David Bradley – Page 286

Chemweb Chemistry News

The Alchemist this issue takes a look at colorful nanoparticles and how to control them with a magnet, a platinum wrap that could improve the efficacy of certain types of anticancer drug, an answer to why trucks cannot crush mother-of-pearl, and the chemistry behind plans for a liquid telescope destined for the moon. Also, this week, the discovery of a new type of electron wave that exists on metal surfaces could provide a new foundation for theoretical studies of chemical reactions. Finally, a princely sum is shared by the journals Nature and Science for excellence in science communication.

Also new on the ChemWeb site this week: The Events Calendar at ChemWeb.com lists conferences, seminars, trade shows, user group meetings, webinars and many other events of interest to ChemWeb members.

Arctic droughts, plastic breakdown, and liquid telescopes

This month’s intute Spotlight from David Bradley is now available online:

Telescopic lunar liquid: A liquid reflector for a vast Newtonian telescope to be based on the surface of the Moon is being developed by scientists in Canada, UK, and US. The new type of telescope could provide the clearest views yet of ancient parts of the Universe.

Arctic drought – Frozen Arctic ponds that have persisted for millennia are drying out during the polar summer, according to evidence from Canadian scientists. Marianne Douglas of the Canadian Circumpolar Institute at the University of Alberta together with John Smol, of Queen’s University, have studied these shallow ponds that dot the Arctic landscape for more than two decades. Changes in such environmental features provide an important indication of how particular regions are being affected by climate change. Douglas and Smol have analysed 24 years of detailed data, including water quality and water levels from about forty Arctic ponds. The data represents the longest record of systematic fresh water monitoring in the high Arctic.

Plastic breakdown – As if to show just how diverse the properties and applications of ionic liquids can be, a new era in recycling of plastics is fast approaching thanks to scientists in Japan. The researchers have developed a process based on ionic liquids that can depolymerise plastic materials back into the component monomers from which they were originally made. The team says the method can then be used to convert waste polymers into new high-quality plastics.

For more site news from Intute Sciences, see Thursday’s Sciencebase.

Viz Comic to Win Science Writing Award

Viz comic

When I was a kid growing up in the North East of England, the literature was limited, but there was one item of essential reading: Viz Comic. This crudely produced and photocopied newsheet used to worm its way from brothers Chris and Simon Donald’s bedroom to our school with its vulgar, laugh out loud humour and top tips. LetterBox was key to its success providing, as does any modern blog, a conduit through which readers could vent their spleen, offer advice, and generally answer the preceding question in the very same issue as if by magic.

Why am I discussing Viz? Well, in recent issues they have taken to satirizing various prominent figures from the world of science. The current issue provides a scatalogical skit of the biggest name in amateur astronomy this side of the Pond – Sir Patrick Moore – while the last issue picked up on Richard Dawkins’ vehement atheism and apparent anti-religious stance. In the story, Dawkins creates a giant artificial cardiac organ and then finds it impossible to prevent a tiny “Jesus Christ” from gaining access. Thus having allowed “Jesus to enter his heart”, Dawkins is forcefully ejected from the Royal Science Organisation by a group of bearded gents in stove-pipe hats and tail coats. Did I say Viz was not only crude but can also be incredibly offensive?

If memory serves correctly, at least one of the original Viz team studied microbiology at University, although that could be a blatant lie as Chris Donald failed his A-levels and there is scant information on brother Simon that mentions any science connection either. However, there have been, despite appearance and the presence of Rude Kid, Roger’s Profanisaurus (NSFW), Johnny Fartpants, and Black Bag, several instances of rather technologically and scientifically insightful parodies and spoofs in the Comic over the years (it began life in 1979, when I was still at school, by the way).

One fellow science writer, who shall remain anonymous here, has gone so far as to suggest that Viz should, on the basis of recent activity viz. Prof Dawkins and Sir Patrick, should enter the ABSW science writing awards. The competition is tight, but you never know, they may stand a chance in the “science in society” section. I just wonder whether society is ready to accept Viz as a pillar of the scientific literature.

Quit smoking avoid the munchies

Could a drug that blocks the brain’s cannabinoid (CB1) receptors help people stop smoking without gaining weight? According to a Cochrane Systematic Review, just 20 mg of CB1 antagonist rimonabant each day helps quitters and also helps them avoid the munchies.

Smoking tobacco sends nicotine into the blood stream, and this chemical disrupts the endocannabinoid system, part of the hormonal control mechanism in the brain that controls energy balance and food intake. Over time the body alters the nature of its energy mechanism to compensate for this effect. When you quit smoking, the nicotine withdrawal disturbs this mechanism, causing withdrawal symptoms and leaving a person prone to put on weight.

