the power of goo

Bookmarks for June 13th through June 30th

2010-06-30T16:05:30Z

These are my links for June 13th through June 30th:

Bookmarks for April 22nd through June 5th

2010-06-05T13:05:06Z

These are my links for April 22nd through June 5th:

Bookmarks for March 15th through April 22nd

2010-04-22T13:00:51Z

These are my links for March 15th through April 22nd:

Bookmarks for February 1st through February 22nd

2010-02-22T16:02:14Z

These are my links for February 1st through February 22nd:

How a virus works

2010-02-14T09:27:35Z

Bookmarks for December 22nd through January 28th

2010-01-28T10:01:16Z

These are my links for December 22nd through January 28th:

Drug discovery chemistry: a primer for the non-spe… [Drug Discov Today. 2009] - PubMed result - Like all scientific disciplines, drug discovery chemistry is rife with terminology and methodology that can seem intractable to those outside the sphere of synthetic chemistry. Derived from a successful in-house workshop, this Foundation Review aims to demystify some of this inherent terminology, providing the non-specialist with a general insight into the nomenclature, terminology and workflow of medicinal chemists within the pharmaceutical industry.
Polyphasic Sleep: Facts and Myths -
Skytopia : Welcome to the highest place on the planet! -

Bookmarks for December 1st through December 11th

2009-12-11T13:00:40Z

These are my links for December 1st through December 11th:

Some Aspects of Espresso Extraction - This study on extraction was begun by Andy Schecter. His work has gone in a different direction, and he is far less inclined than I to suggest large conclusions on slight evidence; so he has declined being listed as an author. However, the paper owes its existence, its methods, and much of its logic to him.
Climate Change Deniers vs The Consensus | Information Is Beautiful -
Coffee tasting flavor wheel - Awesome!

Bookmarks for November 11th through December 1st

2009-12-01T10:06:15Z

These are my links for November 11th through December 1st:

What's in a picture? The temptation of image manipulation — Rossner and Yamada 166 (1): 11 — The Journal of Cell Biology - It's all so easy with Photoshop1. In the days before imaging software became so widely available, making adjustments to image data in the darkroom required considerable effort and/or expertise. It is now very simple, and thus tempting, to adjust or modify digital image files. Many such manipulations, however, constitute inappropriate changes to your original data, and making such changes can be classified as scientific misconduct. Skilled editorial staff can spot such manipulations using features in the imaging software, so manipulation is also a risky proposition.
Top 50 Free Open Courseware Classes for Aspiring Scientists - Aspiring scientists can get a lot of help and knowledge from free online classes. Many universities offer open courseware classes that can help you learn the basics of a number of scientific fields. You can keep up to date on the latest developments, and learn to understand basic concepts. Whether you want the understanding to help you in your current job, or whether you are preparing to enter a degree program in the sciences, these 50 open courseware classes can help you get a solid handle on science.
Cell Size and Scale -

The Road to Sustainable Energy

2009-11-10T07:48:07Z

Haven’t read the article myself yet, but Scientific American published an Article in its November 2009 issue titled A Path to Sustainable Energy by 2030 (as txt), where they propose a potential pathway to transition the world onto sustainable energy production by 2030.

Many energy bloggers disagree with this vision, if only in the timeframe.

Here are some links:

Have you read the article? What do you think?

Information transfer is a life principle

2009-05-23T12:27:11Z

Fels D (2009) Cellular Communication through Light. PLoS ONE 4(4): e5086. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0005086

People like Popp have been laughed at for their biophoton hypothesis (and experiemntal results) for ages now. Of course, what sounds like Sci-fi can never be true, at least some scientists seem to “know” and thus forget that science is not about believing you know it all. Anything is possible, unless proven otherwise. And then still methods can change.

Nevertheless, here is an excerpt from the abstract:

Information transfer is a fundamental of life. A few studies have reported that cells use photons (from an endogenous source) as information carriers. This study finds that cells can have an influence on other cells even when separated with a glass barrier, thereby disabling molecule diffusion through the cell-containing medium.

Hopefully enough for you to want to read up.

Now for the crazy ones out there: doesn’t this sound like a very good start for biological nanotechnology, carbon/silicon hybrid systems?

Allright… enough sci-fi for today

Accelerated aging of wine?

2009-02-24T21:37:30Z

…is being discussed over at khymos.org. Great article, again!

Red wine…

2009-02-09T14:47:07Z

…is a very useful and pleasurable indulgence we at tpog.net do take pleasure in. barrique red wines are amongst our favorites, so this news item had our hearts sparkling

Apparently Italian winemakers are moving away from using oak barrels to age their red wine, and looking to acacia, cherry, chestnut and mulberry instead. All these woods have been used by winemakers elsewhere in the world before, and what I want to know is how, or if, this will affect the taste of my current favourite Italian tipple – Chianti Classico Reserva.

read more at http://prospect.rsc.org/blogs/cw/?p=1346

Jurassic park

2009-02-04T13:33:06Z

It is far from the focus of this blog, but the headline is remarkable.

