Even though there is evidence of certain self-medication behaviors in animals, so far it has never been known that animals treat their wounds with healing plants. Now, biologists from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Germany and Universitas Nasional, Indonesia have observed this in a male Sumatran orangutan who sustained a facial wound. He … Read more
Stars are born and die in a continuous cycle, playing a fundamental role in the structure, dynamics, and evolution of the universe. The processes of star formation and stellar death are intricate and fascinating, involving a complex interplay of physical phenomena that span millions to billions of years. Understanding the birth and death of stars … Read more
Scientists from multiple institutions in North America have achieved a significant milestone in unraveling the mechanisms underlying Ebola virus replication within human cells. This breakthrough marks a crucial advancement towards the creation of novel treatments aimed at tackling this formidable and often fatal illness. The study, published in PLOS Biology, involved a team of pharmacologists … Read more
A new, greener, and cheaper method to accelerate chemical reactions has been developed by scientists at King’s College London in collaboration with the University of Barcelona and ETH Zurich. Instead of using polluting and expensive metal-based catalysts, the team proved that electric fields can catalyze reactions to produce chemical compounds. Building on previous research published … Read more
The periodic table is a tabular arrangement of chemical elements, organized by their atomic number, electron configuration, and recurring chemical properties. It provides a systematic way to categorize and understand the behavior of elements based on their shared characteristics. Dmitri Mendeleev is credited with developing the first periodic table in 1869, arranging elements by their … Read more
Although you may never have heard of the cytochrome P450 superfamily of enzymes, these proteins play diverse and critical roles in humans through the metabolic processing of drugs, pesticides, fatty acids, fat-soluble vitamins, and chemical carcinogens and the biosynthesis of essential steroids, including sterols. Sterols are a family of chemical compounds that share a central, … Read more
Researchers from Umeå University, collaborating with teams in Denmark and China, have unveiled a sustainable breakthrough in semiconductor production. Traditionally, petrochemical compounds and rare metals like platinum and iridium have been essential for crafting semiconductors, particularly for optoelectronics like ultra-thin OLEDs found in modern TV and mobile phone screens. The team, led by Jia Wang … Read more
In the relentless pursuit of effective drug molecules to combat diseases, researchers are focusing on compounds that dock onto proteins, typically enzymes or receptors, triggering specific physiological actions. Some molecules are designed to thwart undesirable reactions in the body, such as an excessive inflammatory response. Given the plethora of available chemical compounds, drug discovery seems … Read more
Climate change poses a grave global concern, demanding worldwide attention. Nations are actively formulating policies to combat the impacts of global warming. For example, the European Union is leading the charge with its ambitious target of achieving climate neutrality by 2050 through initiatives like the European Green Deal, which focuses on slashing greenhouse gas emissions. … Read more
Organometallic compounds, which consist of metal atoms bonded to organic molecules, play a pivotal role in catalyzing chemical reactions and have significantly advanced the field of chemistry. Among organometallic compounds, metallocenes stand out due to their distinctive “sandwich” structure and remarkable versatility. Their discovery marked a breakthrough in organometallic chemistry, earning the scientists behind it … Read more
Researchers from the University of California, Irvine has introduced an innovative technique to rapidly produce extensive arrays of chemical compounds used in drug exploration. This method exploits ribosomes, cellular molecules responsible for protein and peptide synthesis, aiming to streamline the manual and time-consuming process currently in place for generating chemical libraries. The recent publication in … Read more
In the realm of time, a second is quite short. It can be defined as one 86,400th of a 24-hour day. To put it into perspective, a bullet train traveling at a speed of 300 km per hour can cover a distance of approximately 83 meters in just one second. Additionally, an average blink, the … Read more