ACS News Service Weekly PressPac: September 25, 2013

ACS News Service Weekly PressPac: September 25, 2013

Contact

Follow us:   Twitter icon Facebook icon

News Items in This Edition


Improved smartphone microscope brings single-virus detection to remote locations

Scientists are reporting an advance in smartphone-based imaging that could help physicians in far-flung and resource-limited locations monitor how well treatments for infections are working by detecting, for the first time, individual viruses. Their study on the light-weight device, which converts the phone into a powerful mini-microscope, appears in the journal ACS Nano...


Flame retardant ban reduces exposures in pregnant women

Phasing out the use of potentially harmful flame retardants in furniture foam, electronics and plastics has lowered pregnant women’s exposure to the substances, which are associated with health problems in both pregnant women and their newborns...


Making a common cosmetic and sunblock ingredient safer

Using a particular type of titanium dioxide — a common ingredient in cosmetics, food products, toothpaste and sunscreen — could reduce the potential health risks associated with the widely used compound...


Using a form of ‘ice that burns’ to make potable water from oil and gas production

In the midst of an intensifying global water crisis, scientists are reporting development of a more economical way to use one form of the “ice that burns” to turn very salty wastewater from fracking and other oil and gas production methods into water for drinking and irrigation...


Survey reveals improving salary and employment picture for chemists

With the U.S. economy slowly trudging back from recession and uncertainties remaining about government sequestration, the employment and salary snapshot for chemists and chemical engineers in 2013 shows that salaries and the job market are improving...


Journalists’ Resources

About the Weekly PressPac

The ACS Weekly PressPac consists of summaries of research published in the American Chemical Society’s more than 40 peer-reviewed journals and its weekly newsmagazine, Chemical & Engineering News. ACS journals publish more than 35,000 articles annually. Although not traditional press releases, PressPac content can be used to prepare news stories and also can be an excellent resource for features and background.

News Media Registration for ACS’ 246th National Meeting & Exposition in Indianapolis
News media registration is open for the American Chemical Society’s 246th National Meeting & Exposition in Indianapolis, Sept. 8-12, 2013. The event will include almost 7,000 reports on new discoveries in medicine and health, food and nutrition, energy, the environment and other fields where chemistry plays a central role. One of the largest scientific conferences of 2013, the meeting will take place at the Indiana Convention Center and area hotels.

View the full news release about meeting registration.

Press releases, briefings, and more from ACS’ 245th National Meeting
www.eurekalert.org/acsmeet.php

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/acslive

Profile of Paul S. Weiss, Editor-in-Chief of ACS Nano
Read the profile in MIT Technology Review.

C&EN Video Spotlight: How a Biofuel Maker Is Test-Growing a New Energy Crop
The biofuel company Canergy is searching for their ideal energy crop. They are testing varieties of a cousin of sugarcane, called “energy cane,” to find hardy plants that efficiently produce cellulosic ethanol for use in automobile fuels. Watch how the plants grow. Read the story and watch the video.

Must-Read from C&EN: Global Arsenic Crisis
Arsenic contamination is a crisis in many areas of the world, including parts of India, Bangladesh and many countries in Southeast Asia. As a first step toward ridding drinking water of this contaminant, some scientists are developing models to predict likely arsenic hotspots, while others are going into the field, measuring for it. For the full story, contact newsroom@acs.org.

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. 

The toolkits address the science of global climate science, finding sustainable sources of energy, the quest for a sustainable supply of fresh water and federal R&D funding.

An additional toolkit on sustainability in the global food supply will be available later in 2013.

C&EN Science News Channels
C&EN's news channels, called SCENEs, offer a one-stop shop for coverage of a specific topic. They provide an up-to-the-minute stream of news about analytical, biological, environmental, materials, nano and organic chemistry. Check out the SCENEs' home page.

ACS Pressroom Blog
The ACS Office of Public Affairs' 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 at http://twitter.com/cenmag for the latest news in chemistry and dispatches from C&EN's blog, CENtral Science, at http://centralscience.org.
 
ACS Press Releases

Press releases 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.

Breakthrough Science Video Series
The ACS Breakthrough Science video series is designed to expand the visibility of selected research published in ACS journals. Gaining this kind of global publicity is one potential author benefit of publishing in ACS journals. In the series, researchers explain their ground-breaking discoveries. Check out the latest episodes of Breakthrough Science.

Prized Science video series
The new season of the Prized Science video series is available. The first episode features the research of Peter Stang, Ph.D., winner of the 2013 ACS Priestley Medal. He is a professor at the University of Utah and is the editor of the Journal of the American Chemical Society. The Priestley Medal is the highest honor of the ACS, and it recognizes Stang's pioneering work developing new ways to build molecules. The ultimate goal is to treat cancer patients with drugs that kill only cancer cells and that have fewer side effects. The second episode will feature Shirley Corriher, winner of the 2013 James T. Grady-James H. Stack Award for Interpreting Chemistry for the Public. 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.

The Chemistry of the Corpse Flower’s Stink
After 6 years of anticipation, that rock star of plants — a rainforest giant known as the corpse flower for its putrid odor — has bloomed here in Washington, D.C., and is the subject of a new video by the ACS. The video focuses on the chemical cocktail responsible for the offensive odor of the flower. More formally known as titan arum or Amorphophallus titanum, the plant is on display at the U.S. Botanic Garden, on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol.

Other videos:

Inside Science News Service
Visit for thoroughly enjoyable multimedia coverage of the science behind the news — a valuable resource for journalists and news media organizations everywhere.

ACS Podcasts

Bytesize Science, a podcast for young listeners
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: ACS science news podcast
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, — check out 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.

And Don’t Miss…

General Chemistry Glossary
Simple definitions and explanations of chemistry terms.

Note to Journalists and Other Viewers

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 163,000 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.