North Carolina.

World AIDS Day 2009

Hilary Domush — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:00:00 PST

It is just a few days after Thanksgiving, Christmas is a few weeks away, and the economy and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are on the news. If you asked people about a current pandemic, they would be more likely to mention swine flu than AIDS; yet, today is World AIDS Day. Amidst the public-health hype over swine flu, it is easy to allow the AIDS pandemic to move to the back of our minds if it does not affect you directly. There are an estimated 33.4 million people living with HIV who do not have that luxury. The CDC claims that those living with HIV are at no greater risk for swine flu so long as the necessary precautions are taken, which can include the swine-flu vaccine. In 2008 there were 2 million AIDS-related deaths, whereas the WHO says that as of late November, there have been under 8,000 swine-flu deaths.

Thanksgiving

Tom Tritton — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST

Today is Thanksgiving, a traditional harvest festival, which gives license to overeat. So, dear readers, enjoy the fellowship of family and friends, and then return to the fray next week refreshed and dieting.

Personalized Medicine at the AAAS: Opening Up the Black Box

Pei Koay — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST

Many, along with Francis Collins, director of the NIH, suggest that we’ll be seeing $1,000 genomes within the next five years. In such a world, how do we plan for this future?

Sleepy Science

Tom Tritton — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST

Science fiction aficionados may be familiar with a trilogy by Nancy Kress, in which she imagines the emergence of genetically modified humans who don’t require sleep. Alas, most of us need our nightly sleep and function miserably when sleep deprived. But what if the performance hit from too little sleep could be ameliorated by tweaking brain chemistry?

Student Achievement in Science

Tom Tritton — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST

It is an article of faith, especially in higher education, that student participation in research is utterly required for shaping attitudes, appreciation, and understanding of the scientific enterprise.

Carlson Vs. Moore

Tom Tritton — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST

In one corner, we have Moore’s law. In the other corner, there is Carlson’s curve. Moore’s law— named after Gordon Moore, cofounder of Intel—famously predicted over 40 years ago that the transistor density of integrated circuits would double about every two years. So far, it’s been right. Carlson’s curve—named after biologist Rob Carlson—refers to a graph showing the diminishing cost per base of sequencing DNA over time. Like transistor density, DNA sequencing prowess is similarly exponential, and showing no signs of slowing down.

Mind-Boggling Numbers

Tom Tritton — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 01:00:00 PDT

The universe is a big place. Estimates vary, but there are something like 1010 galaxies, 1022 stars, and 1080 atoms. Such numbers are hard to get your mind around, even in an era when trillions (1012) is commonly used when measuring government debt. But this is just the observable universe. Cosmologists are now pretty convinced that the true reality is a multiverse, or many parallel universes existing at the same time.

Cancer News, Good and Bad

Tom Tritton — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 01:00:00 PDT

One of the reasons cancer therapy is effective is that conventional drugs are somewhat indiscriminate toxins. Thus, they kill lots of tumor cells, even if those cells are not similar in their molecular properties. This is a good thing since most tumor masses are thought to be heterogeneous at the cell and molecular levels. The bad news is that indiscriminate toxins can also damage normal tissues.

Understanding Swine Flu More than Science

Pei Koay — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 01:00:00 PDT

As the vaccine for H1N1 flu, more popularly known as swine flu, makes its way into the everyday lives of more people, the discussion about tensions between “science” and “society” have escalated, especially in the state of New York, where its Department of Health mandated that all health employees receive this vaccination along with the seasonal flu vaccination.

On the iPod, Kindle, and Bedside Table

Tom Tritton — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 01:00:00 PDT

Like most contemporary people, I am a voracious consumer of information. I readily concede that possession of information does not ensure wisdom, but at least it raises the possibility of a more informed judgment about the state of the world. Leaving aside television and the Internet, my main info sources are podcasts and books. Here are a few current favorites from each category.

Bacterial Hanky Panky

Tom Tritton — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 01:00:00 PDT

You probably never considered the possibility that tiny bacteria have active sex lives. Rest assured they do, at least if you think the exchange of genetic information from one to another to be akin to a sex life.

Seeing the Invisible

Tom Tritton — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 01:00:00 PDT

Nobody thought we could ever see the individual atoms and bonds of a molecule because the necessary light would be so energetic as to destroy the very molecule under observation. Luckily, intractable problems attract smart scientists.

Personalizing Medicine through Genomics An Update

Pei Koay — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 01:00:00 PDT

In early September I visited the Center for Genetic Research Ethics and Law (CGREAL) at Case Western. My colleagues there presented some of their work on what they are calling “early adopters” of consumer genomics (specifically genome profiling). Their research begins to profile who the users of these services are: for one thing this is a population of users who are not deceived or duped by what they are getting, although some are still disappointed by what they do get.

Chemistry Film Fest

Tom Tritton — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 01:00:00 PDT

Most people love movies. Whether drama, comedy, westerns, thrillers, romance, documentaries, or animation, what’s not to like about settling in for a couple of hours with popcorn and film? But have you ever seen a chemistry movie?

All the World’s a Stage for Periodic Tables

Tom Tritton — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 01:00:00 PDT

Without consulting a dictionary, I would say that a metaphor is a comparison that shows how two things not fundamentally the same have at least one thing in common.The periodic table, that veritable icon of science, has itself been used as a metaphor for countless ideas. And now, combining idioms, comes the Periodic Table of Metaphors, courtesy of artist Christoph Niemann.

