Chemistry

  1. 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.

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  2. 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.

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  3. 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.

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  4. 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.

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  5. 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.

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  6. 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.

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  7. Chemistry

    Meteorites may have delivered phosphorus

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

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  8. 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.

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  9. 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.

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  10. 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.

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  11. 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.

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  12. Chemistry

    Nitrogen Power: New crystal packs a lot of punch

    At extremely high temperatures and pressures, nitrogen gas assumes a three-dimensional crystal structure called polymeric nitrogen, a long-sought energy-storage material.

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