Topics: Chemistry, Instrumentation, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Physics, Research Scientists who need the gas face tough choices in the face of reduced supply and spiking prices. Helium supplies, already dicey, got worse this past week when production shut down in Arzew, Algeria. The curtailment joins ongoing disruptions in supplies from Russia and the US Federal Helium Reserve as wellContinue reading “Helium and Ukraine…”
Category Archives: Chemistry
Cobalt and Caveats
Topics: Battery, Chemistry, Climate Change, Environment, Politics KASULO, Democratic Republic of Congo — A man in a pinstripe suit with a red pocket square walked around the edge of a giant pit one April afternoon where hundreds of workers often toil in flip-flops, burrowing deep into the ground with shovels and pickaxes. His polished leatherContinue reading “Cobalt and Caveats”
Lithium and Caveats…
Topics: Alternate Energy, Battery, Biofuels, Chemistry, Climate Change, Environment California and the Biden administration are pushing incentives to make the United States a global leader in a market that’s beginning to boom: the production of lithium, the lightweight metal needed for the batteries of electric vehicles, and for the storage of renewable energy from powerContinue reading “Lithium and Caveats…”
Kilonovas and Gold…
Topics: Astronomy, Astrophysics, Chemistry, Materials Science, Neutron Stars The amounts of heavy elements such as gold created when black holes merge with neutron stars have been calculated and compared with the amounts expected when pairs of neutron stars merge. The calculations were done by Hsin-Yu Chen and Salvatore Vitale at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Francois Foucart at the UniversityContinue reading “Kilonovas and Gold…”
Quantum Exorcism…
Topics: Chemistry, History, Materials Science, Quantum Mechanics, Thermodynamics Thermodynamics is a strange theory. Although it is fundamental to our understanding of the world, it differs dramatically from other physical theories. For that reason, it has been termed the “village witch” of physics.1 Some of the many oddities of thermodynamics are the bizarre philosophical implications of classicalContinue reading “Quantum Exorcism…”
Peat Batteries…
Topics: Battery, Biofuels, Chemistry, Energy, Green Tech TARTU, Estonia, Oct 11 (Reuters) – Peat, plentiful in bogs in northern Europe, could be used to make sodium-ion batteries cheaply for use in electric vehicles, scientists at an Estonian university say. Sodium-ion batteries, which do not contain relatively costly lithium, cobalt, or nickel, are one of theContinue reading “Peat Batteries…”
Cold Atmospheric Plasmas…
Topics: Applied Physics, Chemistry, Physics, Plasma, Research ABSTRACT Cold atmospheric plasmas have great application potential due to their production of diverse types of reactive species, so understanding the production mechanism and then improving the production efficiency of the key reactive species are very important. However, plasma chemistry typically comprises a complex network of chemical speciesContinue reading “Cold Atmospheric Plasmas…”
Interstellar Cellular Membranes…
Topics: Astrobiology, Biology, Chemistry, Cosmology The origin of life is one of the great unanswered questions in science. One piece of this puzzle is that life started on Earth 4.5 billion years ago, just a few hundred million years after the formation of the Solar System, and involved numerous critical molecular components. How did allContinue reading “Interstellar Cellular Membranes…”
Women’s History Month, and CRISPR…
Topics: Biology, Chemistry, DNA, Nobel Prize, Research, Women in Science This year’s (2020) Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to two scientists who transformed an obscure bacterial immune mechanism, commonly called CRISPR, into a tool that can simply and cheaply edit the genomes of everything from wheat to mosquitoes to humans. The award went jointlyContinue reading “Women’s History Month, and CRISPR…”
Snapping Polymer Discs…
Topics: Chemistry, Polymer Science, Materials Science, Research A polymer-based gel made by researchers in the US and inspired by the Venus flytrap plant can snap, jump and “reset” itself autonomously. The new self-propelled material might have applications in micron-sized robots and other devices that operate without batteries or motors. “Many plants and animals, especially smallContinue reading “Snapping Polymer Discs…”
Physics and Nano 