Organic Molecules Made Easy

Tom Tritton — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 01:00:00 PDT

Anyone familiar with the synthesis of complex organic molecules knows that it requires a clever combination of art, guile, dumb luck, and smart science. Wouldn’t it be nice if everything needed to produce a molecule could be plopped into a single pot, stirred, and voila, out pops the finished product? Impossible, you say.

Science, Art, Beauty

Tom Tritton — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 01:00:00 PDT

People respond to beauty. That’s why we like music, painting, poetry, dance. It’s also one of the reasons we like science. Egad, even chemistry is beautiful! And the beauteous art that emanates from chemistry is no better typified than in the work of Graeme Jones, a Brit who combines chemistry and art in stunning and magnificent ways.

Genomes for sale

Pei Koay — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 01:00:00 PDT

Incrementally, the cost of real whole-genome sequencing is coming down. Recently, the New York Times reported that Stanford engineer Stephen Quake had fully sequenced his genome for about $50,000-not exactly peanuts and so still unaffordable for most of us. He adds his genome to the other seven individual human genomes fully sequenced to date, but his has the honor of being the cheapest. While we may not be getting our promised individualized genome chips from our doctor’s office yet, it should still be on our radar.

Living Longer

Tom Tritton — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 01:00:00 PDT

Discerning the way names are assigned to new drugs is as mysterious as deciphering the way such drugs bring about their intended magic.

Public Health and Social Networking

Hilary Domush — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 01:00:00 PDT

Swine-flu vaccine was in the news again. Researchers at Novartis have started testing the vaccine, a necessary step before the public offering. Though the seasonal flu vaccine is proceeding on schedule, the H1N1 vaccine will be delayed until after the regular vaccine is released. By 31 July worldwide fatalities exceeded 1,100, and perhaps the vaccine will prevent the surge expected this fall. As the threat of swine flu slips from the forefront, are public health officials doing enough to stress the importance of vaccinating against the seasonal flu and H1N1?

Gone Fishin’

Tom Tritton — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 01:00:00 PDT

About this time last year I paraphrased a wise person: you can accomplish a year’s work in eleven months, but not in twelve. Good advice, and the more one tends to stress-inducing behaviors the more necessary to heed it.

Dangerous Chemicals

Tom Tritton — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 01:00:00 PDT

We rely on a multitude of chemicals for nearly every aspect of contemporary life. In fact it’s hard to conceive of life in the 21st century without the drugs, materials, foods, fuels, and other chemicals that make it all happen. There is also general agreement that society needs to protect citizens from the toxic repercussions of chemicals.

It’s OK to FRET

Tom Tritton — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 01:00:00 PDT

We all experience fret now and then, that is, worried, distressed, vexed, or troubled feelings and emotions. Not good. FRET, by contrast, is not so bad when it stands for fluorescence resonance energy transfer.

What People Think and Know About Science

Tom Tritton — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 01:00:00 PDT

By now most readers will have heard about the July 9, 2009, Pew Research Center report on the attitudes of Americans on science and scientists. At one level the news is good: Americans hold scientists in high esteem and believe science contributes to our economic well-being. At another level, though, the Pew report reveals the seeds of future problems.

Yet Another Escape Hatch for Moore’s Law

Tom Tritton — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 01:00:00 PDT

Moore’s law states that the number of transistors in integrated circuits doubles about every two years. This is why computers keep on getting smaller, why memory chips keep increasing in storage capacity, and why digital cameras keep having more megapixels.But can Moore’s law hold forever?

Famous Scientists

Tom Tritton — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 01:00:00 PDT

Who were the most accomplished chemists of the 20th century? Of course such a question is unanswerable in any truly objective way, but that uncertainty doesn’t diminish our interest in speculating about “the answer.”

Yet Another New Way to Exterminate a Cancer Cell

Tom Tritton — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:00:00 PDT

There are two fundamental ways that a healthy normal cell can traverse the pathway to becoming a cancer cell: Activation of an oncogene; inactivation of a tumor suppressor gene. It is easy to comprehend how inhibiting an overly active oncogene would throttle back cancer growth. In fact, it’s being done already with drugs like gleevec and rituxan. Harder to conceive is how to restore the function of a missing tumor suppressor gene.

Your Breath, Sir

Tom Tritton — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 01:00:00 PDT

What foul chemistry lies behind bad breath? The villainous reaction is perpetrated by Gram negative bacteria, which break proteins down to amino acids. The sulfur-containing ones can then form stinky chemicals called volatile sulfide compounds (VSCs to the aficionado).

Health Care Reform

Pei Koay — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 01:00:00 PDT

Debates over health care are heating up. Framed in terms of reforming the payer system, President Obama is putting forth a government-sponsored health plan. Not everyone is pleaed with his proposal, but everyone says that the patient is their #1 concern!

Your Diet Doesnt Work? Try Science.

Tom Tritton — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 01:00:00 PDT

The mainstream media regularly barrages us with the fact that citizens of developed countries tend to being overweight, even obese. So we diet, we exercise, we pop pills, and sometimes we even resort to surgery to shed the unwanted poundage.

My Kingdom for a Battery

Tom Tritton — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:00:00 PDT

Most of us give little thought to the countless batteries we encounter every day. They power cell phones, iPods, cameras, computers, watches, and myriad other electronic devices, without which life would be ever so less pleasant.