Unfortunately for smokers who want to quite and stay slim, rimonabant is yet to be approved for this use in the USA or Europe.

InChI=1/C22H21Cl3N4O/c1-14-20(22(30)27-28-11-3-2-4-12-28)26-29(19-10-9-17(24)13-18(19)25)21(14)15-5-7-16(23)8-6-15/h5-10,13H,2-4,11-12H2,1H3,(H,27,30)/f/h27H

Environmental intuition on the web

Intute is the Science, Engineering and Technology component of a JISC project based out of England’s University of Manchester and the Heriot-Watt University in Scotland. It offers a free online service with what it describes as the very best web resources for scientific research and education. Like the very best of the earliest web portals all entries are hand selected and evaluated, so there is a serious lack of spam (thank goodness).

Today, Intute announced a new, long-awaited environment wing, to join the SET sections. I thought it worth mentioning this latest development as I write the Spotlight column for the Intute site, which will mean greater coverage of environmental science and issues with the Bradley twist.

The environment section already contains more than 3000 records which scientific journals, lecture note resources, government publications, information on non-profit organisations, and other websites under headings including: Agriculture and the Environment, Biodiversity and Conservation, Climate and Environment, Energy and Resources, Environmental Economics, Environmental Law and Legislation, Environmental Management, Environmental Policy, Landscapes and Landscape Architecture, Pollution Science, and Waste Management.

According to an announcement from Intute: “Due to the nature of the subject area this section is likely to develop rapidly and may necessitate further changes to the headings. If you have an interest in this development you may like to follow the progress on the blog, new resources page, or by contacting the Content Coordinator for the section: jane.podmore-at–manchester.ac.uk or see the SET Blog

Cosmic dawn

Cosmic dawn Hot on the heels of Monday’s cosmic search engine is news from Caltech that images of the oldest known galaxies have been obtained. These heavenly bodies existed at a time when the universe was a mere 500 million years old, some 13 billion years ago.

Caltech astronomer Richard Ellis exploited “gravitational lensing”, an effect by which light from distant stars and galaxies is focused towards us by intervening massive objects. Ellis presented his images of these faint and distant objects today at a conference entitled “From IRAS to Herschel and Planck” being held conference at the Geological Society in London.

The Caltech-led group used massive clusters of galaxies, as the most powerful gravitational lenses around to locate galactic systems more distant than any previously observed. They used the Keck II 10 m diameter reflector telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, to make their observations.

The resulting images can be seen on the Caltech site. These galaxies represent the earliest seen twinklings of the universe following the so-called Dark Ages before which no stars shone. Pinpointing the moment of “cosmic dawn” is one of the major quests of modern astronomy.

Of course, the observations may not be definitive, confesses Ellis. “As with all work at the frontiers, skeptics may wish to see further proof that the objects we are detecting with Keck are really so distant,” he explains.

“We can infer the Universe had a lot of star formation at these early times from Spitzer Space Telescope measurements of larger galaxies seen when the Universe was about 300-500 million years older”, explains Mr Stark. “These galaxies show the tell-tale sign of old stars (and were described in earlier work by University of Exeter scientist Andrew Bunker). To produce these old stars requires significant earlier activity, most likely in the fainter star-forming galaxies we have now seen.”

Chemistry of Sex, Toothpaste, and Armpits

John Emsley book I started a book on the chemistry of sex once…didn’t get very far, it was too distracting and working from home with my wife meant one thing led to another too often for us to knuckle down to the online research. TMI? Sorry.

Anyway, my good friend John Emsley who has been pounding the chemistry writing beat a lot longer even than me has just published another fascinating title on the chemistry and chemicals that underpins cosmetics, grooming, health, food, and, of course, sex.

In Better Looking, Better Living, Better Loving takes the novel tack of introducing each chapter with a mock news item about the next big thing in the various areas he covers, explaining how near-future chemistry used to develop the perfect toothpaste might develop and put dentists out of business, for instance, or a deodorant that could biochemically convert armpit odors into attractant pheromones. His news items are certainly tongue-in-cheek, but they do point to the very real ways in which chemistry impacts on almost every aspect of our lives.

Emsley tours plenty of the recent advances in chemistry, taking in the cosmetic factory, the pharmacy, the grooming salon, the diet clinic, the power plant, the domestic cleaning company, and the art gallery along the way. The tour is for anyone wanting to know more about the true impact of chemical products on our everyday lives, not just the nasties of tabloid scare-stories. Indeed, Emsley puts to rest several of the more ludicrous claims made for the effects of certain chemicals on our health and the environment.

