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ACS News Service Weekly PressPac: December 01, 2010

ACS News Service Weekly PressPac: December 1, 2010

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News Items in This Edition

Perhaps you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, but scientists are reporting progress in pulling off the same trick with the notoriously bland flavor of pork. They are reporting new insights into the biochemical differences in the meat of an Italian swine renowned for its good flavor since the ancient Roman Empire and the modern “Large White” or Yorkshire hog, whose roots date…

Scientists are announcing development and successful testing of the first “perfumery radar (PR).” It’s not a new electronic gadget for homing in on the source of that Eau de Givenchy or Jungle Tiger in a crowded room. Rather, PR is a long-awaited new tool for bringing scientific order to the often arbitrary process of classifying the hundreds of odors that make-up perfumes…

Scientists are proposing an international effort, on the scale of the Human Genome Project (HGP), to identify all the proteins present in cancer cells. HGP was the international scientific research project that identified and mapped all the genes in humans. Within a decade, they believe, results of the new effort could provide cancer patients with more effective treatments customized to…

With almost one billion people lacking access to clean, safe drinking water, scientists are reporting development and successful initial tests of an inexpensive new filtering technology that kills up to 98 percent of disease-causing bacteria in water in seconds without clogging. A report on the technology appears in Nano Letters, a monthly American Chemical…

People in a jetliner act and feel one way when crammed together like sardines in a can. But they have quite a different mindset when the middle seat is empty and they have more personal space. Scientists are pursuing a remarkable parallel that exists among the proteins involved in health and disease inside living cells. The cover story in the current issue of Chemical & Engineering

Journalists’ Resources

  • Press releases, briefings, and more from ACS’ 240th National Meeting
    www.eurekalert.org/acsmeet.php

    http://www.ustream.tv/channel/acslive
  • Must-reads from C&EN: Burning oil from Gulf spill caused no major health risk
    Two U. S. Environmental Protection Agency studies conclude that dioxins released from intentional burning of 310,000 barrels of oil floating on the Gulf of Mexico resulted in only small increases in cancer risk for residents and oil cleanup workers. For more details, visit C&EN for the full article.
  • ACS Pressroom Blog
    The ACS Office of Public Affairs’ (OPA) pressroom blog highlights research from ACS’ 38 peer-reviewed journals and National Meetings.
  • Bytesize Science blog
    Educators and kids, put on your thinking caps: The American Chemical Society has a blog for Bytesize Science, a science podcast for kids of all ages.
  • ACS satellite pressroom: Daily news blasts on Twitter
    The satellite press room has become one of the most popular science news sites on Twitter. To get our news blasts and updates, create a free account at https://twitter.com/signup. Then visit http://twitter.com/ACSpressroom and click the ‘join’ button beneath the press room logo.
  • C&EN on Twitter
    Follow @cenmag <http://twitter.com/cenmag> for the latest news in chemistry and dispatches from our blog, C&ENtral Science <http://centralscience.org>.
  • ACS Press Releases
    Press releases
    on a variety of chemistry-related topics.
  • General Chemistry Glossary
  • Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) Web site on everyday chemicals
    Whether you want to learn more about caffeine, benzoyl peroxide (acne treatment), sodium chloride (table salt), or some other familiar chemical, CAS Common Chemistry can help. The new Web site provides non-chemists and others with useful information about everyday chemicals by searching either a chemical name or a corresponding CAS Registry Number. The site includes about 7,800 chemicals of general interest as well as all 118 elements from the Periodic Table, providing alternative names, molecular structures, a Wikipedia link, and other information.
  • Science Connections from CAS
    CAS - Science Connections
    is a series of articles that showcases the value of CAS databases in light of important general-interest science and technology news. Topics range from fruit flies to Nobel Prize winners, with the CAS - Science Connections series pointing to CAS databases for a more complete understanding of the latest news.
  • The Laser’s 50th
    From DVD players to eye surgery, the laser stands as one of the greatest inventions of modern times — one that truly revolutionized everyday life. Laserfest is a yearlong celebration of the 50th anniversary of the laser, which was first demonstrated in 1960.

Videos

The American Chemical Society encourages news organizations, museums, educational organizations, and other web sites to embed links to these videos.

  • Prized Science video focuses on “green gasoline”
    The latest episode in the American Chemical Society’s new video series, Prized Science: How the Science Behind ACS Awards Impacts Your Life, is on “green gasoline.” That’s gas made from corn, cornstalks, sugarcane, and other crops. It also is fuel made in more environmentally friendly ways. The previous episode focused on the possibility that life on Mars seeded life on Earth. Both are available without charge at the Prized Science website, YouTube, iTunes and on DVD. Green Gasoline features research of Vincent D’Amico, Emiel van Broekhoven, Ph.D., and Juha Jakkula, winners of the 2010 ACS Award for Affordable Green Chemistry. They developed a process to make gasoline in a more environmentally-friendly way. ACS encourages educators, schools, museums, science centers, news organizations, and others to embed links to Prized Science on their websites.

    The Chemistry of the Holidays


    The Chemistry of Sourdough Bread


    The Chemistry of Fireworks


    The Chemistry of Grilling and Barbecuing

For Wired Readers

  • Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions
    This special series of ACS podcasts focuses on some of the 21st Century’s most daunting challenges, and how chemists and other scientists are finding solutions. Subscribe at iTunes or listen and access other resources at the ACS web site www.acs.org/GlobalChallenges.
  • SciFinder® Podcasts
    Interested in healthful plant phytochemicals, nanotechnology, or green chemistry? Check out the SciFinder series of podcasts, which explore a vast array of current interest topics and new discoveries in the 21st century. The SciFinder podcasts are available in English, Chinese, Japanese, and Portuguese.



Note to Journalists and Other Viewers

This is the latest American Chemical Society (ACS) Office of Public Affairs Weekly PressPac with news from ACS’ 38 peer-reviewed journals and Chemical & Engineering News.

This information is intended for your personal use in news gathering and reporting and should not be distributed to others. Anyone using advance ACS Office of Public Affairs Weekly PressPac information for stocks or securities dealing may be guilty of insider trading under the federal Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Please cite the individual journal, or the American Chemical Society, as the source of this information.


The American Chemical Society is a non-profit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 161,000 members, ACS is the world’s largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.