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Chemistry
In the
News
A newsletter written by fieldston students
March 2007
Page 1
By Sophia Rehm
"Persistent Foods"
The New York Times
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
This article answers the question of why the smell of garlic and the burn of
chili pepper remain on the skin and in the mouth and breath even after washing.
There is an organic compound in the root bulbs of garlic called alliin, and
when raw garlic is crushed or chewed this odorless compound is converted
to allicin. This chemical reaction is catalyzed by an enzyme called allinase,
released when the garlic cell membranes are ruptured. Allicin then turns
into sulfur-rich chemicals that circulate in the blood, only a few molecules
of which can produce the smell of garlic in the skin and in the breath.
The molecules of the chemical that makes pepper hot, capsaicin, are nonpolar,
and therefore hydrophobic. Trying to cool the mouth or skin with water can
just spread the capsaicin. The molecules of capsaicin are lipophilic, though,
so they can combine easily with fats. Cleaning hands with or eating something
oily or fatty helps get rid of the burn of chili pepper.
By Daniel brumer
“Gold Nanorods Assemble Themselves into Rings”
Rice University
March 12, 2007
Gold nanorods are 1/1000th the size of a human hair. A chemist at the
Rice University placed the gold nanorods in a chloroform solution, and
waited for it to evaporate. After the chloroform evaporated they saw that
the nanorods maintained a ring shape. The gold nanorods being in a ring shape
changes its properties greatly, allowing to be used in innovative ways. These
new innovations can greatly help with invisible military weapons, new types of
hyperactive censors, and new communication devices, which is always
welcomed in our world of ever advancing technology.
Page 2
By Nick Bellinson
“Another Supplement, Under the microscope”
The New york times
March 13, 2007
After a careful consideration of different studies on antioxidants, it was
concluded that they are not, in fact, the miracle workers they are made out to
be. In fact, a few studies even found that antioxidants were harmful to
participants: several subjects taking Vitamin A, E, and beta carotene
experienced increased risk of fatality. Other studies showed that antioxidants
did not, in fact, prevent the risk of heart disease or cancer, with the possible
exception of prostate cancer. In people over 65, taking Vitamin E supplements
did in fact lower the risk of cardiovascular disease or heart attacks.
Antioxidants are still considered to be essential to personal health; however,
there are other, overwhelming factors in the contraction of cancer and
heart disease, that the effects of antioxidants on these conditions may be
minimal.
By Ruksi Anandani
“Arsenic Levels in Rice”
The New York Times
March 13, 2007
This article was about the affect of the toxic element Arsenic in rice on
people. Researchers said that rice from the South-Central states like
Arkansas and Louisiana had about 30 micrograms of arsenic per gram while
California had almost half the amount. The reasoning they say is that many
rice growers are taking over old cotton fields where the inorganic arsenic as
a pesticide as contaminated the soils. Arsenic is a carcinogen that can cause
skin, reproductive, developmental and other disorders. Now this isn't a
Page 3
problem for most Americans because rice is not part of the daily diet but for
Hispanics, and Asian-Americans, it is a risk because it is part of their diet.
This is important to the world because it doesn't just affect a small
group of people but rather a significant part of a population. People who eat
a lot of rice are at risk and must realize the harmful affects of arsenic. It is
also significant to the world of chemistry because it demonstrates that
although something as simple as rice appears nutritious, it has harmful
affects. In chemistry it is important to thoroughly test everything before
making any assumptions on its affects.
By will Schultz
“Nothing from Something: Trash-Zapping of the 21st Century”
Popular science
March 2007
Page 4
“Nothing from Something: Trash-Zapping of the 21st Century”
Continued…
The Startech Plasma Converter is basically a big trash-eating dream-
machine. Created by Joseph Longo in Bristol, Connecticut, the machine
gobbles up garbage and spits out glass and energy. By passing 650 volts of
electricity between two electrodes in a stainless steel container of stable
gas (like nitrogen), the Converter turns the gas into plasma, which it uses to
tear up the molecular bonds that make up waste, reducing them to their
component elements (except in the case of nuclear waste, which is
indestructible). The only byproducts of this process are Synthesis gas, made
up mostly of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, and a glass-like substance
similar to obsidian. The glass can be used in bathroom tiles and other
applications, while the Synthesis gas can be converted into usable fuels such
as ethanol, natural gas, and hydrogen. What’s more, the process is self-
sufficient, since the blisteringly hot synthesis gas can be used to create
steam, which can run generators, ultimately producing more energy than is
initially consumed (the surplus energy can be sold back to the energy
company). The machine can eat up the 2,000 tons of waste per day, the amount
produced by a city of 1 million people in that time. Many countries currently
show interest in this technology for applications including waste removal
and destruction of chemical weapons (such as the stockpiles of Agent Orange
that the US left in Vietnam).