Taking on the Establishment

Tom Tritton — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 01:00:00 PDT

The standard mindset in treating cancer is to kill as many of the offending cells as possible with whatever artillery you can devise. Traditionally, the weaponry has comprised surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, or, for the irreverent, “cuts, burns, and poisons.”

Biotechnology Heritage Award

Tom Tritton — Thu, 28 May 2009 01:00:00 PDT

It’s not easy competing with Sir Elton John. But such was the fate of Robert T. Fraley last week when he received this year’s Biotechnology Heritage Award in Atlanta.

Color Vision

Tom Tritton — Thu, 21 May 2009 01:00:00 PDT

With some hesitation, I finally gave in to the lure of electronic reading and acquired a Kindle. Mine is version 2, which purportedly overcomes some of the limitations that early adopters encountered with the 1.0 edition.

Art and Science

Tom Tritton — Thu, 14 May 2009 01:00:00 PDT

A cold war mentality shows clearly, as well as an uncritical belief in the power of science to solve all human problems. The color and typography are delightfully retro, but one also sees design elements that foreshadow contemporary tastes.

Patent Medicine

Tom Tritton — Thu, 07 May 2009 01:00:00 PDT

The patent system is designed to give financial incentives to inventors so the rest of us benefit from their efforts. This works pretty well, and the world's economies—at least in normal times—have flourished because of the innovation promoted by the patent system.

You Are What You Eat

Tom Tritton — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 01:00:00 PDT

Common knowledge is often based on good science. It is thus reassuring that most of our fellow citizens accept the well-researched idea that diet influences health.

Nature Chemistry

Tom Tritton — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 01:00:00 PDT

A new journal is usually a sign of vitality and excitement in any field. And if that journal reaches the caliber of the venerable Nature family of publications, the excitement hits an even higher energy level.

Foiled Antibiotics

Tom Tritton — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 01:00:00 PDT

Bacterial resistance to antibiotic medicines is commonplace, is spreading worldwide, and is a major threat to human health. There are strains of bacteria resistant to every known drug. Don’t catch one of these beasties unless you’re sure your last will and testament is in good order.

Yuck, Disgusting

Tom Tritton — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 01:00:00 PDT

What really grosses you out? Snakes or spiders, perhaps. Or putrid, rotting, stinky food. Or people who hurt, take advantage of, or exploit other people. Each of these triggers our sense of disgust, defined in the dictionary as “profound aversion or repugnance excited by something offensive.”

Plastic, Heal Thyself

Tom Tritton — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 01:00:00 PDT

Polyurethane, unlike human parts, lacks the amazing property that we all take for granted, namely the ability to heal itself when damaged. Until now, that is, at least according to new results from a research group at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Professor of the Year

Tom Tritton — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 01:00:00 PDT

What is the very best way to improve science education? Great teachers, of course. And a terrific way to encourage such teachers is to give them public recognition for their inspiration, perspiration, and occasional desperation.

Love, Mosquitoes, and Harmonic Convergence

Tom Tritton — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 01:00:00 PDT

You may not have spent much time wondering how mosquitoes attract mates. Me neither, although I appreciate that nobody would miss these pesky insects at picnics and other such occasions.

Oil and Water

Tom Tritton — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 01:00:00 PDT

Nearly everyone has heard the cliché that oil and water don’t mix. And like all clichés, it is grounded in a fundamental reality, in this case the chemical notion that lipophilic and hydrophilic substances are immiscible.

Fearful? Chemistry to the Rescue

Tom Tritton — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 00:00:00 PST

All of us experience fear from time to time. Fear of heights, fear of fire, fear of financial-market chaos: all are reasonable emotions grounded in avoiding danger. In fact psychologists say that once this type of emotional memory is established, it lasts forever and doesn’t have to be recreated every time the danger reappears.

Chemistry, Heart Disease, and Exercise

Tom Tritton — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 00:00:00 PST

People with heart disease have a reduced capacity to deliver molecular oxygen to their tissues. By contrast, people who are exercising are increasing delivery of oxygen to their tissues.

Improving on Nature

Tom Tritton — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 00:00:00 PST

One of the oldest ideas in cancer treatment is to use the body’s own immunological defenses to ward off the nasty malignant cells. This works pretty well for microorganisms, viruses, fungi, and other hazards. Trouble is, tumors are self, and the body isn’t programmed to react negatively to its own offspring.

A Visit to the Library

Tom Tritton — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 00:00:00 PST

New drugs are routinely tested to see if assorted chemicals affect some biological activity of interest. The test might be inhibition of bacterial growth, killing of cancer cells, or reduction of blood pressure in mice.

Evolution Weekend

Tom Tritton — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 00:00:00 PST

Way back in 2006 a group of clergy and scientists dreamed up the idea of Evolution Sunday.The idea was to get interested folk together to talk about the compatibility of science and religion.

On Being Invisible

Tom Tritton — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 00:00:00 PST

Who among us hasn’t harbored the fantasy of being invisible? It offers so many juicy possibilities, both licit and illicit. But—there’s always a but—no respectable scientist would tell you anything other than it’s impossible. Unless you’re Harry Potter, of course.

Electronic Readers

Tom Tritton — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 00:00:00 PST

Have you succumbed to the lure of Amazon’s Kindle or Sony’s Reader? Each device is about the size of a trade paperback and can store hundreds of e-books and e-magazines.

