Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Computer Science: Quantum Computers Offbeat: Computers and Math Physics: General Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
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Quantum chemistry: Molecules caught tunneling      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Quantum effects can play an important role in chemical reactions. Physicists have now observed a quantum mechanical tunneling reaction in experiments. The observation can also be described exactly in theory. The scientists provide an important reference for this fundamental effect in chemistry. It is the slowest reaction with charged particles ever observed.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Organic Chemistry
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Degrading modified proteins could treat Alzheimer's, other 'undruggable' diseases      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Certain diseases, including Alzheimer's, are currently considered 'undruggable' because traditional small molecule drugs can't interfere with the proteins responsible for the illnesses. But a new technique that specifically targets and breaks apart certain proteins -- rather than just interfering with them -- may offer a pathway toward treatment. Researchers have now designed a compound that targets and breaks down a post-translationally modified protein closely associated with Alzheimer's disease.

Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Engineering: Nanotechnology
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New purification method could make protein drugs cheaper      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Engineers devised a way to purify protein drugs during manufacturing. Their approach, which uses nanoparticles to rapidly crystallize proteins, could help make protein drugs more affordable and accessible, especially in developing countries.

Chemistry: Organic Chemistry
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New hydrogel stem cell treatment repairs injured brain tissue in mice      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new hybrid hydrogel that safely delivers stem cells to brain injury sites in mice has been developed. This solves a major challenge -- keeping stem cells alive for long enough to evolve into the cells required to create new tissue after insertion into a damaged part of the body.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Geoscience: Environmental Issues
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New superacid converts harmful compounds into sustainable chemicals      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have succeeded in producing very special catalysts, known as 'Lewis superacids', which can be used to break strong chemical bonds and speed up reactions. The production of these substances has, until now, proven extremely difficult. The chemists' discovery enables non-biodegradable fluorinated hydrocarbons, similar to Teflon, and possibly even climate-damaging greenhouse gases, such as sulphur hexafluoride, to be converted back into sustainable chemicals.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Engineering: Nanotechnology
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Chaos on the nanometer scale      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Chaotic behavior is typically known from large systems: for example, from weather, from asteroids in space that are simultaneously attracted by several large celestial bodies, or from swinging pendulums that are coupled together. On the atomic scale, however, one does normally not encounter chaos -- other effects predominate. Now scientists have been able to detect clear indications of chaos on the nanometer scale -- in chemical reactions on tiny rhodium crystals.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Geoscience: Environmental Issues
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Research captures and separates important toxic air pollutant      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A series of new stable, porous materials that capture and separate benzene have been developed.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Organic Chemistry
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Electrodes grown in the brain -- paving the way for future therapies for neurological disorders      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The boundaries between biology and technology are becoming blurred. Researchers have now successfully grown electrodes in living tissue using the body's molecules as triggers. The result paves the way for the formation of fully integrated electronic circuits in living organisms.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Geoscience: Environmental Issues
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Novel air filter captures wide variety of pollutants      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An air filter made out of corn protein instead of petroleum products can concurrently capture small particulates as well as toxic chemicals like formaldehyde that current air filters can't. The research could lead to better air purifiers, particularly in regions of the world that suffer from very poor air quality. The more environmentally friendly air filter was able to simultaneously capture 99.5% of small particulate matter, similar to commercial HEPA filters, and 87% of formaldehyde, which is higher than specially designed air filters for those types of toxics.

Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Computer Science: General Computer Science: Quantum Computers Mathematics: General Mathematics: Modeling Physics: General Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
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Theory can sort order from chaos in complex quantum systems      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Theoretical chemists have developed a theory that can predict the threshold at which quantum dynamics switches from 'orderly' to 'random,' as shown through research using large-scale computations on photosynthesis models.

Chemistry: Organic Chemistry
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A human interactome to prioritize drug discovery      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers create a network of interacting proteins -- or interactome -- to aid drug discovery.

Chemistry: Organic Chemistry
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A molecular machine's secret weapon exposed      (via sciencedaily.com) 

RNAs can wreak havoc on cells if they aren't removed at the right time. Dis3L2 is a molecular 'machine' that untangles and chews up RNAs, but scientists have been unable to explain how. Biochemists have now pieced together the answer. By shape-shifting, the machine unsheathes a lethal wedge that pries open and chews up RNA molecules, a behavior previously unseen.

Biology: Microbiology Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Engineering: Nanotechnology Geoscience: Environmental Issues
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'Electronic nose' built with sustainably sourced microbial nanowires that could revolutionize health monitoring      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists recently announced the invention of a nanowire 10,000 times thinner than a human hair that can be cheaply grown by common bacteria and tuned to 'smell' a vast array of chemical tracers -- including those given off by people afflicted with a wide range of medical conditions, such as asthma and kidney disease. Thousands of these specially tuned wires, each sniffing out a different chemical, can be layered onto tiny, wearable sensors, allowing healthcare providers an unprecedented tool for monitoring potential health complications. Since these wires are grown by bacteria, they are organic, biodegradable and far greener than any inorganic nanowire.

Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Physics: Optics
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Artificial intelligence conjures proteins that speed up chemical reactions      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists have used machine learning to create brand-new enzymes, which are proteins that accelerate chemical reactions. This is an important step in the field of protein design as new enzymes could have many uses across medicine and industrial manufacturing. The research team devised deep-learning, artificial intelligence algorithms that created light-emitting enzymes called luciferases. Laboratory testing confirmed that the new enzymes can recognize specific chemicals and emit light very efficiently.

Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Engineering: Nanotechnology
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Nanofluidic devices offer solutions for studying single molecule chemical reactions      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have developed principles and technologies of nanofluidic devices to freely manipulate nanomaterials, biomaterials, and molecules at the single-molecule level using fundamental technologies such as nanofluidic processing, functional integration, and fluidic control and measurement, which has pioneered the way to integrate various fields under nanofluidics. To elucidate the single molecule dynamics of chemical reactions in solution, using their unique nanofluidic devices, they outlined how they propose to solve problems such as precisely manipulating small molecules in solution and how to investigate extremely quick reactions, that only take nano- to picoseconds.

Biology: Botany Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Ecology: Animals Physics: Optics
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Researchers uncover how photosynthetic organisms regulate and synthesize ATP      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The redox regulation mechanism responsible for efficient production of ATP under varying light conditions in photosynthetic organisms has now been unveiled. Researchers investigated the enzyme responsible for this mechanism and uncovered how the amino acid sequences present in the enzyme regulate ATP production. Their findings provide valuable insights into the process of photosynthesis and the ability to adapt to changing metabolic conditions.

Chemistry: Organic Chemistry
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Building better enzymes -- by breaking them down      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study brings this vision closer to reality. The researchers unveil a computational method for designing thousands of different active enzymes with unprecedented efficiency by assembling them from engineered modular building blocks.

Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Engineered wood grows stronger while trapping carbon dioxide      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists have figured out a way to engineer wood to trap carbon dioxide through a potentially scalable, energy-efficient process that also makes the material stronger for use in construction.

Chemistry: Organic Chemistry
Published

'Magic' solvent creates stronger thin films      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new all-dry polymerization technique uses reactive vapors to create thin films with enhanced properties, such as mechanical strength, kinetics and morphology.