Page 5
By Astrid Moresco
“Skin Deep; Should You Trust Your Makeup”
New York Times
February 15, 2007
Very little is known about the chemicals in your daily cosmetics, could
you be at risk? The world cosmetic industry has had very little involvement or
supervision from governments. Lately, however, with continual rise in
allergies and asthma, people have become more aware about the chemicals
around them. New regulations, on the chemical production of cosmetics, have
been enforced by the E.U. and California State, trying to prevent the
possibility of long term effects on the human body. The chemical group
Phthalates, used as plasticizers, has caused the most concern because they
are found in many consumer items. Although little is known about the effects
on the human body, Phthalates are reported to have harmful affects on the
reproductive systems of lab animals. Unknown chemical cases like this, have
led to the banning of more than 600 chemicals by E.U., which they saw as
potentially hazardous. Many companies are voluntarily removing substances
as well as setting up special labs to investigate and test questionable
chemicals. So, take a few minutes and research the chemical properties of
your daily shampoo, shaving cream, or foundation.
By Beth Braiterman
“Efficient Methods Could Bail Out Biofuels”
Scientific American
March 2007
Biofuels are made from biomass, which consists of any plant material,
such as grains, corn, sugar cane, etc. There are many problems with the
production of biofuels today. First, when biomass is converted into fuel, 2/3
of the material is lost as carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide traps heat within the
atmosphere and contributes to global warming. Second, biofuels are blamed
for raising the prices of corn and other foods. Scientists at Purdue have
proposed a new method of creating biofuels that would solve these problems.
The new system would recycle the carbon dioxide into usable fuel by forcing
it to react with hydrogen. This would decrease the amount of carbon dioxide
emitted and would also allow more biofuel to be created from the same
amount of biomass. In addition, by reducing the amount of biomass needed to
create fuel, the new method would prevent the rising of prices of corn and
grains. The only problem, however, will be to find ways to make hydrogen
cheaply from solar or nuclear sources.
Page 6
By Avery Franzblau
“how sleep affects memory: the whiff of a familiar scent can help a
slumbering brain better remember “
The new york times
March, 2007
Scientists studying how sleep affects memory have found that the whiff of a
familiar scent can help a slumbering brain better remember things that it
learned the evening before. The smell of roses — delivered to people’s
nostrils as they studied and, later, as they slept — improved their performance
on a memory test by about 13 percent.The new study, appearing today in the
journal Science, is the first rigorous test of the effect of odor on human
memory during sleep. The results, whether or not they can help students cram
for tests, clarify the picture of what the sleeping brain does with newly
learned material and help illuminate what it takes for this process to
succeed.Researchers have long known that sleep is crucial to laying down
new memories, and studies in the 1980s and ’90s showed that exposing the
sleeping brain to certain cues — the sound of clicking, for instance — could
enhance the process. But it is only in recent years that scientists have begun
to understand how this is possible.“The idea didn’t get any traction with
scientists back then, because it didn’t make sense,” said Dr. Robert Stickgold,
an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard, who was not involved in the
research. The new study, Dr. Stickgold added, “shows not only that sleep is
important for declarative memory, but also allows us to look at exactly when
and how this process might happen.”In the study, neuroscientists from two
German institutions, the University of Lübeck and the University Medical
Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, had groups of medical students play a version of
concentration, memorizing the location of card pairs on a computer screen.
Upon learning the location of each pair, the students received a burst of rose
scent in their noses through masks they wore. The researchers delivered the
fragrance in bursts because the brain quickly adjusts to strong smells in the
air and begins to ignore them.The students went to sleep about a half-hour
later, with electrodes on their heads tracking the depth of their slumber.
Neuroscientists divide sleep into stages, including deep (or slow wave) sleep
and the shallow, dream-rich state called rapid eye movement (or REM)
sleep.The brain is thought to process newly acquired facts, figures and
locations most efficiently in deep sleep. This restful state usually descends
within the first 20 minutes or so after head meets pillow and may last an hour
or longer, then recur once or more later in the night. The researchers
delivered pulses of rose bouquet during this slow-wave state; the odor did
not interrupt sleep, and the students said they had no memory of it.But their
brains noticed, and retained an almost perfect memory of card locations. The
students scored an average of 97 percent on the card game, compared with 86
percent when they played the game and slept without being perfumed by
nighttime neuroscience fairies.The students did not get the same boost when
they received bursts of the fragrance just before sleep or in REM sleep
rather than in deep slumber, and their improvements were not due to practice,
the study found.The study’s results could eventually help doctors improve
patients’ memory by devising treatments directed at deep sleep. As they age,
Page 7
“how sleep affects memory” continued…
people spend less and less time each night in such sleep, and existing sleep
medications do not generally increase it. But pharmaceutical companies are
investigating compounds that do so.Previous research has shown that
regions of the cortex, the thinking and planning part of the brain,
communicate during deep sleep with a sliver of tissue deeper in the brain
called the hippocampus, which records each day’s memories. What is most