Just a Second

Tom Tritton — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 00:00:00 PST

Along with the recent traversal of 2008 into 2009, we gained a second of time. Because time based on the rotation of the earth and the time standard based on atomic clocks are not precisely the same, every so often one second is added at the end of the year.

A New Year

Tom Tritton — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 PST

Having reliably made over 100 Periodic Tabloid posts, I’ve decided to become more irregular.

Learning from Nature

Tom Tritton — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 00:00:00 PST

Can we learn from nature and craft altogether new materials based on biological design principles?

Happy Holidays

Tom Tritton — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 00:00:00 PST

Today happens to be Christmas, but ‘tis also the season for many other celebrations: Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, Ramadan, New Years, etc.

Just Peanuts

Tom Tritton — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 00:00:00 PST

About 1% of people have a peanut allergy, and it is the most common cause of food-related deaths in the U.S.

Science Journalism

Tom Tritton — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:00:00 PST

What if the science media vanished?

Seeing Cancer

Tom Tritton — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 00:00:00 PST

It is immensely useful to peer into the human body to determine someone’s health status.

Hollywood Meets the Science Establishment

Tom Tritton — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 00:00:00 PST

A new initiative of the U.S. National Academy of Science seeks to link scientific experts with people who make media and entertainment.

Trouble Dieting? Chemistry to the Rescue

Tom Tritton — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 00:00:00 PST

All but the most disciplined of us overeat from time to time. And then we make an inevitable choice: gain unwanted weight or find a way to diet. Science may be able to help.

Nano Meets Bio, redux

Tom Tritton — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:00:00 PST

What are the two hottest areas emanating from the chemical sciences? Biotechnology and nanotechnology, of course.

Bernard Bigot on Nuclear Power

Tom Tritton — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 00:00:00 PST

The annual Ullyot Public Affairs Lecture was held on November 20 at the Chemical Heritage Foundation. Speaking was Bernard Bigot, high commissioner of the French Atomic Energy Commission.

Thanksgiving

Tom Tritton — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 00:00:00 PST

Today is Thanksgiving, on which North Americans celebrate the gifts of life with family and friends. Thus, to all readers of the Periodic Tabloid, my very best “gobble, gobble.”

Entrepreneur in Space

Tom Tritton — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 00:00:00 PST

Once a person has started a company, or two, or three, and made a success of each, they may be in need of another challenge. What do you do when you’ve conquered the adventure of business? Go into space, of course.

Entrepreneur in Space

Tom Tritton — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:00:00 PST

You might think it would be tricky to give a talk on two subjects as different sounding as (1) how to launch a high-tech start-up company and (2) how to take a trip on the space station. At last week’s Joseph Priestley Society meeting, Greg Olsen managed it with skill and aplomb.

Diversities

Tom Tritton — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 00:00:00 PST

The term diversity conjures up many meanings: diversity of peoples (multiculturalism); diversity of ideas (useful in good decision making); diversification (of markets or financial assets). Another connotation of diversity, perhaps less frequent in the common discourse, is biodiversity.

Leisurely Life

Tom Tritton — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:00:00 PST

Chemical reactions are the stuff of life. From breaking down foodstuffs, to converting oxygen into energy, to synthesizing big molecules like proteins and DNA, all creatures are a madhouse of chemistry.

Board

Tom Tritton — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 00:00:00 PST

On regular occasions the Board (CHF Board of Directors, that is) arrives in town to conduct important business. It was so this past weekend, hence no Monday blog post this week.

Poets and Chemists

Tom Tritton — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 00:00:00 PST

Most chemists—indeed, most scientists of any stripe—probably consider their work to be sheer poetry. Experiments are evocative, results sometimes mysterious, and the telling of the story is pure epic.

Some Assembly Required

Tom Tritton — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 00:00:00 PST

Self-assembling systems rule! At least in the world of molecular biology.

Mr. Wizard at Night

Tom Tritton — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 01:00:00 PDT

In several cities around the country, science presentations are offered to the public, usually by university types. Nothing new so far, but the modern wrinkle is that the occasions are aimed at young professionals and are accompanied by—horrors!—food, drink, and music.

Boom

Tom Tritton — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 01:00:00 PDT

What is the first thing every kid who gets a chemistry set does? Tries to make an explosion, of course.

Heritage Matters

Tom Tritton — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 01:00:00 PDT

The dictionary defines heritage as something that is passed down from preceding generations. Works for me. But why should we care about heritage?

Number Prowess

Tom Tritton — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 01:00:00 PDT

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University suggest that mathematical competence originates in two different ways: from an inherent sense of numbers and from learned concepts.

Simple Chemistry Begets Complex Biology

Tom Tritton — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 01:00:00 PDT

Valproic acid has loads of interesting biological properties. It has been used as an anticonvulsant, a mood-stabilizing drug, and in the treatment of bipolar disorder and epilepsy.

Nobels, Real and Ig

Tom Tritton — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 01:00:00 PDT

Every year a small number of highly accomplished scientists approach the month of October with both hope and trepidation. Hope, because there is a realistic possibility that they will be awarded one of humankind’s highest honors: the Nobel Prize. Trepidation, because many will be disappointed, shocked, envious, bitter, or resentful.

Gas, Plastics and Other Goodes: From Crops No Less

Tom Tritton — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 01:00:00 PDT

Humans use petroleum to make both hydrocarbon fuels and organic precursors for all manner of products. Wouldn’t it be cool if we could use plant sugars instead of oil and thus avoid running out of irreplaceable fossil fuel?

