News October 2011
Pee-powered fuel cell turns urine to energy
31 October 2011
Urine could be processed into power and fertiliser by bacterial biofilms
Organic LEDs set to become displays' flexible friend
31 October 2011
Researchers find a way to put OLEDs on flexible plastic while retaining efficiency
The kilogram is dead! Long live the kilogram!
31 October 2011
Four of the base SI units, including the kilogram and mole, are set to be redefined
Clicking your way to synthetic antibody therapies
28 October 2011
Enzymes can be used as templates to produce synthetic antibodies via click chemistry reactions
Exploding cucumbers inspire drug delivery
28 October 2011
A capsule that squirts cancer drug at its target in a new drug delivery strategy
Simpler enzymatic route to synthetic heparin
28 October 2011
Researchers hope new synthetic pathway could lead to cheaper treatment for deep vein thrombosis
Almac to hire 500 in next year
27 October 2011
The Northern Ireland based company has increased its workforce six fold in the last 5 years to over 3000
Graphene and zeolite team up for catalysis
27 October 2011
Graphene enhances the photocatalytic activity of zeolites
Graphene robot has some smooth moves
27 October 2011
Scientists have added a graphene layer to a polyethylene actuator to convert IR into energy to move the actuator
Complex organic matter may have been found beyond the Solar System
26 October 2011
Scientists in Hong Kong pick up traces of chemical structures similar to coal and oil
Europe risks being outstripped by R&D rivals
26 October 2011
Investment in R&D by top European firms grew by 6 per cent last year, but competitors are growing faster
Dismissing gatekeepers for enhanced nerve control
26 October 2011
A calcium-ion absorbing coating could improve electrodes being used to treat conditions such as epilepsy
US STEM graduates look beyond science for careers
25 October 2011
Nearly half of Americans with STEM degrees have left the field 10 years later, a new report finds
Carbon nanotubes detect DNA 'flipping out'
25 October 2011
Epigenetic modification of DNA can be spotted by measuring changes in its conductance
Dirty pots reveal ancient fish suppers
24 October 2011
Isotope ratios and fatty acids residues in ancient pottery indicate that Europeans carried on fishing after farming began
UK government pulls the plug on CCS plant
24 October 2011
The UK's first large scale carbon capture and storage scheme has been binned with the government blaming technical problems
US universities' lab safety under new scrutiny
24 October 2011
US Chemical Safety Board 'greatly concerned' by frequency of academic lab accidents, recommends nationwide reporting system
Clicking together cultural niches
23 October 2011
Click reactions have been used to control cells' culture media to study cellular processes in greater detail
Abbott splits to set pharma portfolio free
21 October 2011
US drug maker divides the firm into two parts as part of a rebalancing strategy
EU proposes nanomaterial definition
21 October 2011
The chemical industry says it's too broad; the environmental lobby says it's too narrow
Nanotubes with a split personality show solar promise
20 October 2011
Self-assembled semiconducting nanostructures with two distinct electronic domains form the first nanowire heterojunctions
New power for smart garments
20 October 2011
Batteries could now be integrated into cotton or polyester to power smart textiles
Mimicking mother nature's solar panels
20 October 2011
Black butterfly wings provide inspiration for new solar collection devices
Bubble trouble eliminated in cancer treatment
20 October 2011
A device to make droplets to cut off blood supply to tumours
-1_67_tcm18-209131.jpg)
Twisted self-assembly may lead to artificial bone
19 October 2011
Bacteriophages have been coaxed into three different arrangements that possess a tooth and bone-like microstructure
Ironing out the wrinkles in graphene ribbon fabrication
19 October 2011
Chinese scientists have developed a technique that can produce regular parallel arrays of graphene nanoribbons
Dow reels from former scientist's economic espionage
19 October 2011
Dow pledges to improve security after a researcher stole trade secrets and passed them to a Chinese university
Cofactor control of catalysis enantioselectivity
18 October 2011
