Chemistry

Spider Webs And Sticky Oysters: What’s In Them For You!

Recently Scientists have figured that Malagasy spiders spin world’s toughest  biological material (link to the full article given below). There was another article on the secret of oysters sticking together (link is below). Silk, wool from sheep camel etc ...

Article - Raghuveer Ramacha... - Sep 23 2010 - 7:45pm

Weekend Science: How To Cook For A Whole Army

I am something of a historical repository for my family.   So I have some cool stuff from way back, like a photograph of my great-great-great grandfather, and then also more recent items, like one of my mother's 'ration' books (coupons still ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Sep 25 2010 - 2:33pm

Dry Water- How Can Water Purify Effluents!

This whole week there are write-ups all over the internet about something called dry water.  Well, originally the idea was patented in 1968, so its not out of the blue. But there is a new use to it. Tiny water droplets are coated with water repelling silic ...

Blog Post - Raghuveer Ramacha... - Sep 27 2010 - 12:14am

Needed: Research Funding 2.0!

I always wondered why research findings funded by tax dollars are freely available to pharma companies to make big bucks. It is a vicious cycle. It starts from taxpayer funding research projects that culminate in publishing papers. And It ends in pharmaceu ...

Article - Raghuveer Ramacha... - Sep 28 2010 - 11:11am

Better Bricks Made Of Wool And Seaweed

Researchers have made environmentally-friendlier bricks that are also stronger than traditional ones.   That is a big win for everyone. Untreated clay was one of the earliest building materials to be used by humankind. The oldest examples of this can be fo ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 5 2010 - 10:53am

Richard F. Heck, Ei-ichi Negishi And Akira Suzuki Win 2010 Nobel Prize In Chemistry

Richard F. Heck, Ei-ichi Negishi and Akira Suzuki have won 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for  developing new, more efficient ways of linking carbon atoms together to build the complex molecules that are improving our everyday lives- palladium-catalyzed cro ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 6 2010 - 11:42am

A Bird, A Spider And A Human Walk Into A Bar...

One of my son’s favorite before-bed books is a Bert and Ernie number called “Bert’s Hall of Great Inventions.” (http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Bert%27s_Hall_of_Great_Inventions) On each page poor Bert exalts in another human invention, only to be answered by ...

Article - Jenny Morber - Oct 29 2010 - 10:40am

Levels of Organization

[note: I struggled with what category to put this in, perhaps there should be a new one called Complexity?] One of the paradigms in complex adaptive systems thinking that has great explanatory power is the idea that there are distinct systems organized hi ...

Blog Post - Rafe Furst - Dec 10 2010 - 5:49pm

Nanoclay Strengthens Thermoplastic Starch

Because of environmental problems with huge piles of plastic garbage, biodegradable plastics are still widely studied. Personally,  I thought this was a relatively easy problem to solve because of today’s advancements in chemistry and technology. ...

Blog Post - Johann Cruz - Dec 15 2010 - 9:10pm

New Year with a Bang?

Will your new year start with a BANG? Well, it might, if you bring it in with this molecule.  This is trinitramide, a compound newly synthesized at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Sweden.  It has the formula N(NO 2) 3, and as such is the newest ...

Blog Post - Robert H Olley - Dec 31 2010 - 9:04am