First Friday, Chemistry Style

Tom Tritton — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 01:00:00 PDT

On the first Friday of each month Philadelphia’s arts community opens its galleries, studios, museums, and other creative spaces to all comers. Last Friday (October 3) being a First Friday, we decided to launch the grand opening of the new CHF museum.

YAPT

Tom Tritton — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 01:00:00 PDT

Molecules that Matter

Tom Tritton — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 01:00:00 PDT

All molecules matter. Simple ones like O 2 , CO 2 , and H 2 O matter because their interplay sustains all life on earth. Complex molecules like DNA matter, and they are intensely personal since nucleic acids specify each creature’s individuality.

Communicating Chemistry

Tom Tritton — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 01:00:00 PDT

It would likely be a precarious day if Congress ever invited chemists to come in and talk about their work.

Science Debate III

Tom Tritton — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 01:00:00 PDT

No, there hasn’t yet been the hoped for Science Debate between the presidential candidates. I have written about it twice before though, and like bad serialized movies, it keeps coming back.

Required Reading

Tom Tritton — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 01:00:00 PDT

Most discussions of energy policy wind up conceding two points: (1) that replacing carbon-based fuels with renewable ones is important because of the potential for long-term climate disruption; and (2) that carbon replacement alternatives will rely on a mixture of energy sources rather than a single solution.

Life is a Gas

Tom Tritton — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 01:00:00 PDT

About two and a quarter centuries ago, Joseph Priestley related his discovery of many important gaseous compounds. Accordingly, it was entirely fitting that the recent regular meeting of the Joseph Priestley Society featured the chief of the largest industrial, medical, and specialty gas company in the U.S. That would be Peter McCausland of Airgas.

Marijuana to the Rescue

Tom Tritton — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 01:00:00 PDT

What infectious disease kills more people worldwide each year than AIDS? You may be surprised to learn that the answer is MRSA-methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus .

Department of Unintended Consequences

Tom Tritton — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 01:00:00 PDT

Most of us over the age of 30 have pleasant memories of quiet reading in the library, perusing issues of Current Contents , and wandering around book stacks looking at volumes we hoped to read some day. Thanks to the Internet, Google, and other assorted technologies, most of us no longer do these things.

To Sleep, Perchance to Dream

Tom Tritton — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 01:00:00 PDT

Like Hamlet who uttered the famous phrase, all of us sleep and dream. We may not all be as anguished about life as the Danish prince, but most with curiosity will have wondered why we sleep and dream.

Science and the Election

Tom Tritton — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 01:00:00 PDT

Most readers will be knowledgeable about both scientific matters and the impending U.S. presidential election. But what about the strange intersection of these two subjects?

Hard Problem, Easy Chemistry

Tom Tritton — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 01:00:00 PDT

Carbon dioxide is added to the atmosphere in great quantity by enterprising human beings. Much of it comes from burning fossil fuels, leading to both predictable and unpredictable perturbations in the earth’s climate.

Zero Science Education

Tom Tritton — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 01:00:00 PDT

Project Zero, that is. PZ is a center at the Harvard Graduate School of Education whose mission is to understand and enhance learning, thinking, and creativity.

ACS in Town

Tom Tritton — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 01:00:00 PDT

The American Chemical Society (ACS) is just finishing its 236th national meeting this week in Philadelphia. Comprising thousands of hale and hearty souls, the chemical world made the City of Brotherly Love its home for a few sweaty August days.

Pretty Good News

Tom Tritton — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 01:00:00 PDT

Back in 2005 Harvard President Larry Summers speculated at an academic conference that women may have less innate ability than men in science and mathematics. After the predicable outrage, Summers insisted he wasn’t drawing a conclusion, only suggesting a hypothesis that could be examined.

Daily Constitutional

Tom Tritton — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 01:00:00 PDT

Former University of Chicago President Robert Hutchins reportedly once said, “Whenever I get the urge to exercise, I just lay down till it goes away.”

Magnetic Cancer

Tom Tritton — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 01:00:00 PDT

Wouldn’t it be cool if you could use a magnet to pull cancer cells away from normal tissue? But, you say, there aren’t tiny magnets in cancer cells. And besides, even if there were little magnetized cells, how could you tear them apart from a solid tumor?

Cavorting

Tom Tritton — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 01:00:00 PDT

I’m at the beach today, slathered with sunscreen of course. No useful work is likely to emerge from such circumstances, hence no regular blog post on this Thursday.

The End of Science—Again

Tom Tritton — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 01:00:00 PDT

Twelve years ago John Horgan announced The End of Science in a book with the same title. He didn’t think the process or practice of science was over, but he predicted there would be no more major new scientific discoveries, revolutionary changes, or paradigm shifts.

Drugs and Bugs

Tom Tritton — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 01:00:00 PDT

A hundred years ago, if you got an infectious disease, the best available course of action was to be sure your will was in order. Then came sulfonamides, penicillins, and an impressive sequence of broad-spectrum antibiotics that cured everything from syphilis to plague.

Resurrecting Drugs

Tom Tritton — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 01:00:00 PDT

New chemical entities are routinely screened for biological activity. Often intriguing medicinal uses emerge, only to be dashed because of toxicity or other nasty repercussions.

Music and Density

Tom Tritton — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 01:00:00 PDT

I’m pretty sure that if you scratch on a scientist, you’ll more often than not find a musician underneath. The best reason I can think of to explain the association is that both scientists and musicians attempt to impose order on the world by the manipulation of symbols. If you have a better idea, let me know.

