Chemistry

Plastics May Be Making Men Infertile- Or Not

Recent research has reignited concerns that exposure to chemicals from plastics might be to blame for low sperm counts in young men. I share the concerns about the high prevalence of low sperm counts (one in six young men), and my research is directed at ...

Article - The Conversation - Jun 29 2015 - 8:00am

Zeolite: New Chemical Structures Can Remove CO2 From Gas Mixtures

A newly discovered family of chemical structures known as zeolites could increase the value of biogas and natural gas that contains carbon dioxide. The zeolites-- crystalline aluminosilicates with frameworks that contain windows and cavities the size of s ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 23 2015 - 8:00am

High Z: Metal Foams Shield X-rays, Gamma Rays And Neutron Radiation

Lightweight composite metal foams are effective at blocking X-rays, gamma rays and neutron radiation, and are capable of absorbing the energy of high impact collisions, and a new finding means the metal foams hold promise for use in nuclear safety, space ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 27 2015 - 3:00am

Fermentation Science: How To Make The Perfect Wine

By Marsha Lewis, Inside Science – Each year, about 32 billion bottles of wine are bought and sold around the world.  Each bottle contains about two and a half pounds of grapes, and to transform those grapes into a beverage with the perfect aroma, color, a ...

Article - Inside Science - Jul 21 2015 - 8:00am

The Science Behind Distillation

The process of distilling water, crude oil or ethyl alcohol are all based on similar science.   When two or more chemicals are thoroughly mixed in a liquid, being able to separate them can be quite a challenge.   ...

Article - Robert Hayes - Sep 27 2018 - 3:34pm

For Now We See Through A Brewing Class, Darkly

Next time you are in your local grocery store, step in to look a little more closely at the beer cooler. Amid the brightly colored, creative packaging lies the final battle for the ultimate goal – your purchases. But, what battles were fought to get the b ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 2 2015 - 8:26am

Cooking Up Altered States

Churning raw milk sufficiently creates butter. Squirting lemon juice coagulates it into curd. These two phenomena are not as straightforward as they sound on the molecular level. When milk is churned, the fat molecules in it come closer to form aggregates ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 7 2015 - 9:30am

Drains And Chemicals: Rethinking How We Clean Our Homes

Individually, we use thousands of chemicals in our households and very few of us think about whether they are harming the environment. We often think about buying a “green” detergent to wash our clothes, but the simple act of shampooing and conditioning o ...

Article - The Conversation - Sep 15 2015 - 10:00am

How To Make A Meaningless Study Sound Scary, By The Staff At CNN

It was Monday’s “big” health story, or so we were told. According to CNN, there’s now an established link between the development of childhood cancers, primarily leukemia and lymphoma, and the use of pesticides. Sounds scary, maybe even real. But does the ...

Article - American Council ... - Sep 17 2015 - 8:00am

Great Barrier Reef: High-tech Fertilizers And Other Science To The Rescue

The latest report card on Great Barrier Reef water quality shows signs of improvement, but the health of the marine environment close to the shore remains poor, driven by pollution runoff from the land. Among the good news is that pollution levels in reef ...

Article - The Conversation - Sep 23 2015 - 1:30pm