likely happening in that communication, the study’s authors argue, is that the
cortex is telling the hippocampus to reactivate the same neurons that fired
when a particular fact was noticed or learned. The hippocampus does so,
encoding the firing sequence in the cortex and thereby consolidating the
memory.“We would expect spontaneous reactivation driven by the slow-wave
sleep, but by presenting the rose odor cues we intensified this activation and
enhanced the transfer of these memories,” said Dr. Jan Born, a neuroscientist
at Lübeck who undertook the study with Björn Rasch, Christian Büchel and
Steffen Gais.Olfactory sensing pathways in the brain lead more directly to
the hippocampus than do visual and auditory ones. That may be why smells can
so vividly revive things past like forgotten joys or humiliations.To check their
reasoning, the researchers took M.R.I. images of some of the students’ brains
during their rose-scented slumber. As expected, regions of the cortex became
noticeably more active, as did the hippocampus.The findings suggest that
distinct sleep states may be specialized to integrate different kinds of
information. For example, the researchers found that the rose scent did not
enhance memories of a learned finger-tapping sequence — a rhythmic memory
that does not appear to be consolidated by the hippocampus.Likewise, given
that the rose fragrance during REM sleep made no difference to the students’
scores, it may be that the hues, horrors and hilarity of dreams during REM
reflect the brain’s efforts to integrate emotional, rather than factual,
memories, said Dr. Stickgold, of Harvard.“Extracting patterns and rules and
what we call the gist of a memory might turn out to be antithetical to the
process of nailing down the facts themselves,” Dr. Stickgold said. “So, for
instance, you might use REM to integrate one, and slow-wave sleep for the
other.”The new findings hardly close the book on how memories are formed
and consolidated during sleep. Other scientists have found evidence that
rather than reactivation, the brain’s slow-wave state induces an overall
weakening of neuron-to-neuron signaling, making recently recorded memories
look bolder by reducing the background neural “noise.” And it may be, Dr.
Born said, that both processes are occurring during sleep: a pruning away of
the noise of the day’s irrelevant observations, and a replaying of its important
ones.Either way, the researchers said, the new findings are likely to prompt
some creative thinking on the part of students facing the terror of final
exams. (The German research group has preliminary evidence that acrid smells
may be even better in enhancing memory.)“We use an apparatus to sense the
onset of slow-wave sleep and deliver the odor” in short, alternating bursts,
Dr. Born said, adding, “I suppose for some students it would not be too
difficult to develop something like this.”That’s what engineering departments
are for.
In this study, neuroscientists linked the effects of smell during sleep to an increase in memory.
During the study, the students memorized card pairs and were then subjected to the smell of
roses, and put to sleep. In the morning, they retained 97%, instead of just 86% of the information.,
An MRI confirmed the theory that the neuroscientists came to. It was hypothesized that because
thinking is done in the hippocampus, the olfactory sensing must have increased activity in this area,
thus increasing the amount of memory that could be stored. This finding opens many more doors in
the fields of neurobiology, sleep study, and chemical reactions.
Page 8
By Sadie Nott
This article is about the effects of antioxidant supplements. For
years, we have been told that Vitamins like A, C, E and beta carotene
would make us healthier, and that long-term use of such supplements
would help prevent certain diseases. It is important to understand the
general premise of antioxidants: oxygen-free radicals, which as normal
byproducts of metabolism, can damage cellular DNA unless antioxidant
compounds can get rid of them. This oxidative damage is key to many
diseases. However, recent studies have shown that not only are
antioxidants not helping, they could in fact be harming users.
Long-term experiments have shown that antioxidant use does not prevent
heart disease or cancer, with the exception of potentially prostrate
cancer. Furthermore, researchers in Europe studied more than 232,000
adults and found that those who took vitamins A and E and beta carotene
actually had an increased risk of death compared to the subjects who
did not take these supplements. However, many scientists are not
deterred by these results. “It just seems implausible that antioxidants
should be killing you by several different means,” says Dr. Jeffery
Blumberg, a professor at Tufts. “I don’t buy it.” Many scientists say
that they will continue to study the effects of antioxidants.
By Jim Zheng
The dangers of the environment have now become well-known,
bordering on cliché; yet the world is still stumped as to how to deal with it.
Hydrogen-powered cars may provide the answer the world’s been looking for:
unlike regular vehicles that run on gasoline, hydrogen fuel cells power cars
using hydrogen gas and available oxygen in the environment. Plus, hydrogen-
powered vehicles get better mileage than vehicles powered on gasoline; the
only slight drawback is that hydrogen takes up lots of space and would be
difficult to store in a small tank; one would need to stop to refill after every
100 miles. Moreover, a constant supply of H2 gas is impractical because there
is simply not a constant supply of the gas lying around. Scientists are working
with green algae—a plant that splits water molecules to get H2 in the absence
of sunlight—as a possible source for H2.
Ford Company tested a hydrogen-powered car, the Ford P2000, in
America in 2000. Foreign companies like Toyota, BMW, and Mercedes plan to
start development project on new models of hydrogen-powered vehicles
within the decade. With a few strokes of luck, we might just be able to
discover a solution to these problems posed by the impracticality of H 2 gas. If
we do, we’ll have made momentous progress in solving the global warming
problem.
