World's first success in asymmetric borylation of ketones
A team of Hokkaido University researchers has developed the world's first method to achieve the catalytic asymmetric borylation of ketones, a breakthrough expected to facilitate the development of new...
View ArticleResearchers work with dogs to sniff out chemicals that identify human remains
Researchers from the University of Leicester are working with police forces in the UK to improve the accuracy of police dogs in identifying human remains in criminal investigations.
View ArticleUndersea life holds promise for killing tuberculosis
A team of researchers at the University of Central Florida has discovered a potential new weapon in the fight against tuberculosis, and it lives in the Little Mermaid's realm.
View ArticleScientists equip chemical sensors with 'traps' to detect toxic substances
Scientists from Tomsk Polytechnic University and the University of Chemistry and Technology (Prague, Czech Republic) have created novel chemical sensors for Raman spectrometers, devices that measure...
View ArticleAir quality measurements in the sky over Europe
It looks like a bucket list for city trips, but it's the current route of the HALO research aircraft. Until the end of July, atmosphere researchers from all over Germany will study air pollution above...
View ArticleNew green solvent could help clean our air
French researchers have patented an eco-friendly liquid mixture that could help trap harmful pollutants from the air. The non-flammable solvent contains urea and choline salt, a common ingredient in...
View ArticleLasers zap decontaminates from soil
There might be a new and improved way to rid contaminated soil of toxins and pollutants: zap it with lasers. By directly breaking down pollutants, researchers say, high-powered lasers can now be more...
View ArticleMaking 3-D printing safer
Within the past decade, 3-D printers have gone from bulky, expensive curiosities to compact, more affordable consumer products. At the same time, concerns have emerged that nanoparticles released from...
View ArticleTeam gathers unprecedented data on atmosphere's organic chemistry
For a few weeks over the summer in 2011, teams of scientists from around the world converged on a small patch of ponderosa pine forest in Colorado to carry out one of the most detailed, extended survey...
View Article'Something wicked (smelling)' this way comes—the science of fabrics and odors
Researchers from New Zealand's University of Otago have used advanced technology to find out why three common fibre types differ in how they take in and release body odor.
View ArticleFueling a cleaner combustion
An additive for conventional fuel comprised of oxygenated organic compounds could help reduce the release of pollutants into the atmosphere during the combustion of fossil fuels. Researchers from KAUST...
View ArticlePurple plant is on the defensive
While lavender has long been known for its strong scent and soothing oils, a UBC researcher is exploring the plant's ability to create natural pesticides.
View ArticleGadgets: Nothing to sneeze at! Desktop device monitors indoor air quality.
I recently tested the Awair, Air Quality Monitor, which tracks the five key factors of air quality including chemicals such as volatile organic compounds, carbon dioxide, dust, humidity, and...
View ArticleUV-irradiated amorphous ice behaves like liquid at low temperatures
Ice analogs mimicking interstellar ice behave like liquids at temperatures between -210°C and -120°C according to Hokkaido University researchers. This liquid-like ice may enhance the formation of...
View ArticleAstronomers discover traces of methyl chloride around infant stars and nearby...
Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have detected the faint molecular fingerprint of methyl chloride - a chemical commonly produced by industrial and biological...
View ArticlePesky pollutants that persist, courtesy of nature
In the late 1970s, the United States banned the production of an assortment of synthetic pesticides, insulators, coolants and flame retardants due to their toxicity and the fact that they stick around...
View ArticleNASA satellite tracks ozone pollution by monitoring its key ingredients
Ozone pollution near Earth's surface is one of the main ingredients of summertime smog. It is also not directly measurable from space due to the abundance of ozone higher in the atmosphere, which...
View ArticleBiologists taught infusoria to fight poisons
A team of scientists from Lomonosov Moscow State University and the Russian Academy of Sciences has found a new substance with antioxidant properties able to protect living organisms from toxic...
View ArticleResearchers develop low energy, cost-effective wastewater purification system
A team of scientists from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has come up with a novel approach to treat industrial wastewater using electricity as a reagent for purification. The method can...
View ArticleUnderappreciated microbes now get credit for holding down two jobs in soil
In soil, bacteria and other microbes are well known for their ability to decompose organic materials, releasing carbon to the atmosphere. Less understood is how microbes add persistent carbon compounds...
View ArticleReductions in individual plant growth sometimes boost community resilience
In sports, sometimes a player has to take one for the team. The same appears to be true in the plant world, where reduced individual growth can benefit the broader community.
View ArticleA novel way to synthesize antioxidant substances
Scientists from Tomsk Polytechnic University together with their colleagues from USA and Japan have proposed a novel way to address the most important and fundamental challenge of organic chemistry,...
View ArticleElectronic nose developed to sniff out colon diseases
A team of researchers from the Gandia campus of Valencia's Polytechnic University and the La Fe Health Investigation Institute have developed a prototype of an electronic nose that can distinguish...
View ArticleSynchrotron study reveals oxygen's influence on the chemistry of atmospheric...
Chemical reactions that produce pollutants in the atmosphere, and the chemistry of fuel combustion inside a vehicle engine, have some striking similarities. For each set of reactions, oxygen's role is...
View ArticleRover could discover life on Mars – here's what it would take to prove it
Finding past or present microbial life on Mars would without doubt be one of the greatest scientific discoveries of all time. And in just two years' time, there's a big opportunity to do so, with two...
View ArticleNew smart sensor could revolutionise crime and terrorism prevention
Crime, terrorism prevention, environmental monitoring, reusable electronics, medical diagnostics and food safety, are just a few of the far-reaching areas where a new chemical sensor could...
View ArticleIngredients for life revealed in meteorites that fell to Earth
Two wayward space rocks, which separately crashed to Earth in 1998 after circulating in our solar system's asteroid belt for billions of years, share something else in common: the ingredients for life....
View ArticleEmissions of volatile organic compounds higher than previously assumed
In the scientific journal PNAS, researchers from Innsbruck, Austria, present the world's first chemical fingerprint of urban emission sources of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Accordingly, the...
View ArticleIs the origin of life just cosmic dust in the wind?
"The cosmos is within us. We're made of star stuff." Thanks to a new study, this famous phrase by iconic astronomer Carl Sagan, now has some more support.
View ArticleHow smelly is your rubbish?
According to some estimates, every year, over 8 billion tonnes of urban waste are generated worldwide, and there is every reason to believe that this figure will increase in coming years due to...
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