He covers whether homeopathic medicines really work (you can probably guess his answer), the myth of date rape drugs, how the toxic chemical acrylamide gets into our food, and whether great
artists were affected by the poisonous pigments they used in their masterpieces.

With his informal, if deadpan, style, Emsley links his incredibly strong chemical knowledge to fun
situations, with a sneaky sideways glance or a roll of the eyes. Anyone suffering from chemophobia should read this. Anyone already singing with the chemical choir should read this. In fact, everyone should read this. Chemicals impact on all our lives, mostly in a positive way, rarely in a negative way (seriously). Emsley will help you understand the arguments on both sides, weigh up the risks and benefits, and make your own decisions about the chemistry of food, cosmetics, health, and, of course, sex.

Europe Sees Red Over Food Coloring

The artificial food coloring known as Red 2G (E128, in the European Union) could soon be banned because of concerns about its safety and a purported risk of cancer arising from its aniline metabolite. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recently reviewed food additives and recommended this week that the maximum safe limit for this compound should be removed. It did not go as far as to ban Red 2G, but advises that the bureaucratic wing of the EU, the European Commission, should make the decision on whether or not to ban the additive from processed meats, burgers, and sausages.

The additive is already banned in Japan and other countries, and the Irish food authority has opted to ban it as a precautionary measure.

Of course, the latest results on the metabolite, aniline, were obtained in the lab by injecting mice with a huge dose of this compound and sitting back to watch the tumors grow. They really say nothing of the effects of microscopic quantities of the precursor compound added to some meat products that a person may or may not eat on a regular basis. I don’t want to defend colorants too strongly, I’d rather eat nice freshly prepared food than processed myself. That said, not everyone has that choice, but worrying about tiny quantities of a compound that will not actually be 100% metabolized to a potential carcinogen seems an overblown response. The risk pales into insignificance compared with the far greater threat to health of eating vast quantities of saturated fat and red meat, artificially dyed or otherwise.

InChI: InChI=1/C6H7N/c7-6-4-2-1-3-5-6/h1-5H,7H2

Data Mining Prominent Scientists

Authoratory is a unique database that provided contact information, professional interests, social connections and funding for almost 300,000 leading scientists (The site quoted 289,943 as the actual figure, at the time of writing). So, what makes this database so unique? Well, The content is generated by data mining the millions of articles indexed by PubMed. Published papers are inspected and a personalized report built. You can hook out the most prominent expert in almost any field reported by PubMed and the site will tell you how many papers they published, their research affiliations collaborators, and list any NIH funding.

Researchers listed have to be US, UK or Canada based and have to have published at least three papers a year. 2,129,859 papers with almost 2,699,772 unique authors have been mined, the site claims, but only ten percent of those are considered worthy for inclusion in the Authoratory release.

I am sure someone adept at Yahoo Pipes could exploit this database in a mashup of chemistry papers and feeds and the Authoratory database. Mitch?

A space-age search engine

eZipSky Want to know what time the moon will rise in your neck of the woods, which planet is in which constellation tonight, or when the Internation Space Station will next be overhead? There is not much stargazing going in England at the moment, too much H20 falling from the sky, but eZipSky’s free service for amateur astronomers in the US, is a kind of search engine for heavenly bodies.

The eZipSky recently announced its Interactive SkyEngine, possibly the simplest way to search for many common features of the sky at night. Enter your zipcode and an object of desire – the moon, ISS, a planet, constellation – and the SkyEngine returns that object’s location or tells you when it will next be visible from your location.

Available sky objects include the sun, the moon, the naked-eye planets, the constellations, the 150 brightest stars, the brightest star clusters and galaxies, and upcoming meteor showers. It also provides hits for the International Space Station, the Hubble Space Telescope, more than 100 other earth-orbiting satellites, and, when it’s in Earth orbit, the Space Shuttle.

Imagining I was in Cambridge, MA, as opposed to Cambridge, UK, I tried out the zipcode for Harvard Science, 02138, and apparently I should “Look for the Andromeda Galaxy after it rises tonight at 20:51 and before sunrise tomorrow morning at 5:14.” The results provided also offer tips on what to search for next, so following their lead I ran a search on Mars and got a similar pair of times to watch out for it. Something that was lacking when I first visited the site was reference compass points to help newbie amateur astronomers pinpoint their objects of desire and not spend all night looking at some random twinkling object rather than the ISS, Mars, or a neighbouring galaxy.

I mentioned this to eZipSky’s Peter Busch and he tells me that the web team has now implemented my idea. Now, that’s service for you!