ACS News Service Weekly PressPac: May 22, 2013

Contact

• Science Inquiries: Michael Woods, Editor, 202-872-6293
• General Inquiries: Michael Bernstein, 202-872-6042

Follow us:    

More emphasis needed on recycling and reuse of Li-ion batteries

The discovery of potential environmental and human health effects from disposal of millions of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries each year has led scientists to recommend stronger government policies to encourage recovery, recycling and reuse of lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery materials. That’s the conclusion of a new paper in the ACS journal Environmental Science…

Fast new, one-step genetic engineering technology

A new, streamlined approach to genetic engineering drastically reduces the time and effort needed to insert new genes into bacteria, the workhorses of biotechnology, scientists are reporting. Published in the journal ACS Synthetic Biology, the method paves the way for more rapid development of designer microbes for drug development, environmental cleanup and other activities…

Meeting the ‘grand challenge’ of a sustainable water supply

Scientists and engineers must join together in a major new effort to educate the public and decision makers on a crisis in providing Earth’s people with clean water that looms ahead in the 21^st century. That’s the focus of a comment article in the current edition of Chemical & Engineering News, the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world’s…

• Press releases, briefings, and more from ACS’ 245th National Meeting
  www.eurekalert.org/acsmeet.php
  http://www.ustream.tv/channel/acslive
• C&EN Video Spotlight: Climate Change Threatens Harvests for a Native American Tribe
  Micah McCarty, a former chairman of the Makah Native American people, gathers shellfish at a craggy tip of Washington State in this video. Changes to the global climate are affecting Native American lives like McCarty's. The oceans are becoming more acidic. It's impacting the way shellfish cling to rocks at the wave-swept shore, so they can't hold on as well. If shellfish can't hang on, it means the Makah people, who've collected them for generations, won't have as big a harvest. Some of the Makah, including McCarty, are teaming with scientists to try to understand and solve the problem. Watch the video. For more information, visit http://cenm.ag/mkh.
• Must-Read from C&EN: Ricin — A ‘Weapon of Mass Disruption’
  The ricin-laced letters mailed to President Barack Obama and other politicians may have dropped out of the headlines. But concerns about ricin likely will resurface, and this Chemical & Engineering News story backgrounds that poison. For the full story, contact newsroom@acs.org.
• C&EN Launches the Organic SCENE
  The Organic SCENE, C&EN's latest news channel, offers a one-stop shop for coverage of a specific topic. It provides an up-to-the-minute stream of news about organic chemistry, including coverage of synthesis, reaction mechanisms, catalysis, medicinal chemistry, natural products and organic polymers. Check out the Organic SCENE’s home page, subscribe to its RSS feed or sign up for the weekly email newsletter highlighting the week’s top stories. Also, be sure to visit the other SCENEs on analytical chemistry, biology, environmental science, materials and nanotechnology.
• ACS Pressroom Blog
  The ACS Office of Public Affairs’ (OPA) pressroom blog highlights research from ACS’ more than 40 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.

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

Spellbound: How Kids Became Scientists
The road to a Nobel Prize began for one scientist in elementary school when his father placed a sign on his bedroom door proclaiming him to be a “doctor.” This is just one of the many experiences that helped launch the careers of scientists from diverse backgrounds who are featured in a new ACS video series called Spellbound: How Kids Became Scientists.

Prized Science video series
Prized Science: How the Science Behind ACS Awards Impacts Your Life video series is new for 2012! The first episode features the research of Dr. Robert Langer, winner of the 2012 ACS Priestley Medal. He is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Priestley Medal is the highest honor of the ACS, and it recognizes Langer’s pioneering work making body tissues in the lab by growing cells on special pieces of plastic. Langer’s team has used the approach to make skin for burn patients, for instance, with the goal of eventually making whole organs for transplantation. The second episode features Dr. Chad Mirkin, winner of the 2012 ACS Award for Creative Invention. His research has provided patients with faster diagnoses for influenza and other respiratory infections, and new tests that improve care for heart disease. More episodes will appear later in the year. The series is available at the Prized Science website and on DVD by email request.

The Periodic Table Table Featuring Theo Gray
Some people collect stamps. Wolfram Research co-founder and author Theo Gray collects elements. Step into his office, and you'll see a silicon disc engraved with Homer Simpson, a jar of mercury, uranium shells and hundreds of other chemical artifacts. But his real DIY masterpiece is the world's first "periodic table table.” Within this masterfully constructed table-top lay samples of nearly every element known to man, minus the super-radioactive ones.

Healing the voice: Synthetic vocal cords
Synthetic vocal cords may someday heal the voices of singers like Julie Andrews — whose legendary voice was permanently damaged in a 1997 operation. Filmed in the lab of 2012 ACS Priestley Medalist and MIT Institute Professor Robert Langer, our latest video explains how artificial polymer vocal cords may help repair damaged vocal tissue.

Other videos:

• The Chemistry of Beer
• The Chemistry of Cheese
• Without a scratch: Self-Healing Materials

• 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.

General Chemistry Glossary
Simple definitions and explanations of chemistry terms.

Back to Top