Extinct ibex is resurrected by cloning An extinct animal has been brought back to life for the first time after being cloned from frozen tissue.

The technology is nowhere near perfect yet, and the first specimen they tried to clone “newborn ibex kid died shortly after birth due to physical defects in its lungs. Other cloned animals, including sheep, have been born with similar lung defects.”.

How far away from the first extinct species being reborn this way, if at least for a while? What will happen to these animals: will they be able to breed? Will genetic variability be too low?

And, last but not least: when will the tech cross to “engineering”?

[update] There is also a lengthy article in New Scientist, Jan 10 2009:

Personality traits often associated with innovators

2009-02-05T17:09:18Z

please go read & join the discussion “Personality traits often associated with innovators” at friendfeed.

Uploaded with plasq’s Skitch!

(click on image for full resolution)

Lost in transit?

2009-02-01T13:05:10Z

There are some changes going on on the backend of this blog. Mainly adding new functionality or at leat fixing bugs & buggers.

In the meantime, no more custom modified look & feel — justa plain modular and pluggable theme from wordpress.org.

So, please keep coming and commenting

Re: How to pronounce Angewandte, Makromolekulare and Chemie

2009-02-01T12:57:08Z

Andrew asked the question:

How to pronounce Angewandte, Makromolekulare and Chemie, PLEASE?

Here’s the sound files. Any further questions?

Polymer chemistry - wtf?

2009-02-01T13:19:52Z

For all those readers out there who are no polymer chemists. I hope there are some, there must be: 2 out of 4 regular readers are also authors of this blog; both are polymer chemists. And since statistics say we only have 10% polymer chemists out there, you all are not.

So, please check out this web page for some concepts of what we must endure: http://www.polymerchemistryhypertext.com/index.htm

Concepts in chemistry and quantum mechanics.

2009-01-20T16:48:03Z

A quick literature link: there is a rant in one of the latest editions of Angewandte Chemie which is quite readable and educating:

Jansen and Wedig respond to a paper which talks about getting rid of oxidation states in favor of “quantum-mechanically funded” electric charges. But there is much more about the underlying problem: can you really create all those nifty tools we chemists use to make thinking about chemistry and molecules much more easy — from quantum mechanics, the mother of everything non-thinkable?

At least this polymer chemist found the article useful and stimulating. How about you?

Oh, here is the link:

DOI (german) 10.1002/ange.200803605
DOI (english) 10.1002/anie.200803605

The power of goo: A less savoury aspect of other kinds of goo

2009-01-25T15:20:32Z

The recent wrangling between Ukraine and Russia over Natural Gas Transit to western Europe got me looking into natural gas and biogas. So I stumbled across “The Complete Biogas Handbook”.

The first tidbits I was able to read online looked rather simple from a trained chemical engineers point of view but hands on from an “I want that in my backyard” angle. So I am looking forward to getting the book soon, to judge it in its entirety. The review is to follow soon.

From my preliminary reading of “The Complete Biogas Handbook” and other sources (wikipedia and a lot of googling) biogas and natural gas are essentially the same, the latter having been sequestered in porous layers of rock for eons, after being produced like the former by anaerobic bacteria decomposing organic matter.

As natural gas is heavily treated prior to consumption (acidic impurities, mercaptanes from protein) I wondered what are we doing with biogas? After all it is inadvertently (vide odour) produced in sewage treatment plants: Are we putting it to use already?

Turns out some places are: sewage treatment facilities and land fills.

The city of Munich, Bavaria for example is doing it at its main waste water treatment plant and landfill site. So it is a proven technology. Just google for biogas plants and you will find a plethora of trade associations and engineering companies offering a large portfolio of technologies.

What I have not been able to figure out is how much energy we could produce e.g. in co-generation power plants using the organic matter we collect using our cities sewers and from the separate collection of kitchen and garden waste. I remember reading that for example Germany might be able to replace up to 10% of its natural gas imports by the biogas made from organic waste materials. This might have a huge impact on decreasing a nations reliance on energy imports. Unfortunately I don’t remember the source.

As all these processes rely on bacteria (anaerobic and methanogenic archae) one starts to think why won’t we start where the plants do and use carbon dioxide. Peakenergy has a nice post and link to an inspiring talk given by Craig Venter. I am really looking forward to see what he and the other guys he mentioned come up with as fourth generation biofuels.

TPOG is still alive.

2009-01-20T16:38:56Z

…oh yes, this blog still exists. It has been quiet in the last few months, but this may well change in the future. Hopefully. So, just a small ping to let you know we are still here.