chemical
U.S. soldiers walk down a trail in a war zone. One of them pulls out a hand-held electronic device and points it at a native plant. The readings on the device indicate the plant was exposed to nerve gas sometime in the last 48 hours, allowing the soldiers to don protective gear before they suffer a lethal dose. Although such a device does not exist, it's not as far-fetched as it may sound. As concerns grow over the threat of bioterrorism and weapons of mass destruction, university researchers are working on an early warning system -- the figurative canary in the mineshaft -- that could be as unobtrusive and ubiquitous as plants in a landscape.
Mathematical models have given physicists a new look at DNA's chemical counterpart, RNA. The models -- showing that RNA behaves differently depending on the temperature of its environment -- may help biologists better understand how life evolved on Earth.
Chemists report in the Feb. 28 issue of Science a room-temperature chemical method for producing a new form of carbon called carbon nanoscrolls. Nanoscrolls are closely related to the much touted carbon nanotubes -- which may have numerous industrial applications -- but have significant advantages over them, said Lisa Viculis and Julia Mack, the lead authors of the article and graduate students in the laboratory of Richard B. Kaner, UCLA professor of chemistry and biochemistry.
To survive and thrive in a decidedly hostile environment, the lowly tapeworm uses a chemical trick to evade the propulsive nature of its intestinal home. Capitalizing on that tapeworm chemistry, scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison believe they may have found a way to slow the transit of drugs through the intestine, making them more effective in their delivery and holding out the promise not only of more effective treatment, but also of lowering dosage and cost, and eliminating wasted medicine.
Researchers at the University of Rochester have created the highest resolution optical image ever, revealing structures as small as carbon nanotubes just a few billionths of an inch across. The new method should open the door to previously inaccessible chemical and structural information in samples as small as the proteins embedded in a cell's membrane. The research appears in today's issue of Physical Review Letters.
Some of the most important compounds are the shortest lived -- transient molecules that exist for only thousandths of a second or less during chemical reactions. Characterization of such "reaction intermediates" can play a key role in understanding the mechanisms by which molecules change, shedding light on processes ranging from basic chemical reactions to complex diseases such as Alzheimer's. Yet by their very nature, reaction intermediates exist for brief periods too short to be seen by most sensors.
A compound developed by British scientists early in World War II as a treatment against chemical weapons has value against today's threat of bioterrorism, according to Indiana University School of Medicine researchers at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne. Researchers studying British Anti-Lewisite provide an overview of its historical uses, development and clinical implications today of the heavy metal chelating agent, detailed in the March issue of the Annals of Emergency Medicine. BAL is a medical therapy to remove metal poisonings from the body.
After an intensive, multi-year scientific analysis, EPA has approved the use of a new plant-incorporated protectant designed to control corn rootworm, a widespread and destructive insect in the United States. This new product will provide corn growers with a safe, non-chemical pest control alternative that can reduce reliance on traditional insecticides. The reduced pesticide use will benefit the environment directly and can mean less exposure to people who apply chemical pesticides to corn.
Chains of molecules known as conducting polymers are versatile materials that can work like electronic circuits. Potential uses include flat panel displays, solar panels, sensing devices and transistors, to name just a few. Their invention won three scientists the Nobel Prize in chemistry. But to make useful devices from conducting polymers requires a degree of chemical wizardry that often proves elusive. A Chicago chemistry professor has found a new and effective way around the problem.
We all know people who can take pain or stress much better than we can, and others who cry out at the merest pinprick. We've heard stories of people who did heroic deeds despite horrible injuries, and stereotypes about women's supposedly sensitivity to pain that don't mesh with their ability to withstand childbirth's pain. But what accounts for all these differences in how individuals feel and respond to pain? And why are some people, especially women, more frequently prone to disorders - like temporomandibular joint pain and fibromyalgia - that cause them to feel crippling pain day and night?
In the late afternoon of Friday 31 January, a final trim manoeuvre nudged the Artemis satellite into its assigned position in geostationary orbit, completing a most remarkable satellite recovery operation which has lasted 18 months.
The current method of handling the remains of U.S. service members will remain in place, DoD officials said today.
Senior defense officials examined the policy of handling human remains contaminated by biological or chemical weapons. They wanted to be certain that all options were open to commanders to ensure the health and safety of all service members. The group ? which included representatives from the services, the Army's mortuary affairs, DoD's health affairs and DoD's personnel and readiness staffs ? wanted to ensure that any decision was based on the latest medical thinking.
For the first time, researchers have eavesdropped on the brains of mice as they go about the normal behaviors of detecting the subtle chemical signals called pheromones from other animals. The researchers have discovered that the animals' pheromone-processing machinery in the brain forms, in essence, a specific "pheromonal image" of another animal. Such an "image" of another animal's sex, identity, social standing and female reproductive status governs a range of mating, fighting, maternal-infant bonding and other behaviors. The scientists said that the specificity they discovered in the neurons that process pheromonal signals is akin to the "face neurons" in the visual areas of primate brains that are specifically triggered by facial features of other animals.
If you are among the millions who receive flowers on Valentine's Day, you likely will put your nose to a rose, only to find you can't catch a whiff of your favorite floral aroma. And it isn't because your sense of smell has diminished. Plant breeding has led to bigger, longer-lasting blooms, but in the process many flowers have lost their scents - a trend University of Florida researchers hope to reverse. The researchers are investigating ways to put scent back in, either through genetic engineering or by developing chemical formulations that might be used through a spray application.
IS EATING soya during pregnancy bad for your baby? That question is back in the spotlight thanks to a study showing severe long-term effects on the sexual development of male rats whose mothers ate a chemical found in soya. The animal study does not prove that soya has this effect on people, and no such effects have been observed in Asia where soya is a big part of many people's diets. But the researchers say it is enough to spark concern and deserves further study. "The urologists on this project are actually advising pregnant women to avoid soya," says Sabra Klein at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Maryland.