Catalysts can turn from achiral to chiral using cofactors and can perform asymmetric reactions with high enantiomeric selectivity
European fracking boom 'doubtful'
18 October 2011
The high surface activity needed for shale gas extraction is likely to put off Europeans, says the boss of Shell Chemical
Water erodes 'lock and key' drug model
17 October 2011
Protein binding is not ruled by increases in entropy when ligands displace water, contrary to long-held 'hydrophobic effect' theory
Quickly sorting cells using DNA
17 October 2011
Magnetic sorting method uses DNA to bind and release multiple targets
Universities around the world prepare to welcome an influx of Brazilian students
14 October 2011
Brazil plans to boost scientific knowhow by sending 75,000 students abroad to study
Twist in the tale to improve gene therapy
14 October 2011
Unravelling the physical properties of DNA molecules can help to up the efficiency of gene delivery into living cells
Following electrons' chemical reaction quickstep
13 October 2011
Researchers have taken a series of snapshots to watch how electrons rearrange during a photochemical reaction
Carbon nanotubes give artificial muscles a new twist
13 October 2011
A powerful artificial muscle fibre has been made from carbon nanotubes that twist in response to an electrochemical stimulus
Beating the counterfeiters
13 October 2011
A multifunctional anti-counterfeit ink to stay one step ahead of fake money makers
Fluoride shuttle batteries lift off
13 October 2011
Rechargeable batteries based on fluoride ions could have a better storage capacity than current batteries
Probes inspired by butterflies
13 October 2011
An artificial proboscis made from electrospun polymer fibres
Hot chemistry
12 October 2011
Temperature played a crucial role in David MacMillan's decision to study chemistry. Joanne Thomson finds out more
A polymer plug for blood vessels
11 October 2011
The makers of the gel say it is less damaging than using clamps to block blood vessels for surgery
Hope for arsenic free water from deep underground
11 October 2011
Sediment deep underground could protect communities from water contaminated with arsenic by locking the toxic element away
Growing gallium nitride LEDs on glass
09 October 2011
A technique that grows gallium nitride crystals on glass could cut the cost of making LEDs
New probe throws light on cellular lipids
09 October 2011
Signalling lipids in living cells have been tracked using highly specific binding proteins coupled with an organic dye
Chameleon clothes to detect falling oxygen levels
07 October 2011
Dye particles woven into cloth to monitor oxygen levels
European doctoral students struggle to find funding
07 October 2011
New survey finds that in some European countries only half of doctoral students secure enough research funding
Detecting diseases with DNA sensors
07 October 2011
DNA sensors based on gold nanoparticles could improve sensitivity in disease detection
Smoothing out zeolite nanosheet synthesis
06 October 2011
A new technique overcomes a major problem with the production of zeolite nanosheets
Half of young Australian academics ready to quit
06 October 2011
Dissatisfaction with poor job security and low pay is rife in Australian universities
Oxygen isotopes help to probe water's structure
06 October 2011
Quantum effects in water are revealed by substituting its oxygen with isotopes
Detecting plasticisers in drinks
06 October 2011
A simple analytical test could prevent phthalates from entering the food chain
Using eggshells to remove toxic water pollutants
06 October 2011
Eggshell membranes can remove toxic hexavalent chromium from contaminated water
Crystals that aren't quite crystalline win Nobel
05 October 2011
The 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Dan Shechtman for his discovery of quasicrystals
One year on from Hungary's red mud disaster
05 October 2011
On the first anniversary of the country's worst environmental accident the area has recovered surprisingly quickly
Turning carbon dioxide into chemicals with an amine
05 October 2011
The reduction and functionalisation of carbon dioxide in a single step yields chemically versatile molecules
Mixed solvents exfoliate graphene analogues
04 October 2011
Chemists in China open up more possibilities to produce single-layer inorganic nanomaterials
