Chemistry
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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.