Chemistry World Blog

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15 February 2010: Have something to say about an article you’ve read on Chemistry World this week? Leave your comments below….

This week’s stories so far:

Fullerenes break the rules
Unusual egg-shaped fullerenes containing triple sequentially-fused pentagons have been made by Chinese chemists

Forcing stereoselectivity on reactive cations
By using two catalysts in cooperation, stereochemical control can be exerted over highly reactive, normally chirally unfussy cations

EPA’s new research chief installed after long delay
Yale chemist Paul Anastas, the father of green chemistry, overcomes political roadblocks to become EPA science adviser

Easy amyloid refolding
Spontaneous refolding of amyloid fibres under mild conditions could provide insight into Alzheimer’s disease claim scientists in the US

First sugars needed silicates to survive
Stabilising silicate ions might have helped the sugars in RNA

Merck joins the cost-cutting crowd
Following its merger with Schering-Plough, Merck & Co. has announced a ‘merger restructuring plan’ that will see 17,500 jobs cut

Biochip detects apple virus
A direct method of detecting plant viruses using an aptamer based biochip has been proposed by scientists in Hungary

Europe’s new research commissioner sworn in
Maire Geoghegan-Quinn will need to make good use of her advisers to offset her lack of science background

Antimony addition to fruit juice?
Health concerns could arise from elevated antimony levels in commercial fruit drinks

Advance in artificial tendons
Japanese scientists have engineered three dimensional replacement tendon tissue using fibrin gel

New scheme to boost bio-based chemistry
European Commission ploughs millions into scheme to encourage the chemical sector to make use of bio-based approaches such as industrial biotechnology

Dual functional painkillers using ionic liquids
Liquid aspirin could be possible using pharmaceutically active ionic liquids claim researchers in Northern Ireland

Decades-old meteorite gets holistic treatment
Non-targeted analytical approach uncovers chemical complexity of 40-year-old meteorite, and reveals the presence of millions of organic compounds

Profile: The future of French science
Chemist Alain Fuchs talks of his hopes and fears in his new role as president of CNRS, France’s enormous research organisation

Reversing attraction shrinks car batteries
Using repulsive van der Waals forces could enable US scientists to halve the size of lithium-ion batteries