Page 9
By Sara Germansky
“The Claim: Vitamin E Removes scars”
The new york times
March 13, 2007
There is a wives tale that if you get a scar vitamin E will help remove it.
Until an article published in February in The Journal of Burn Care and
Rehabilitation, most people believed this was true. That article discussed a
study that scientists had done to see if vitamin E actually had an impact on
scar removal. 159 people were selected who had gotten burns during the last
year, some of them were told to use vitamin E and others were told to apply a
different topical cream. The results showed that vitamin E had no impact on
the appearance of the scars. A more recent study, this time published in the
New York Times, showed that not only does vitamin E not help, but makes the
scars worse and can cause other problems. This new study was done at the
University of Miami, but this time instead of using different people to test one
versus the other, the scientists gave each person ointments A and B and told
them to apply each to one half of the scar. When these patients were seen
next 1/3 of them had allergic reactions (contact dermatitis) to the vitamin E.
This may not seem like a big deal, but in actuality it is a (kind of) big deal.
A lot of people are ashamed of the scars that they have and have wasted a lot
of money on trying to fix them, including vitamin E oil. These new studies will
help many future people use real products that can help instead of using fake
ones, and maybe not be so ashamed of their scars. Plus, with regard to the
world of chemistry, now
someone can try and find a new
way to get rid of scars.
By Skye Parr
“Carbon dioxide and coal”
The new york times
March 14, 2007
Scientists at MIT( Massachusetts Institute of Technology) want to try a
new way to help stop greenhouse gasses. Scientists say that even though coal
is a good resource for heat, because it is high energy and inexpensive, it also
releases a lot of carbon dioxide into the air which contributes to global
warming. MIT proposed a plan of 3 sequestration projects in the US and also
for around the world. Even though it is going to cost about $15 Million to
fund the projects per year, the scientists think that it is well worth it.
Page 10
By Herminio Martinez
“The Future of Work: New FDA Approved Stimulants”
March 2007
This article is about two new stimulants (drugs) being manufactured.
They are called Modafinil and Armodafinil and are being produced by the
company Cephalon. These new stimulants are said to not carry side affects
such as feeling “wired”, feeling jittery and other feelings we often associate
with caffeine and other stimulants. They avoid these by not targeting the
whole body rather they tweak specific sleep-related mechanisms in the brain.
When monkeys were given modafinil they often out performed their well
rested counterparts. Testing on alert human subjects indicated that the drug
improved planning, concentration, and impulse-control skills and even
boosted some forms of memory. Modafinil was originally approved for the
treatment of narcolepsy in 1998, however it seems to be finding new uses
including with air force pilots who use it on long missions. Armodafinil which
is said to be even better as a stimulant is awaiting FDA approval. Another
company, Cortex, is working on a drug code-named CX717 with funding from
the military presumably to be used as Modafinil is used now, except universally
not just with a few pilots. The article warns that these drugs our not
substitutes for sleep, which is as important as ever. It also speaks of how if
these drugs catch on and use becomes widespread it will affect the already
strenuous demand on workers to be working and producing, taking away more
hours of our ever so precious sleep.
Armodafinil Modafinil
Page 11
By Joel Fernandez
Taking in the Spotlight
“ScienceNOW Daily News”
March 1, 2007
Narcissus beware! Scientists have created the world's first film that casts
practically no reflection. A vast improvement over current nonreflective
materials, the new technology could revolutionize solar cells, intensify
light-emitting diodes, and possibly help solve mysteries in quantum mechanics
by mimicking a "black body," an object that absorbs all light.
For years, scientists have been seeking ways to make certain materials less
reflective. Solar cells, for example, would be far more efficient if they
reflected less light and absorbed more of it as energy. To achieve this goal,
researchers have concentrated on reducing a material's refractive index--a
measure of its ability of to reflect light. Ice has a refractive index of 1.31, for
example; air has an index of 1. But making low-reflective materials, which are
also thin enough to serve as coatings, has proven tricky.
A team of electrical engineers led by E. Fred Schubert of the Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, approached the problem by creating a
new class of highly porous nanomaterials. The researchers used an
evaporation technique to deposit silica onto a semiconductor. The silica is
arranged in such a way that the material becomes porous, letting in more light
than do traditional antireflective coatings. What's more, the silica molecules
are arranged at such an angle that they transmit more wavelengths of light
than current coatings, as well as capturing more incident light. The new
material has a refractive index of 1.05, the team reports in the March issue of
Nature Photonics, the lowest ever reported for a thin film. "This was, so to
speak, our dream goal," says Schubert. "It allows us to make materials in a
range of refractive indices that weren't previously possible."
The true breakthrough of this material, says optical scientist Daniel Poitras
of the Institute for Microstructural Sciences in Ontario, Canada, is its
arrangement as a five-layer sheet. That's what allows it to capture far more
light than traditional coatings, he says. Schubert adds that the new coating
reflects no light across much of the visual spectrum, unlike others that
work only at a single wavelength. That's a potential plus for solar cells,
which could more efficiently use the sun's energy for a boost in performance.
