FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ACS News Service Weekly PressPac: July 28, 2010
ACS News Service Weekly PressPac: July 28, 2010
Contact
- Science Inquiries: Michael Woods, Editor, 202-872-6293
- General Inquiries: Michael Bernstein, 202-872-6042
Bricks, blocks, and steel I-beams — step aside. A new genre of construction materials, made from stuff barely 1/50,000th the width of a human hair, is about to debut in the building of homes, offices, bridges, and other structures. And a new report is highlighting both the potential benefits of these nanomaterials in improving construction materials and the need for guidelines to regulate...
The search for new raw materials for making biodiesel fuel has led scientists to an unlikely farm product — butter. In a new study in ACS’ bi-weekly Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, they report that butter could be used as an eco-friendly feedstock, or raw material, for making diesel fuel. Michael Haas and colleagues cite rising global demand for biodiesel, and the desire to...
Grown-ups aren’t the only ones making exciting scientific discoveries these days. Two middle school students from Wisconsin joined a team of scientists who are reporting the first glimpse of the innermost structure of a key bacterial enzyme. It helps activate certain antibiotics and anti-cancer agents so that those substances do their job. Their study appears in ACS’ weekly...
Just as cooking helps people digest food, pretreating polycarbonate plastic — source of a huge environmental headache because of its bisphenol A (BPA) content — may be the key to disposing of the waste in an eco-friendly way, scientists have found. Their new study is in ACS’ Biomacromolecules, a monthly journal. Mukesh Doble and Trishul Artham note that...
Scientists have developed a new version of a medication, first isolated from the saliva of sea snails, that could be taken in pill form to relieve the most severe forms of pain as effectively as morphine but without risking addiction. An article on the topic appears in the current issue of Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), ACS’ weekly newsmagazine. C&EN Senior Editor Bethany Halford…
Journalists’ Resources
- Press registration opens for ACS August 2010 National Meeting in Boston
Press registration now is open for the ACS’ 240th National Meeting & Exposition in Boston August 22-26, 2010, with almost 8,000 reports on news advances in science. Watch for further information in the months ahead. - Press releases, briefings, and more from ACS’ 239th National Meeting
www.eurekalert.org/acsmeet.php
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/acslive - Must-reads from C&EN: Recession impacts top 50 chemical companies
Reporters covering the global marketplace know that 2009 wasn’t a good year for many companies, and this popular annual cover story documents how the recession meant red ink for the chemical industry. For the full text, go to recession. - Capitol Hill Briefing on Oil Spill Dispersants
The ACS Science & the Congress Project and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers are sponsoring a briefing on the use of oil dispersants for oil spills, from noon to 1:30 p.m. on July 29 in the Capitol Visitors Center, Senate side, Room 202/203. A panel of experts, including Ken Lee of Canada’s Centre for Offshore Oil, Gas and Energy Research, Albert Venosa of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Robert Diaz of the Virginia Marine Sciences Institute, and Nancy Kinner of the University of New Hampshire, will speak on the science, use, implications, and future of oil dispersants. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) will give opening remarks. To register, go to http://tinyurl.com/Oil-Dispersants. - 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.
- Bytesize Science
Bytesize Science is a science podcast for kids of all ages that entertains and educates, with new high-definition video podcasts and some episodes in Spanish. Subscribe to Bytesize Science using iTunes. No iTunes? No problem. Listen to the latest episodes of Bytesize Science in your web browser. - 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. - Science Elements
Science Elements is a podcast of PressPac contents that makes cutting-edge scientific discoveries from ACS journals available to a broader public audience. Subscribe to Science Elements using iTunes. Listen to the latest episodes of Science Elements in your web browser. Science Elements is on Facebook, friend it to see the latest updates and information. - 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 nonprofit 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.