These are my links for June 1st from 19:03 to 19:09:
- Therapeutic science – X-ray crystallography has been used to determine the structure of a new, improved protein that could be employed in the purification of therapeutic antibodies and to reveal details of its complexes with antibodies. The work represents an improved molecular design based on greater stability and higher affinity of the protein for its antibody target and could cut costs in therapeutic antibody manufacture.
- New species found – Like a previously unknown species emerging into the glare of camera flashlights from the tropical undergrowth or crawling out from under a deep ocean rock, a seemingly simple small molecule, an organosulfur compound called oxathiirane, has been synthesised at long last and reveals itself under infrared and ultraviolet spectroscopic inspection.
- Vesuvian revelations – Italian researchers have used a salver of techniques, including microscopic Raman and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopies, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray to study powdered pigments found in bowls from the Pompeii archaeological site as well as wall-painting fragments from the Vesuvian region.
- Making lithium batteries safer and more powerful – A simple and precise method for “seeing” the chemistry taking place in a rechargeable lithium-ion battery using lithium-7 NMR spectroscopy has been developed by UK scientists. The work might help improve battery design to remedy flaws in this kind of power supply, such as rapid discharge, loss of charge capacity, and their rare tendency to combust spontaneously, potentially a very serious problem for laptop users especially.sc
- A good night’s sleep – Even a single night where a person suffers partial sleep deprivation (PSD) is enough to have a negative impact on thinking. A functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study suggests that as cognition and affective processing are disrupted, sleep pressure must represent a basic physiological constraint of brain function.
- Rice recipe – Heat rice flour to 600 Celsius under a nitrogen atmosphere and then dousing it in concentrated nitric acid is not the usual way to cook it, but researchers in India have done just that. The product, rather than a bowl of light and fluffy grains is a plethora of nanoscopic carbon cubes and bricks, the team says.