One concern, notes Poitras, is fragility. Such a porous material could
degrade under certain conditions, such as humidity.
Page 12
Taking in the Spotlight
Continued…
Scientists from a research center in
New York have created the world’s
first film that reflects practically no
light. The reason why this material
absorbs practically all light is
because it is “porous.” Scientists
evaporated silica (silicon dioxide) into
a semiconductor. The silica is
arranged in such a way and in such an
angle that it absorbs more light and
transmits more wavelengths of light.
This material has a refractive index (a
way to measure how much light
something reflects) of 1.05, the
lowest ever recoded; to compare, air
has a refractive index of 1. This film
can help perfect solar cells because
scientists are looking for a way for
the cells to absorb more sunlight.
However, because this material is
porous, it degrades in certain
conditions, such as humidity.
Figure 1 Light reflecting off
surfaces of different
materials (from top to bottom:
aluminum, silicon, aluminum
nitride, and aluminum nitride
coated with the new
antireflection coating.
Page 13
By alexzandra tellez
“Study of Atomic Movement May Influence Design of Pharmaceuticals”
Science daily.com
March 7, 2007
Chemists at the University of Liverpool have designed a unique structure to
capture the movement of atoms. The purpose of their experiment was to “design more
efficient processes which run with less waste and less energy input…” The chemists
created a crystal with ‘walls” of atoms and cavities which act as containers for molecules.
After the crystal was made it was placed into a very powerful X-Ray diffractions
machine. This allowed the scientists to accurately pinpoint the positions of individual
atoms. The experiment also helped the scientists see the positions of the atoms before
and after the reaction. This was the first time that the atoms positions were seen at both
points of a reaction. Since these scientists were able to see the different positions of the
atoms it will help the scientists get a better understanding of the way atoms move during
important chemical reactions, such as the reaction that occurs when plants and animals
convert food into energy. The experiment will also help to further understand how to
control chemical reactions and will influence “improvements in a range of important
processes from the design of biopharmaceuticals to the engineering of new catalysts” and
could also enable scientists to develop products in a more environmentally friendly
environment.
Page 14
By Melanie Santos
“ Methane, Plants and Climate Change”
Over the past decade threats of global warming have been analyzed by
scientists. We have grown to accept that greenhouse gases such as Carbon
Dioxide and Methane trap sun rays in our atmosphere and cause global
warming. During the past few years we, humans have been blamed for polluting
the atmosphere with such gases with industrialization. Even though many
people still neglect the facts, some precautions have been taken to try and
reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, one of them being The Kyoto Treaty.
A part of The Kyoto Treaty calls for developing countries who de choose to
continue in industry, to try to make up for emitting CO2 into the atmosphere by
planting trees, our planets CO2 vacuums. A new discovery however, might
prove the planting of trees to not be as positive as we thought.
This year, scientists have found that our vacuums (plants) are emitting a
gas more dangerous to the atmosphere than CO2: Methane. Methane is a
greenhouse gas found in oil fields, natural gas fields and coal beds, is
released during the burning of biomass and is used as a source of energy that
is easier to find in our planet Earth than oil. Before this discovery, the only
known biological source of Methane was as a byproduct of anaerobic
microbial digestion. Scientists found that dried plant material can emit
between .2 and three nanograms of Methane an hour, but living plants emit
anywhere from ten to one hundred times more than these dead ones. These
numbers don’t seem so great, but taking into consideration the population of
plants/trees in our planet, about sixty to two hundred and forty million
metric tons is released by plants every year, out of the six hundred million
metric tons in total, by all factors, which means that plants are responsible
for ten to forty percent of the annual emission of Methane in our atmosphere.
Which can be dangerous since Methane warms the Earth up 23 times more than
CO2.
This new discovery is not to be used to blame trees on global warming,
but simply ad a new factor to theories, and promote more consideration so
that scientists can produce more accurate hypothesis on the global warming
as far as time lines and etcetera. The fact is that industrialization is still the
biggest threat to our planet: Methane emissions pre-industrial times were 233
million metric tons annually, and now it’s at 600 million.
Page 15
By leah silver
“Taking a drive? Then turn off your cell phone”
Neuron, 52, pg1109-1120, 2006
December 2006
I'll bet you've all heard that you shouldn't drive with your cell phone. But did
you know that there is scientific support behind it? Recently, Vanderbilt
University scientists have been hard at work to find out why, chemically,
driving with cell phones is a something not even the people with the best multi-
tasking skills should never attempt. Using a functional MRI, where subjects
can do tasks while being scanned, Vanderbilt researchers detected the
change in oxygenated blood concentration. Functional MRIs have, in the past,
been used to pinpoint different types of brain functions, such as memory
retrieval and learning, and language processing. The researchers
investigated the blood-oxygen-level dependent activity over time. In one task,
subjects were asked to say a syllable in response one of eight stimuli. Their
results pinpointed an area in the brain that is linked to the processing of
multiple decision making, as is used when using a cell phone and driving
simultaneously.
