Here is the original post:
Chemistry Information Centre Berlin (FIZ CHEMIE) Up For Sale

© 2012 Reading Eagle Company, All Rights Reserved – Serving the Berks County community and surrounding areas for over 140 years! These links are not endorsements of any products or services in such sites,
and no information in such site has been endorsed or approved by this site. Privacy Policy

Continued here:
Chemistry competition is formula for fun

Continued here:
Rex: Sanchez, Holmes to work on rebuilding chemistry

Challenged to create a product using skills they learned in chemistry class, eighth-graders at Bettendorf Middle School came up with items from scented nail polish and deodorant to sports drinks and edible slime.

The products were on display Friday during the school's first Chemistry Expo.

The event was part of a project-based learning assignment, said teacher Tanya Gilmore. The students also were responsible for creating posters and a website to market their product.

“It's sort of a way for them to connect the concepts they've learned throughout the year with something real, making chemistry more real to them,” Gilmore said. “I think they surprised themselves with how much they actually know.”

The students were challenged to create a product that did not just add something to an existing product, but to use their chemistry skills to create something new.

Kassidie Harmon said her group considered making root beer but decided that was too easy. Instead, they chose to make root-beer-flavored gum.

Her group had to order gum base online, but was able to find root beer extract at a local grocery store. They then experimented with different combinations of gum base, root beer extract, corn syrup and sugar.

“It took us five tries,” she said. “We had to add a lot of sugar.”

After distributing samples to classmates and visitors at the Chemistry Expo, Kassidie said most people either seemed to love the gum or hate it.

“There was no in-between,” she said.

Ian Beck's group decided to make deodorant, but wasn't thrilled with the result.

The group used a mixture of corn starch, baking soda and perfumes, which team member Helena Sparbel said were chosen because they smelled like “old lady.”

The aroma of the resulting product was a little too strong.

“Enough to knock people out,” Ian said.

The team added water to dilute the scent, leaving the final product a little gooey.

“Making it into a stick was not the best idea,” Ian said.

The young chemists agreed the project was a more enjoyable way to learn than the usual chemistry lab assignment.

“This was actually a lot of fun,” Kassidie said.

The rest is here:
Students test products made in chemistry project

Visit link:
Economizing chemistry, atom by atom

Trace elements in stars may influence the evolution of habitable zones around them where life as we know it might dwell, scientists now find.

Stars are made nearly entirely from hydrogen and helium gas. Still, traces of heavier elements — which astronomers call metals, even if they are not what one normally think of as metals — can be found in stars as well, either inherited from the remains of older stars or forged via nuclear fusion.

Scientists can detect what elements a star possesses by looking at its light, which comes in a wide variety of wavelengths, some visible, many invisible. The wavelengths of light that matter emits often comes in specific clumps or lines, which can act like a fingerprint, revealing the identity of the material in question.

By looking at the wavelengths or spectra of light from nearby dwarf stars as part of searches for alien worlds, or exoplanets, researchers have with high precision determined the abundance of certain elements for more than a hundred of these stars, with more to come. Now researchers suggest variations in the compositions of these stars could impact the habitable zones around them.

What scientists call the habitable zone of a star  is defined by whether liquid water can survive on a planet's  surface, given that life exists virtually wherever there is liquid water on Earth. Too far from a star, and the lack of light makes a world too cold, freezing all its water; too close to a star, and all that blazing heat makes a world too hot, with its water eventually all boiling off.  [Gallery: A World of Kepler Planets ]

Finding the habitable zone

Normally scientists figure out the habitable zones of stars by seeing how hot the stars are. This involves looking at their brightness and color. Computer models now suggest that variations in a star's elemental composition might alter its long-term behavior, significantly affecting the location and lifetime of its habitable zone.

“I was expecting some subtle changes in our stellar evolution models in terms of the surface temperature and brightness — I was not looking for such a dramatic change in the lifetimes of the stars,” said study lead author Patrick Young, a theoretical astrophysicist and astrobiologist at Arizona State University.

Scientists typically measure the abundance of heavy elements in a star relative to the iron content in its atmosphere, as iron is a common element and its spectrum is relatively easy to measure. Past research found that abundances of various heavy elements could vary by more than a factor of two given otherwise similar star types.  [Video: Kepler Reveals Lots of Planets: Some Habitable?]

Young and his colleagues generated computer models for how variations in levels of eight elements — carbon, oxygen, sodium, aluminum, magnesium, silicon, calcium and titanium — might affect the behavior of F, G and K stars, those most similar to our sun. Metals in a star can alter its evolution by affecting how opaque its plasma is.

