ACS News Service Weekly PressPac: April 16, 2014

ACS News Service Weekly PressPac: April 16, 2014

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News Items in This Edition


Researchers question emergency water treatment guidelines

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) recommendations for treating water after a natural disaster or other emergencies call for more chlorine bleach than is necessary to kill disease-causing pathogens and are often impractical to carry out, a new study has found...


New type of barcode could make counterfeiters’ lives more difficult

Counterfeiters, beware! Scientists are reporting the development of a new type of inexpensive barcode that, when added to documents or currency, could foil attempts at making forgeries. Although the tags are easy for researchers to make, they still require...


A greener source of polyester — cork trees

On the scale of earth-friendly materials, you’d be hard pressed to find two that are farther apart than polyester (not at all) and cork (very). In an unexpected twist, however, scientists are figuring out how to extract a natural, waterproof, antibacterial version of...


3D test could reduce reliance on animals for testing asthma and allergy medications

To determine whether new medicines are safe and effective for humans, researchers must first test them in animals, which is costly and time-consuming, as well as ethically challenging. In a study published in ACS’ journal Molecular Pharmaceutics, scientists report...


Making radiation-proof materials for electronics, power plants

The 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster made the dangers of radiation all too real. To avoid similar tragedies in the future, scientists are working to develop new radiation-proof materials for nuclear power plants, as well as for less obvious applications such as...


Journalists’ Resources

ACS Experts: Chemistry Sources for Reporters
On a deadline? Need a reliable explanation of a chemistry concept? Then you need an ACS Expert. We have a growing list of scientists who can comment about neuroscience, green chemistry, pharmaceutical science, policy issues and much more. Just contact us at newsroom@acs.org.

ACS Editors' Choice
Do you want to keep up with the frontiers of science? Check out our new Open Access service, ACS Editors’ Choice. The website features one top story every day, selected from ACS’ more than 40 peer-reviewed journals, to give the public free, direct access to some of the most relevant scientific research going on today.

ACS National Meeting News

Couldn't go to the ACS 247th National Meeting & Exposition in Dallas? Then check out our resources for info you might have missed:
Press releases: www.eurekalert.org/acsmeet.php
Press conferences: www.ustream.tv/channel/acslive

Toolkits on Global Challenges/Research Funding

Journalists covering some of the great global challenges of the 21st century and federal funding of research and development (R&D) can find videos and scores of other resources in websites that the American Chemical Society has prepared on those topics.

ACS Press Release Archive

Visit our press release archive for news on a variety of chemistry-related topics.

ACS Videos

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

ACS Video of the Month

Zombie Survival Chemistry: Death Cologne — Reactions

AMC's “The Walking Dead” has wrapped up its season, but its effects are far from dead. Keeping the spirit of the show alive until next season, chemist and zombie film buff Raychelle Burks has come up with what could be a life-saving solution to a zombie apocalypse — eau de death.

Youtube ID: SUEjmyisz7c


C&EN Video Spotlight

Cucumber coils inspire design for springs for robotics

Inspired by the cucumber plant, which has tendrils that coil to pull the plant toward the sun, chemists have developed liquid crystal polymer springs that move in response to light.

Youtube ID: BBzqUVw9PV4

ACS Podcasts

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. Listen to the podcasts at www.acs.org/GlobalChallenges.

Science Elements

Science Elements is a podcast that makes cutting-edge scientific discoveries from ACS journals available to a broader public audience. Listen to the podcasts at www.acs.org/ScienceElements.

This is the latest American Chemical Society (ACS) Office of Public Affairs Weekly PressPac with news from ACS’ more than 40 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.