By Carola Beeney
“Turtles Threatened By Gas Project In Australia”
International Herald Tribune
March 14, 2007
Chevron Gas has been drilling on Barrow Island for forty years, serving as a
protection agent from “intrusion”, providing an outstanding model for
“corporate environmental responsibility”, according to local
environmentalists. However, it seems that their role is changing as indicated
by a proposed project (created in conjunction with Exxon Mobil and Shell) to
establish a liquefying gas plant on the island. The project is worth an
estimated $8.6 billion, and is meant to supply natural gas to nations that
wouldn’t otherwise have access to energy. Representatives from Exxon and
Shell claim that the plants can coexist peacefully with surrounding wildlife,
but environmentalists disagree, insisting that the plants will cause
“irreversible damage to the unique environment of the island”. The
Environmental Protection Agency agreed, rejecting the plant proposition.
This verdict was appealed by Chevron, and the state environment minister
overruled EPA’s decision, allowing the project to go forth as planned.
Page 16
By david cummings
“Making silicon lase”
Scientific American
February 2007
Intel's Silicon Photonics Processor
Recently, scientists have been able to make silicon lase (that's the verb form
of making a laser.) Though silicon has been celebrated for its availability
and efficiency in circuit boards, it's recently been discovered that it is capable
of amplifying any hint of energy that may be in its environment. The shared
electrons found in the covalent bonds between the different atoms of
silicon that make up the solid, crystalized form, known as photons, magnify
light, and, as the light passes through more an more atoms of silicon, a strong
beam of light is produced. Though this was discovered a few years ago at
the University of Trento in Italy, it wasn't until recently at Cornell when this
beam of light was further explored. By creating positive and negative charges
on either side of the silicon chip, the beam of light is focussed into a laser,
forcing the electrons to move in one direction. It will be a while still before
these silicon lasers have functionality comparable to those used in DVD
burners, but an even more important use has arisen. Intel announced recently
that they had in production a Silicon Photonics Microprocessor, with IBM and
AMD closely behind. This may solve a growing problem: though computers are
getting faster and faster every year, pretty soon the limits of transmission
through silicon chips will be pushed, and chip speeds with have hit a ceiling.
But Intel hopes that its new processor, which will use lasers to send
information rather than wires, may provide a smooth enough transition into
the next age of microprocessors. If Intel has its way, pretty much all silicon
chips (found in cell phones, television, computers, microwave ovens, digital
cameras, etc.) will be replaced by faster, more efficient silicon photonics
chips. And now we're just one step closer.
Page 17
By Jayant Gandhi
“The Claim: Vitamin E Helps Remove Scars”
The new york times
March 13, 2007
For years it has been the popular belief that vitamin E helps to remove scars
and other marks on one’s skin, but researchers have found this to be false.
Vitamin E was discovered in 1922 and since then has been used in many
moisturizers and creams, but when The Journal of Burn Care and
Rehabilitation followed a group of 159 people in 1986 the results
contradicted popular belief. Of the 159 people some were randomly selected
to regularly apply vitamin E to their scars and others were told to use a
topical cream not containing vitamin E. They found no significant difference in
the scars treated with vitamin E from the ones that did not receive it. In 1999,
scientists at the University of Miami followed a group of patients who had
recently had minor surgery. Each patient was given two ointments (one with
vitamin E and one without). They were told to apply each ointment to half of
their scar. The vitamin E did not demonstrate any additional healing properties
and actually made matters worse. It turned out almost a third of the patients
had an allergic reaction known as contact dermatitis.
THE BOTTOM LINE: According to studies, vitamin E does not remove scars.
Page 18
By Colin Tofel
“Alumination at Last!”
This is a study by two colleges in Germany along with Johns Hopkins and
Virginia Commonwealth that found a more powerful rocket fuel that could
lead into a new class of compounds. Supposedly it might be used eventually
for hydrogen powered cars and other useful applications to science. It is
based on the study of new aluminum hybrids between aluminum and hydrogen
compounds. If this new fuel is efficient it could be produced in bulk therefore
leading to lower gas prices. This would be a big success and could help other
parts of science as well as a source of energy to applications. This will also
be a good addition to the helping of global warming because it would be
efficient in that it is hydrogen powered and better for the atmosphere. This
new leap of new compounds could lead to other big discoveries in the future
of chemistry.
Page 19
By chris lin
“Practical fusion”
The new york times
February 27, 2007
This article is about how many scientists are trying to create fusion machines
the size of which can fit onto a table and the various ways that they are
approaching it from. Fusion is when four atoms of hydrogen are forcibly
compressed to become helium and the amount of energy produced is enormous.
One way that is currently being investigated is called sonofusion, otherwise
known as bubblefusion and deals with the use of sound waves to expand an
collapse bubbles, which would generate supernova temperatures, the likes of
which are seen on the sun. when the temperatures become hot enough, fusion
will occur between atoms and when the fuse, they would generate even more
energy than nuclear fission which is used for nuclear plants and weapons.
