Chemistry
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Chemistry
Protein’s structure lights the way
Forty years after the discovery of aequorin in a jellyfish, the structure of this calcium-tracking, glowing protein is resolved.
- Chemistry
Photography at a Crossroads
Researchers are racing to understand the chemical processes used during the past 2 centuries to make photographs before digital-imaging techniques take over completely.
- Chemistry
Dipping deeper into acid
New experiments reveal how a molecule of acid dissolves in water.
- Chemistry
Hydrogen: The Next Generation
Researchers are looking for more sustainable ways to generate hydrogen, which burns cleanly but is typically made from fossil fuel.
- Chemistry
Now, nylon comes in killer colors
Chemists are improving antibacterial fabrics by treating them with compounds that prolong their killing power and add color.
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- Chemistry
Hot Spuds: Golden path to acrylamide in food
The browning reaction that imparts flavor to french fries and breads also creates acrylamide, an animal carcinogen.
- Chemistry
Sweet tooth is in the genes
Taste researchers have narrowed the search for the sweet tooth gene, at least in mice, to a 100-gene region.
- Chemistry
Birth control for male cockroaches
Scientists have discovered a gene in German cockroaches that may lead to a new type of insect control—contraception for male cockroaches.
- Chemistry
Coming up roses in scent research
Aroma chemists have discovered a carotenoid-processing enzyme that makes the chemicals that give rose oil its smell.
- Chemistry
Nutty and fungi-ble taxol sources
The active ingredient in the anticancer drug taxol has turned up in hazelnuts and fungi.
- Chemistry
Unsung benefits of darker, tasty oils
Processing to erase the distinctive flavors and colors in cooking oils also removes or deactivates compounds that can defuse biologically damaging chemical reactions in the body.