“The persistence of stars as stable objects relies on the heating of plasma in the star by nuclear fusion to produce pressure that counteracts the inward force of gravity,” Young explained. “A higher opacity traps the energy of fusion more efficiently and results in a larger radius, cooler star. More efficient use of energy also means that nuclear burning can proceed more slowly, resulting in a longer lifetime for the star.”

Elements of stars

The scientists found that calcium, sodium, magnesium, aluminum and silicon had small but significant effects on a star's evolution. Higher levels of these elements resulted in cooler, redder stars.

Oxygen also proved especially important because it could dramatically alter the lifetime of a star's habitable zone.

“The habitable lifetime of an orbit the size of Earth's around a one-solar-mass star is only 3.5 billion years for oxygen-depleted compositions but 8.5 billion years for oxygen-rich stars,” Young said. “For comparison, we expect the Earth to remain habitable for another billion years or so, for about 5.5 billion years total, before the sun becomes too luminous. Complex life on Earth arose some 3.9 billion years after its formation, so if Earth is at all representative, low-oxygen stars are perhaps less than ideal targets.”

Moreover, the presence of oxygen was linked with ultraviolet radiation, which is known to damage cells. “A star that is otherwise like the sun in iron abundance and mass but relatively scarce in oxygen could produce twice as much of the cell-damaging radiation that causes skin cancer and is sometimes used for sterilization,” Young said.

Young did note that habitable zones are a rather nebulous concept, since they depend on the atmosphere and geological evolution of a planet, making it tricky to draw any conclusions about the lifetime or extent of habitable zones.

“This is why we concentrate on the stellar modeling,” Young said. “We can provide input to any climate model other researchers wish to use. For illustrative purposes we have chosen a simple, conservative prescription, not too optimistic or pessimistic.”

Pinning down alien planets

A better knowledge of where a star's habitable zone really lies could influence which exoplanets astrobiologists end up studying more and which they end up ignoring because they lie outside habitable zones.

“Kepler has already detected worlds in the current habitable zones of their stars and planets smaller than Earth, and there are dozens more candidates that await confirmation,” Young said. “Detecting a planet with life will be a difficult proposition at best, requiring too many resources to observe indiscriminately. With this information we can narrow down our search to planets that are not only currently in their habitable zones, but have been and will remain there for long enough to potentially develop complex life.”

The composition of a star can also influence the composition of its planets. Two important considerations are the carbon-oxygen and magnesium-silicon ratios of stars, which can affect whether a planet has certain magnesium- or silicon-loaded clay minerals such as magnesium silicate (MgSiO3), silicon dioxide (SiO2), magnesium orthosilicate (Mg2SiO4), and magnesium oxide (MgO). Clay minerals seem to be a good surface to create key components of life, such as the lipid membranes of cells.

“This is why one of the targets of the Mars Science Laboratory will be phyllosilicate clays in Gale Crater,” Young said. “Some clays are better than others, and the magnesium-silicon ratio in part determines the type of clay formed.”

Variety of cosmic elements

Variations in the compositions of stars could also lead to planets that have different elemental combinations dominating, such as a planet with mostly carbon-based rock as opposed to our silicon-based Earth. “We'd expect tectonics and volcanism to be very different on a planet whose crust is dominated by graphite and silicon carbide than on Earth.”

Certain elements within a star also strongly line up with the abundance of radioactive elements such as uranium and thorium, which are key in determining how molten the interior of planets are, Young said. Molten planetary interiors are key to plate tectonics, which in turn may be important to the evolution of life on Earth.

Young noted that some of the elements they would like to look at are very difficult to observe. For instance, “we want to find trace elements that are important to terrestrial-style life like molybdenum and phosphorus,” he said. “I am conducting other research to find abundant elements that we could use as proxies for finding enhancements in those trace elements because they are produced in the same conditions inside stars or stellar explosions.”

The researchers are now analyzing the elemental abundances seen in 600 stars that are targets of exoplanet searches.   They are also producing a much larger set of stellar evolution models for different mass stars and compositions.

“We will be producing a list of what we consider the best 100 targets for habitable planet searches based on a number of criteria including those presented in this work,” Young said.

Young and his colleagues detailed their findings Jan. 11 at the annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Austin, Texas.

This story was provided by Astrobiology Magazine, a web-based publication sponsored by the NASA astrobiology program.