Also it is completely clean, leaving no waste. It is easy to create fusion,
however, the amount of energy currently used to create it doesn’t even out
with how much energy is produced and it is a very costly process, usually
costing up to half a billion dollars. But scientists continue to try and
achieve fusion because if they do achieve it, then theoretically, our energy
problems would be solved for the next billions of years, we would never have
to worry about fuel and it would also contribute towards the effort to
global warming, getting rid of the use of fossil fuels.
Page 20
By Sophie Blumberg
March 14, 2007
Francisco Artes and colleagues at the Technical University of
Cartagena in Spain, and the Research Group on Quality, Safety and Bioactivity
of Plant Foods in Murcia, have made a surprising discovery concerning
preservation methods. Mass-produced grapes are sometimes (more often than
not) placed in storage for months, and are exposed to sulfur dioxide to
prevent rotting. While these grapes are not used for wine production,
sulfites are still added to wine grapes in order to extend the shelf- life of the
product. These chemicals, while effective in the purpose that they are
intended for, have some inconvenient side effects. Sulfer dioxide and sulfites
can trigger allergic responses in some, and can aggravate the symptoms of
asthma for affected wine drinkers.
The researchers were comparing several experimental preservative
methods, one of which exposed grapes chilled at 0 degrees Celsius to ozone.
The treatment is found to be 90% as effective as sulfur dioxide. However, the
grapes that had been treated with ozone had up to four times the antioxidant
content than untreated grapes. At the moment, it is unknown as to exactly
why such a positive change would occur. It is possible that the plant cells
increase antioxidant production in order to protect themselves from
oxidation from the ozone itself. The wine that is currently being produced and
sold commercially is all ready high in antioxidants, especially red wine.
Certain compounds such as polyphenol, resveratrol and catechins, are
thought to provide wine with beneficial health properties. Whether or not the
benefits outweigh the malignant effects of alcohol is undecided in the
scientific world. However, with a new preservation process that might be
adapted in order to increase anti-oxidants while side-stepping sulfur use might
just bring about a decision. At least, it would provide minor health benefits to
asthmatics.
By Clark haber
“Proposed coal plants”
New york times
March 10, 2007
Article is about: The TXU coroporation announced plans to build two power
plants in Texas that will use new technilogy to capture carbon dioxide before
it escapes into the atmosphere. This news comes two weeks after TXu was
purchased for $45 billion. TXU is the largest utility in Texas. The two clean-
coal genreators will help fill the population problem expected to create the
supposed growth to 30 million people state residents. The plants would
convert coal to gas and seperate the carbon dioxide, which would then be
injected into existin oil fields. Nationwide 25 more generators will be built. A
new MIT study scheduled for release next week will support the work of TXU
is undertaking. This system of pumping carbon dioxide into the ground wont
completely stop the environmental probelm but it will help alleviate it. This is
a step in the right direction for utility companies, who have usually been
considered to be anti-eco friendly.
Page 21
By Em Cooper
“a nuclear lab develops a very powerful dust rag”
The associated press
March 2, 2007
A research chemist who works in a nuclear plant, Ron
Simandl and partner Scott Hollenback discovered a
new dust rag, described as very high-tech that “could be
used to mop up industrial accidents or wipe down
rooms…” and pick up beryllium particles invisible to the
naked eye but which are light but strong and exposure
of these particles has been known to leading to
chronic respiratory problems and cancer. It is a great
accomplishment that chemists have been able to find a way to remove this
deadly agent from infected areas. It leads to the possibility of other future
discoveries similar to this dust rag that could also help eliminate cancer
causing agents. The only ingredients of this product that have been detected
are metal, ceramic, plastic, fibers, and radiological contaminants, but Simandl
and Hollenbeck revealing their secret.
By Alison cooper
“Nutrition contents: eat at your own risk”
Newsweek
March 2007
Steve Ettlinger (Wyoming), whose mission was to decode the ingredients
of the Hostess Twinkie, found that it contains a total of 39 components,
which include: trona (the raw ingredient in baking soda), polysorbate 60,
things that replace butter and milk (cellulose gum, lecithin, and sodium
stearoyl lactylate), corn dextrin (a thickener used in the glue on envelopes
and stamps), ferrous sulfate (a disinfectant), calcium sulfate (a component of
plaster), yellow No. 5 and Red No. 40 (colors used to give Twinkies their
golden look), and sorbic acid, which comes from petroleum. Each Twinkie has
145 calories and a shelf-life of 25 days. This article is important to the world
because people should know what they are eating, instead of blindly
consuming chemicals. Twinkies may be tasty, but people should be aware that
they are packed full of artificial chemicals that are used in industrial
products.