Chocolate Chemistry

Tom Tritton — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 01:00:00 PDT

Given chocolate’s delectable history, it should come as no surprise that the intricacies of the chocolate genome are about to be revealed. More correctly, the DNA sequence of the small tree that produces cocoa beans ( Theobroma cacao ) will be decoded by a research team from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the candy company Mars, Inc.

Masters of the Universe

Tom Tritton — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 01:00:00 PDT

The U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has just published a report on the master’s degree in the sciences. (Full disclosure: I was a member of the committee that authored the report.) Originally (and cleverly, or at least so thought we committee members) the report’s title was “Mastering the Future: Educating Science Professionals for a Competitive Future.” The final version, compliant with NAS rules, is the more sedate “Enhancing the Master’s Degree in the Natural Sciences.”

SPAMS

Tom Tritton — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 01:00:00 PDT

A new variety of spam is on the horizon, and this one has more promise for social utility. This is SPAMS, or single-particle aerosol mass spectrometry, invented by a research team from Lawrence Livermore labs and Michigan State University ( Analytical Chemistry 80, 4583–4589 ).

On Vacation

Tom Tritton — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 01:00:00 PDT

Some wag once said that a person can accomplish a year’s work in 11 months, but not in 12. Good advice that, and the more one tends to type A behavior, the more necessary to heed it.

Help for Aching Muscles

Tom Tritton — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 01:00:00 PDT

We are all familiar with the achy feeling in our muscles following hiking, jogging, playing sports, or other kinds of vigorous exercise. Luckily this malady goes away, and muscles return to the accustomed healthy-feeling state.

Psychedelic MRI

Tom Tritton — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 01:00:00 PDT

Diagnostic imaging is central to both contemporary health care and biomedical research. Optical methods detect photons and can be based on fluorescent molecules with different emission wavelengths, quantum dots, and other technologies that allow color to render meaningful biological structure.

On Integrity

Tom Tritton — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 01:00:00 PDT

One of the beautiful attractions of the modern scientific enterprise is the utter honesty of its practitioners. It simply does not cross one’s mind that results published in a technical paper might be faked, made up, distorted, adulterated, or otherwise misrepresented. The interpretations might be questioned, but not the results.

Biotechnology Heritage Award

Tom Tritton — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 01:00:00 PDT

The Biotechnology Heritage Award is given annually by the Chemical Heritage Foundation and the Biotechnology Industry Organization to recognize outstanding contributions to the biotechnology community. The award recognizes an individual within the biotechnology community.

The Missing Power of Ten

Tom Tritton — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 01:00:00 PDT

The electromagnetic spectrum spans about 10 1 to 10 27 hertz, or 27 orders of magnitude. Some of the regions more relevant to humanity are megahertz, gigahertz, and petahertz. You’ll notice that terhertz is missing from its rightful, orderly place in the list.

Heritage Numerology

Tom Tritton — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 01:00:00 PDT

I bet you didn’t know that over 4.8 billion historical artifacts are held in trust by 30,000 institutions in the United States alone. These include rare books and manuscripts, photographs, documents, sound recordings, moving images, digital materials, art, historic and ethnographic objects, archaeological artifacts, and scientific collections.

Quants

Tom Tritton — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 01:00:00 PDT

Most people who labor in the vineyards of the physical sciences have a certain affinity for mathematics. Quantitative reasoning skills are pretty much essential for success in fundamental scientific discovery.

Coordinating Science Education

Tom Tritton — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 01:00:00 PDT

STEM: an inellegant term signifying science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Usually STEM is an adjective describing such nouns as education, initiative, program, coalition , and the like. If it were up to me, I’d drop the TEM and let S be the synonym for the whole lot.

Nano vs. Oil

Tom Tritton — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 01:00:00 PDT

Even with oil at over $130 per barrel, the world’s appetite for petroleum and its myriad products remains unabated. To use it, though, we have to ship oil from point A to point B.

Folding for Humans

Tom Tritton — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 01:00:00 PDT

When you string several hundred amino acids together, they don’t like to exist all stretched out, but instead fold into a compacted form. In fact, proteins fold, all on their own, into a single unique form, and no other form will function correctly.

World Science Festival

Tom Tritton — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 01:00:00 PDT

The ability to sequence DNA begat many genomics projects, including the human genome. Once the entire human DNA sequence was in hand, it begat the possibility of understanding all the gene products, i.e., the proteome. And now that we are beginning to understand the complexity, function, and organization of cellular proteins, we can imagine defining the results of all these enzymes acting together: the metabolome.

“Omics” Galore

Tom Tritton — Thu, 29 May 2008 01:00:00 PDT

Nanoparticles: Good News, Bad News

Tom Tritton — Tue, 27 May 2008 01:00:00 PDT

Everywhere you look these days you see references to nanotechnology. For the curious generalist there is even a Nanotechnology for Dummies volume in the familiar yellow-covered series.

Chemistry and Spiders

Tom Tritton — Thu, 22 May 2008 01:00:00 PDT

Those eight-legged creatures that spin silky webs, trap insects, and scurry about in unsavory places aren’t the only kind of spiders. There are also Web spiders (aka Web crawlers, bots, indexers, etc.) that roam the World Wide Web harvesting information for search engines.

