Chemistry

Chemistry

Fatty acid makes busy micropotter

A fatty acid commonly found in soap and vegetable oil assembles into microscopic, potterylike structures when it crystallizes.

Chemistry

Solar Hydrogen

With the vision of a hydrogen economy looming ever larger in people's minds, scientists have picked up the pace of their pursuit of materials that use solar energy to split water and make clean-burning hydrogen fuel.

Chemistry

Microbes Make the Switch: Tailored bacteria need caffeine product to survive

Bacteria that rely on a chemical derived from the breakdown of caffeine for their survival could help lead to the development of decaffeinated coffee plants.

Chemistry

Branching polymer could heal cataract wounds

Cataract surgery might get a little easier, thanks to a transparent gel that seals surgical incisions in the eye better than standard sutures do.

Chemistry

Breakdown: How Three Chemists Took the Prize

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to three scientists for their discovery of how cells mark proteins for destruction with a molecular tag called ubiquitin, otherwise known as the kiss of death.

Chemistry

Buckyballs at Bat: Toxic nanomaterials get a tune-up

The soccer-ball-shaped carbon molecules known as buckyballs are toxic to human cells, yet coating the particles can switch off their toxicity.

Chemistry

Bacteria send out molecular scrounger for copper

Scientists have discovered the organic molecule that bacteria use to take up copper, which the microbes then use to chemically crack methane.

Chemistry

Meteorites may have delivered phosphorus

Meteorites may have supplied enough phosphorus to prebiotic Earth to spawn the first signs of life.

Chemistry

Molecular machines split water

Hydrogen derived from molecular machines that use solar energy to split water, rather than hydrogen from fossil fuels, could drive future fuel cell vehicles.

Chemistry

Tricky Business

The way a drug crystallizes to form a solid can make or break a billion-dollar product, which explains why pharmaceutical and crystal chemists are racing to control this poorly understood process.

Chemistry

Velcro Therapy: Branching polymer wards off scarring after eye surgery

Specially designed polymer molecules called dendrimers reduce scar tissue formation after glaucoma surgery, dramatically improving the procedure's outcome.

Chemistry

Tarantula venom disrupts cells in unexpected way

The unusual way in which the chemical components of tarantula venom disrupt cells could inspire the design of new drug therapies.