Page 22
By Hillary Goldstein
“On a High: Insulin as a Performance Drug”
March 2007
It is well-known that growing numbers of athletes, unfortunately, use
various forms of performance-enhancing drugs. This has made drug testing a
standard event before most professional competitions. Until recently,
injecting synthetic insulin was a popular practice among drug users because
its presence couldn’t be detected in the average pre-game urine test. The
insulin would slow muscular degeneration during the competition, giving the
athletes increased power and stamina. However, scientists in Germany and
Belgium have now discovered a method which uses mass spectrometry to trace
the subtle differences between the amino acids in natural insulin and those in
synthetic analogues. The test separates metabolites of synthetic insulin and
purifies them. However, the test only worked on one type of synthetic insulin
and not on the more complex type that is given to diabetics. Thus, although the
test is still being enhanced, the current version has the potential to be useful
and is being assessed by the World Anti-Doping Agency for use in future drug
tests.
Page 23
By Liam Frost
“Vitamins! Are they Really Helpful? Maybe Even Bad for You?”
The new york times
March 13, 2007
Vitamins used to be considered nature’s healing for chronic illness.
However, new studies show surprising information. One study showed that
vitamins could not provide protection from heart disease or cancer, with the
exception of prostate cancer (possibly). This study was conducted by
researchers in Europe who analyzed data from 68 large trials, in which more
than 232,000 adults were given antioxidant supplements (vitamins). The
scientists concluded that subjects taking vitamins A and E and beta-carotene
saw a slightly increased risk of death compared with those who did not take
supplements. Even though 232,000 is not a sample size that proves anything, it
is still surprising. Other studies of healthy adults taking antioxidants have
also proved to be disappointing. After tracking nearly 40,000 women for a
decade, researchers at Harvard found that those taking vitamin E were just as
likely as others to suffer cardiovascular disease and cancer. In this
experiment, nothing happened to the people, but these products that people
pay for every day do not help in any way, and are
taking millions of dollars away from customers.
This is important to the world and me because
people take vitamins every day and if it is true
that vitamins could be putting people in danger,
it could be a real problem, and even if it does not
harm people, it is wasting their money. This is
significant in the world of chemistry because
vitamins are items that were originally formed in
the lab, and simple tests originally showed that
they were helpful to one’s body. Now, more
rigorous and detailed studies show the
contrary, and chemists from vitamin companies
might need to change their vitamin’s formulas in
order to make them better and helpful to those
who take them when the customer’s find out.
Page 24
By Steven Rubin
“Green is not always good?”
NewScientist
September 2006
What many people don’t realize is plants are not always good; therefore
green is not always good also. Phytoplanktons, microscopic ocean plants,
are thought to reduce the amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which
in turn reduces the affects of global warming. However these plants are not
doing their job properly. Scientists have thought that the greener the ocean
was, the more Co2 that was being taken up by the phytoplankton. However this
idea is misleading. Recently Peter Strutton of Oregon State University and his
colleagues studied phytoplankton fluorescent in the tropical Pacific using
data from 12 years and 58,000 kilometers of ship transects. They found that
phytoplankton are making much less chlorophyll than is expected. This
reason for this is that in nutrient-poor waters like the tropical Pacific,
phytoplankton are starved of nitrates and iron. As a result they produce a
pigment-protein complex that is not chlorophyll but shows up just as green
satellite images. They calculate that this means 2.5 billion tons less CO2 is
being absorbed each year than was thought.
Page 25
By Stephen Roland
“The Future of Work: New FDA Approved Stimulants”
www.popscience.com
March 2007
The article is about how scientists and developers have been working on
and have created pills that actually work to keep people not only awake
but also alert. These scientists say that regular coffee and other
things with caffine dont really work on keeping your brain alert, not
just awake. A Texas sleep-medicine specialist Andrew O. Jamieson says
that "After 18,19 hours awake, your brain functions starts to fail."
Coffee and caffine will keep you awake but will not keep you alert.
There are now types of sleep medicines such as Modafini (known as
Provigil), which was approved by the FDA (Food and Drug
Administration), is used by Air-Force pilots who need to fly for
40-hour missions and is also seen being used by students who need to
stay awake long hours in order to study for exams and such. Another
drug which is awaiting to be approved by the FDA called Armodafinil is
likely to be used in the same way and to keep people and their brain
not only awake but alert. These typees of drugs are called Eugeroics. A
company called Cephalon which is in Frazer, Pennsylvania is responsible
for making both of these drugs, among others. Although Eureroincs can
keep you awake and alert for hours and hours on end, they do not
replace sleep which is a possible danger for these drugs. Either way,
the development of these drugs is a step forward in terms of being able
to stay alert when you need to be no matter the time.
Page 26
By Spencer Barkoff
Simple glass of fruit juice could help in fight against killer diseases
Scotsman News
March 2007
There was a study that showed that drinking a daily glass of grape, apple or
cranberry juice could help fight diseases including heart disease and cancer.
The juice that was found to help fight the disease the best was called purple
Concord grape juice. The measurement was done in milimole (mmol). Purple
grape juice contained about 1 mmol. The chemical in the juice that fights
diseases is called an Antioxidant. The diseases that they fight against are
cancer, inflammation and even Alzheimer's disease. Antioxidants work by
fighting the damage caused by free radicals in the body. Free radials are
molecules that destroy cells and help cause disease. It is not known how they
work but it is known that it does help destroy disease.
