Chemistry

Barrique: When Wine Hits The Right Nerve

If wine leaves a bitter, cotton-like coating on the tongue, don't blame your nose or even your sense of smell, say the authors of a paper in Chemical Senses. Instead, blame your nerves. The traditional oak barrel character, also called barrique chara ...

Article - News Staff - May 5 2014 - 1:15pm

Synthetic Repair By Regrowth: Regenerating Plastic Grows Back After Damage

University of Illinois researchers have developed materials that not only heal, but regenerate- and not just tiny microscopic cracks, large cracks and holes. All by regrowing material. The regenerating capabilities build on the team's previous work i ...

Article - News Staff - May 10 2014 - 5:30am

Polyunsaturated Fats May Replace Petroleum-Derived Chemicals

Scientists at Brookhaven National Laboratory have found that certain enzymes responsible for desaturating fatty acids, the building blocks of oils, can link up to efficiently pass intermediate products from one enzyme to another. Getting plants to accumul ...

Article - News Staff - May 10 2014 - 1:00pm

Rare Epsilon-Phase Iron Oxide: What Ancient Chinese Potters Knew That Modern Science Wants To Duplicate

A new analysis of ancient Jian wares reveals that the distinctive pottery contains an unexpected and highly unusual form of iron oxide- a rare compound called epsilon-phase iron oxide which was only recently discovered and characterized by scientists and s ...

Article - News Staff - May 15 2014 - 8:13am

Melanin And Eumelanin's Secrets Revealed

Melanin — and specifically, the form called eumelanin — is the primary pigment that gives humans the coloring of their skin, hair, and eyes. It protects the body from the hazards of ultraviolet and other radiation that can damage cells and lead to skin ca ...

Article - News Staff - May 22 2014 - 1:19pm

Monosodium Glutamate Precautionary Principle: MSG Is Safe But You Can't Prove It

If you visit the best noodle houses in Asia, they will happily tell you their secret: The amino acid glutamate, boiled from dried seaweed or fermented soy, or gotten from a can, where it has been stabilized with salt and given the name monosodium glutamat ...

Article - News Staff - May 27 2014 - 5:00pm

Fresher Bread For Longer: Thanks, Science

Essential oils have boomed in popularity as alternatives for synthetic cleaning products, anti-mosquito sprays and even medicines. Why not use them to preserve food in a way that will appeal to the natural medicine crowd?  Essential oils have been used th ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 4 2014 - 11:00am

Finding Out A Sewage Pipe Needs Repair After It Bursts Is Not Scientific- Let's Fix That

The nation's sewer system is aging and that means it is also wearing out with the risk of broken pipes leaking raw sewage into streets and living rooms.  ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 4 2014 - 11:56am

New Smartphone Polymer May Mean Shatterproof Screens

Conventional touchscreens often use coatings made of indium tin oxide (ITO) which are  brittle, may shatter and increasingly costly to manufacture but polymer scientists have developed a transparent electrode that could make displays shatterproof. In a re ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 7 2014 - 9:46pm

The Future Of Food, With Fewer Pesticides: Thanks Surfactants

Agricultural science has made magnificent strides in the last few decades. Where once was rampant concern about mass starvation and food riots, farmers in developed nations are now producing more food on more land than once thought possible. But the quest ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 8 2014 - 3:30am