Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Category: chemistry – Page 3

Webb Spots Cosmic Light Show on Rogue Planet

Brilliant aurora-like displays, much like Earth’s Northern Lights, are the highlight of an unusual weather forecast. Instead of coming from a television studio, this report originates from a distant world beyond our solar system.

Astronomers at Trinity College Dublin used the NASA /ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope to investigate the turbulent atmosphere of a nearby free-floating planet known as SIMP-0136.

With the telescope’s highly sensitive instruments, researchers were able to measure tiny variations in the planet’s brightness as it spun. These subtle shifts revealed information about its temperature, cloud cover, and chemical makeup.

Time-released gel packs a one-two punch against aggressive brain tumors

High-grade gliomas are aggressive brain tumors with poor prognosis, largely because even after surgical removal, infiltrative residual tumor cells often regrow during the latency before radiotherapy, leading to recurrence. The standard chemoradiotherapy only modestly improves survival. A crucial window of vulnerability arises post-surgery, before radiotherapy begins, where residual tumor cells are not well addressed by systemic chemotherapy.

Prof. Feng-Huei Lin and Dr. Jason Lin from National Taiwan University have designed a local post-surgical gel packing with sequential delivery of platinum agents that could maintain therapeutic drug concentrations intracranially and synergize with subsequent radiotherapy to eliminate tissue. Their study is published in the Chemical Engineering Journal.

The cutting-edge drug-delivery gel can be directly injected into the surgical cavity following tumor resection. This gel provides sustained local delivery of platinum-based anticancer agents, ensuring effective eradication for residual glioma tissue that remain after surgery. The gel is designed to maximize the therapeutic impact while minimizing systemic exposure.

Cambridge scientists created a gel that could end arthritis pain

Cambridge scientists have created a breakthrough material that can sense tiny chemical changes in the body, such as the increased acidity during an arthritis flare-up, and release drugs exactly when and where they’re needed. By mimicking cartilage while delivering medication, this smart gel could ease pain, reduce side effects, and provide continuous treatment for millions of arthritis sufferers.

Icy planetesimal with high nitrogen and water content discovered in white dwarf’s atmosphere

University of Warwick astronomers have uncovered the chemical fingerprint of a frozen, water-rich planetary fragment being consumed by a white dwarf star outside our solar system.

In our solar system, it is thought that comets and icy planetesimals (small solid objects in space) were responsible for delivering water to Earth. The existence of these icy objects is a requirement for the development of life on other worlds, but it is incredibly difficult to identify them outside our solar system as icy objects are small, faint and require .

In a study published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, astronomers from Warwick, Europe and the US have found strong evidence that icy, volatile-rich bodies—capable of delivering water and the ingredients for life—exist in planetary systems beyond our own.

Chemists solve century-old mechanistic puzzle of copper catalyst

The Ullmann reaction is one of the oldest reactions in organometallic chemistry. It is one of the most widely used copper-mediated coupling reactions, widely applied in the construction of carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatom bonds due to its excellent substrate generality.

There has been considerable controversy regarding the redox mechanism of copper in this reaction for a long time. The widely accepted mechanistic hypothesis involves a Cu(I/III) cycle. However, copper(III) species are extremely difficult to observe in real reaction systems, and whether other interactions exist between copper species remains unknown.

In a study published in Nature on September 22, Shen Qilong’s lab from the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, along with Professor K. N. Houk from the University of California, Los Angeles, provided solid evidence that the Ullmann-type reaction might proceed via a Cu(I)/Cu(III)/Cu(II)/Cu(III)/Cu(I) catalytic cycle.

Energy-efficient catalyst converts water pollutants into useful ammonia

When the current method for producing something is estimated to consume a staggering 1–2% of the annual global energy supply, it means we need to make a change. The Haber-Bosch process produces ample amounts of ammonia (NH3)—a valuable chemical compound that has a wide array of uses in fields such as agriculture, technology, and pharmaceuticals—while consuming a lot of energy.

A research team at Tohoku University has made a significant contribution to an alternate method for converting harmful nitrate pollutants in water into ammonia, addressing both environmental and energy challenges.

Their findings are published in Advanced Functional Materials.

Physicists set record with 6,100-qubit array

Quantum computers will need large numbers of qubits to tackle challenging problems in physics, chemistry, and beyond. Unlike classical bits, qubits can exist in two states at once—a phenomenon called superposition. This quirk of quantum physics gives quantum computers the potential to perform certain complex calculations better than their classical counterparts, but it also means the qubits are fragile. To compensate, researchers are building quantum computers with extra, redundant qubits to correct any errors. That is why robust quantum computers will require hundreds of thousands of qubits.

Now, in a step toward this vision, Caltech physicists have created the largest array ever assembled: 6,100 neutral-atom qubits trapped in a grid by lasers. Previous arrays of this kind contained only hundreds of qubits.

This milestone comes amid a rapidly growing race to scale up quantum computers. There are several approaches in development, including those based on superconducting circuits, trapped ions, and neutral atoms, as used in the new study.

Broadband photodetector material senses visible light to long-wave infrared, simplifying device design

A research team in South Korea has developed a next-generation sensor material capable of integrating the detection of multiple light wavelengths.

A joint research team led by Dr. Wooseok Song at the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT) and Professor Dae Ho Yoon at Sungkyunkwan University successfully developed a new photodetector material that can sense a wider range of wavelengths compared to existing commercial materials, and achieved cost-effective synthesis on a 6-inch wafer-scale substrate.

This research is published in ACS Nano.

Key enzyme for high-value natural sweetener production identified and characterized

Steviol glycosides, natural sweeteners extracted from Stevia rebaudiana, are widely used as sucrose substitutes due to their high sweetness and low caloric value. Among them, Rebaudioside M (Reb M) is regarded as a next-generation, high-value steviol glycoside product because of its intense sweetness and superior taste profile. However, the natural abundance of Reb M in Stevia is extremely low.

Efficient biosynthetic methods are needed to meet market demand. Until now, the key enzyme catalyzing the conversion of Rebaudioside D (Reb D) to Reb M in the has not been identified, and it is generally assumed to be UGT76G1. However, UGT76G1 exhibits strict regioselectivity for the C13 position of steviol glycosides, while its at the C19 position is very weak.

In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on September 17, a team led by Prof. Yin Heng from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences identified the key glycosyltransferase that catalyzes the conversion of Reb D to Reb M, and revealed the underlying its substrate regioselectivity.

/* */