Hooray for Emulsions

Tom Tritton — Mon, 19 May 2008 01:00:00 PDT

“We measured the interfacial tension of a three-component system containing the oil trans-anethol, water, and ethanol.” So say Scholten et al. in a recent paper in the venerable chemistry journal Langmuir [January 24, 2008] : 24 [5], 1701–1706).

Genes and Congress

Tom Tritton — Thu, 15 May 2008 01:00:00 PDT

Nobody wants to be discriminated against for things they can’t control. Like your genes, for example—which you inherited from Mom and Dad, and which in turn determine your own very personalized chemistry.

Neutrons and Life

Tom Tritton — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:00:00 PDT

If you’re reading this, it’s likely you know that the nucleus of every atom houses protons and neutrons (except ordinary hydrogen, which contains but a single lonely proton). One reason for this state of affairs is that positively charged protons don’t like being close together and will repel unless something else is present to provide some binding force.

Yet Another Foundation

Tom Tritton — Thu, 08 May 2008 01:00:00 PDT

Last month the Brookings Institution proposed the creation of a National Innovation Foundation. As the president of a science-based foundation myself, it’s hard to quibble with a new actor in this fertile territory.

Prodding the Genome with Chemicals

Tom Tritton — Mon, 05 May 2008 01:00:00 PDT

Humans have in the neighborhood of 25,000 different genes embedded in their chromosomes. Yeast, a simpler organism, has about 6,000 genes. How many of the genes are essential to growth?

Science Education and its Discontents

Tom Tritton — Thu, 01 May 2008 01:00:00 PDT

It’s easy to complain about the dismal state of science education, much harder to find useful solutions. The eighth annual Leadership in Science Education conference (LISE 8), hosted at the Chemical Heritage Foundation last week, was a valiant attempt to take on that hard challenge.

Testosterone and Money

Tom Tritton — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 01:00:00 PDT

Most people don’t go into chemistry for the money. Apparently, though, your own personal chemistry may influence how much money you make. At least if you are a male stockbroker in London.

Nano Meets Bio

Tom Tritton — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 01:00:00 PDT

Many have labored over the past half century ( moi aussi ) to develop new therapies for cancer treatment. There have been lots of successes, too: lives saved and suffering reduced. In fact we’ve come to expect this from contemporary science.

A Fungus Among Us

Tom Tritton — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 01:00:00 PDT

Fungi are pretty icky. We don’t generally think positively about them, except perhaps when enjoying truffles. And we can be altogether disdainful of this family of living creatures when trying to recover from a nasty fungal infection.

Science Education Rising

Tom Tritton — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 01:00:00 PDT

Do you get a headache every time someone trots out the latest statistics showing how poorly U.S. students fare in measures of science literacy? Me, too. The story is so worn and, besides, why aren’t we doing something about it?

Periodic Hoops Table

Tom Tritton — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 01:00:00 PDT

Perhaps it should come as no surprise (except maybe to Mendeleev) that even sports are not immune to periodic tabling.

The Good Idea Pharm

Tom Tritton — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 01:00:00 PDT

Having taught pharmacology to medical students for 24 years, I’ve learned a good deal about how drugs affect living systems, how chemical structures predict (or do not predect) activities and side effects, and the legion problems of delivering medicines to the right body location.

Buying Happiness

Tom Tritton — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 01:00:00 PDT

One of the pleasures of reading widely is coming across the totally unexpected. Take one of my favorite publications, Science , for example. They wisely publish the work of psychologists, economists, sociologists, and others outside the scope of a narrow definition of science.

DNA for the People

Tom Tritton — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 01:00:00 PDT

DNA sequencing technology is cheap, reliable, and widely available. Naturally, several commercial enterprises have arisen that offer DNA services to individual subscribers. One of the more interesting is 23andMe, a clever wordplay on the presence of 23 pairs of chromosomes in humans.

Bye-Bye, Silicon?

Tom Tritton — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 01:00:00 PDT

Silicon is essential to transistors and integrated circuits because it retains the properties of a semiconductor at higher temperatures than its competitors do and because it bonds readily with the dielectric components of circuits. Alas, as chips reach ever higher component densities, these favorable properties begin to break down, forcing scientists to look for newer model semiconductors.

Values in Collision

Tom Tritton — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 01:00:00 PDT

Peer review is one of the bedrocks on which modern science rests. In theory, peer review is thorough, unbiased, objective. In practice, it may fall short of these ideals because of the usual human frailties. But it’s still the best we have for assessing quality.

Chemistry and Congress

Tom Tritton — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 01:00:00 PDT

Any U.S. House or Senate bill containing the word chemistry would seem worthy of our attention. And there always are such bills, usually dealing with funding university research, regulating specific molecules, or honoring Nobel laureates.

Drug Resistance, Heart Disease, and Clever Chemists

Tom Tritton — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 01:00:00 PDT

The point of treating bacterial infections with drugs isn’t primarily to kill the offending microorganisms but to slow their growth enough to allow normal host defenses to clear the nastiness. This approach works well in people with normal immune function, but those with compromised immunity, including people with HIV/AIDS or those undergoing standard cancer chemotherapy, face a much higher risk of treatment failure.

Really Big Molecule

Tom Tritton — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 01:00:00 PDT

When Robert Woodward and William Doering announced the total synthesis of quinine in 1944, it was big news. The difficulty in quinine synthesis lay partly in the size of the molecule (324 daltons) and even more in the presence of four asymmetric centers, which confounds common organic syntheses.

