A chromium catalyst is the key to efficiently converting glucose to a chemical feedstock with potential to replace many uses of crude oil including pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and plastics, scientists from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory report. As the world tries to emancipate itself from its oil addiction, researchers are seeking a clean, efficient and cost effective […]

Today I received an e-mail from an unhappy reader where I am being mercilessly criticized for misleading the visitors to my blog. Mr. X is rightfully accusing me for not staying focused on the topic of “just chromatography” and that I spend too much time on nanotechnology and things like witricity. What can I say […]

A month ago I wrote a post “World Without Wires” about the unique material developed by Japanese scientists that can transmit electrical energy to nearby devices without the need for direct contact. Now in today’s issue of Science magazine, an MIT research team led by Prof. Marin Soljacic reported its version of the “world without […]

Ruby is a relatively rare, red colored gemstone and a variety of corundum (Al2O3) with traces of hexavalent chromium that’s responsible for ruby’s rich red color. The best, dark colored rubies are from West Mogok, Myanmar (Mandalay Division). However, that’s not ruby that I would like to write about. Today I’ve embarked on a new […]

The first systematic study of a new group of explosives has concluded that the materials are so shock sensitive â?? apt to detonate if struck or heated â?? that the legendarily touchy nitroglycerin seems a pillar of stability by comparison. Conducted by Thomas M. Klapötke and colleagues in Germany.

“Create. Combat. Conquer.”- the slogan of Silicon Valley gaming startup “Elementeo” and its 13-year old founder and chief executive, Anshul Samar. â??We inject fun into education,â? the fast talking entrepreneur confidently proclaimed, promoting his new fantasy role playing board game which he hopes will change the way kids learn chemistry. Here is a video of […]

Yesterday “Nano Letters” released an article – “Photosensitization of ZnO Nanowires with CdSe Quantum Dots for Photovoltaic Devices” by Eray S. Aydil and et al. (DOI: 10.1021/nl070430o). I could not read the entire article because I am not a subscriber and don’t want to spend $25, but judging by the abstract the research team’s quantum-dot-sensitized […]

The research group from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (NY) led by Ganapathiraman Ramanath was able to glue two materials together a one nanometer-high layer of polymer chains. This thin but very strong nanoglue could become a useful adhesive in computer chips and other materials devices where thicker layers wouldn’t fit. One other unique property of the […]

Today is 135th birthday anniversary of chromatography‘s founding father Mikhail Tsvet and to celebrate his birthday I will be posting some interesting stories and facts from his life during the course of today this week.

This synopsis was written by Rachel Jones on a very interesting research work: “Mental Training Affects Distribution of Limited Brain Resources” by Richard J. Davidson and his team where their findings demonstrate that meditative training can improve performance on a novel task that requires the trained attentional abilities. So those who learn and study can […]