Continued here:
Habitable Zones Around Alien Suns May Depend on Chemistry

See the article here:
St. Mary's puts the chemistry in baking

Here is the original post:
The Father of Green Chemistry

Read the original:
LeBron says chemistry at ‘all-time high’ with Wade

Visit link:
Green Future for Polyurethanes Industry Unveiled at UTECH Europe 2012

See more here:
No dna profiles of four accused found on exhibits, says chemistry expert

Read more here:
LeBron says chemistry with Wade, 'at an all-time high'

The rest is here:
White Sox know chemistry will be key

Last season, building chemistry was the underlying theme of the Heat’s season. There was very little between LeBron James and Dwyane Wade during that 9-8 start — the two stars took turns watching each other, not playing off of each other. That started to change as the season wore on and into the playoffs and things looked better — until they ran into the ultimate chemistry of the Dallas Mavericks.

This season chemistry is not a problem. Never been better.

So says LeBron James, speaking to Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. (Hat tip to Eye on Basketball.)

“It is at an all-time high right now, honestly,” James said of the chemistry between the two. “It is just a chemistry that we have. Last year was a blueprint for us. It is not like we look for each other more than others, it kind of just happens.

“We’re two of the fastest guys in the league when it comes to a break and it is kind of pick-your-poison with the defender, either allow me to get a dunk or allow D-Wade to get a dunk. We are two unselfish players. If a guy is open, we pass it.”

Chemistry and winning are inexorably linked in the public mind — winning teams have chemistry, losing teams do not. That deduction often comes after the fact. In the Heat’s case, the chemistry with Wade and LeBron always seems to be better when they have better players around them that forces defenders to make choices rather than focus solely on them. No doubt LeBron and Wade are more comfortable with each other on the court now than they were a year ago at this time, but the up-tempo style of play and better surrounding cast are a part of that equation, too.

It’s that whole equation that should have other teams concerned.

Here is the original post:
PBT: LeBron says chemistry with Wade at 'all-time high'

See more here:
Chemistry Building explosion injures one

Distributed in January by the magazine Education in Chemistry, the poster displays a sequence of blazing elements. When the free app Zappar is downloaded and pointed at the poster, the symbols flicker into fiery action. Using the camera feature on the phone, the app creates a ‘mash-up’ of the real and virtual, adding an interactive digital layer to the poster using what’s known as ‘augmented reality’.

Tap a flaming symbol, and the voice of Dr. Peter Wothers from the Department of Chemistry gives more information about the element. The poster asks students to identify the odd one out, directing them to the website for the Cambridge Chemistry Challenge, where they are encouraged to take part in a monthly online competition featuring five ‘Google-proof’ chemistry questions. Each question has to be solved to move on to the next, with increasing levels of difficulty, and solving all five merits a place on the Honours Board for that month.

“I put the poster up in the department last Friday morning, and stood by it with my smartphone as students came in for the first lesson of the day. Once the first one had spotted what was going on, I had a steady stream of students downloading the app and using it, sometimes so many that they blocked the corridor!” said Ian Sheldon, Head of Chemistry at Bedford School.

The Cambridge Chemistry Challenge was set up by Dr. Wothers to give students and teachers a new and fun way of approaching the subject. Last year, the competition was taken by more than 3,000 students from 250 schools across the country, with the top performing students receiving awards from Cambridge MP and research scientist Dr. Julian Huppert, at a ceremony in the Houses of Parliament. It is expected that this year many more students will take part.

“My mission over the past 10 years has been to raise the profile and enjoyment of chemistry amongst students,” says Dr. Wothers. “We wanted the Cambridge Chemistry Challenge to get students approaching science problem solving in a way that helps prepare them for undergraduate study. They have to be creative, apply knowledge of other subjects and think in different ways – exactly the kind of skills needed for university.”

“The hope is that initiatives such as this will provide a great opportunity to identify our brilliant scientists of the future.”

The Zappar mobile app, and the augmented reality technology behind it, was developed by former Department of Engineering students Simon Taylor and Connell Gauld during their time at Cambridge, in conjunction with their supervisor Dr Tom Drummond. This is the team’s second collaboration with Dr Wothers, following the chemistry-themed front cover of last year’s Science Festival programme.

Zappar’s creators believe that one of its strengths lies in its ‘markerless’ ability.  Some augmented reality technologies require large printed markers to link the digital to the physical, whereas Zappar can add content to any image, provided it has enough texture.

“We expect advertisers in particular will start to make use of the technology, but there are also plenty of great educational uses where books and posters can be made more interactive,” says Simon Taylor, one Zappar’s inventors. “It is great to be working with Peter and the chemistry department again; helping promote science in schools is an immensely worthwhile application for Zappar’s technology as far as we’re concerned.”

Provided by University of Cambridge (news : web)

See original here:
Chemistry in schools comes alive through smartphones

Read the original post:
Research and Markets: Forensic Chemistry Handbook

Original post:
The Co-Founder's Chemistry For Success