Calling All Chemists: Physicists are Outdoing Us

Tom Tritton — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 01:00:00 PDT

After some years of trying to get organized, the physics community will celebrate the first Talk Like a Physicist Day March 14. Chemists are presumably welcome to join the fun. But c’mon, fellow molecularists, can’t we do better than tagging along with physicists? How about our own Talk Like a Chemist Day?

Power Clothes

Tom Tritton — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 00:00:00 PST

What if ordinary objects—clothing, for example—could produce power useful to ordinary folks?

Hip-Hop Chemistry

Tom Tritton — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:00:00 PST

What do you do if you love both hip-hop music and chemistry? Most of us would compartmentalize our lives to accommodate these two seemingly different realms. Not so for Tyraine Ragsdale, who brilliantly combines the two into musical rap expressing the joys of chemistry.

Phew

Tom Tritton — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:00:00 PST

Can this sense of smell be duplicated with a scientific instrument? Such a device could be useful in, say, sniffing out explosives or assessing whether food was free of contaminants.

Yet Another Periodic Table

Tom Tritton — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 00:00:00 PST

Another periodic table has found its way to my conscious attention, but this one is a bit distressing. Called the A to Z Guide to Political Interference in Science, it presents examples of the best scientific advice being suppressed, misstated, or ignored.

Collectors Unite

Tom Tritton — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 00:00:00 PST

Kids love to collect things: stamps, baseball cards, butterflies, rocks, Barbie dolls, seashells, curios of all sort. And what happens to this collecting instinct when we become adults?

Fuel Cells, Carbonation, and Love

Tom Tritton — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 00:00:00 PST

What could possibly link these three subjects, you rightly ask? Easy. On Saint Valentine’s Day CHF held a monthly meeting of the Joseph Priestley Society (he, the inventor of carbonating aqueous solutions) that featured a talk entitled “Fuel Cells on the Road to Commercialization.”

Periodic Art

Tom Tritton — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 00:00:00 PST

A quick Web search yields a plethora of sites containing periodic tables. Some of my favorites are the Wooden Periodic Table, the Periodic Table of Comic Books, and the Periodic Table of Science Fiction.

Can You Take the Pressure?

Tom Tritton — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 00:00:00 PST

Contemporary life is fast, furious, and highly pressurized. In chemistry the opposite may be true.

Small Molecule, Big Promise

Tom Tritton — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 00:00:00 PST

Burning hydrogen is great. It releases lots of usable energy and produces only water as a byproduct. The problem is, where do you get the hydrogen?

Old Drug, New Use

Tom Tritton — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 00:00:00 PST

As is too often the case with small molecule therapeutics, microorganisms are a notch cleverer than humans and develop mechanisms of resistance. In this way once useful drugs are rendered powerless, thus instigating the ceaseless search for new therapies Luckily new therapies doesn’t always mean new molecules.

On the One Hand...

Tom Tritton — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 00:00:00 PST

On the one hand: there is evident incentive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels, one contribution to which could be environmentally friendly biofuels. On the other hand: fuels like ethanol from sugarcane and other crops may require extensive cropland acreage that competes with food production.

Time Is Money

Tom Tritton — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 00:00:00 PST

Whoever said “time is money” probably didn’t anticipate the relevance of this equation for contemporary science. The pulse of basic research, which in turn drives innovation, continues to pound because of the large infusion of public money supporting the ideas of working scientists.

Science, Humanities, and Betwixt

Tom Tritton — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 00:00:00 PST

Legendary Harvard professor E. O. Wilson wrote Consilience , a wonderful book on connections between the sciences and the humanities. The wildly ambitious goals were to reduce the fragmentation of understanding across disciplines so common in our highly specialized world and to seek linkages between the technological and the literary spheres.

The Early Bird Gets the Chip

Tom Tritton — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 00:00:00 PST

Since last week’s post “Laboratory on a Chip,” I’ve become more sensitized to the many and varied implications in this area, and I’ve been noticing other advances.

C, H, F

Tom Tritton — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 00:00:00 PST

I suppose you can tell how high in the elemental firmament something is by how many letters its chemical symbol has. Clearly carbon, hydrogen, and fluorine attain high status since they merit single-letter symbols: C, H, F.

Laboratory on a Chip

Tom Tritton — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 00:00:00 PST

People are attracted to science, at least in part, by a vision of laboratories filled with colorful solutions and exotic instruments. But the appealing human scale of such labs can produce complex analytical processes that are slow and cumbersome.

Forget What You Learned in High School Chemistry

Tom Tritton — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 00:00:00 PST

Anyone with a chemical background would gag if they saw a formula such as MgCl. They’d simply have to add a subscript 2 after the Cl because they would know that magnesium is always divalent and requires two anionic partners to be satisfied. Until now, that is.

The Great Debate?

Tom Tritton — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 00:00:00 PST

A group of distinguished scientists and science journalists have issued a call for a public debate in which the presidential candidates share their views on the issues of the environment, medicine and health, and science and technology policy. What a splendid idea!

Magic Bullets

Tom Tritton — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 00:00:00 PST

The holy grail of medicinal chemistry is the so-called magic bullet. This is a brilliant substance that seeks out a single molecular target in the body.

A New Kid on the Block

Tom Tritton — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 00:00:00 PST

The blogosphere is vast, largely untamed, and does not enjoy a high signal-to-noise ratio. So why start yet another one?