chemistry

Bladerunners get serious about hair

"Hair brained" scientists from the University of Bayreuth in Germany have found a way to observe hair follicles at the microscopic level while it moves and reacts to chemicals.

Hair follicles were mounted on the cantilever tip of an atomic force microscope, allowing the scientists to closely observe for the first time how hair follicles react while they rub against each other--and respond to environmental forces like "humidity, water content of hair, and hair stickiness," Eva Max said in a study presented by herself and Claudia Wood at the American Chemical Society's 236th National Meeting on Sunday in Philadelphia.

The observations are helping the team determine what chemical cocktail can be applied to make your hair healthier.

As you probably already knew from the dozens of hair commercials with graphics, rough hair follicles have scales that project out from their shafts, whereas conditioned hair follicles have scales that lay flatter against the shaft, making it feel smoother.

These scientists have been able to observe these rough hair follicle scales rubbing against each other and exacerbating problems of frizz and entanglement. Their friction creates a negative charge that makes individual hairs repel each other like magnets.… Read more

Stealth green chemistry start-up Segetis nabs ex-Dow exec

Segetis, a Minnesota-based green chemistry start-up, appears to have hired Jim Stoppert, a former Cargill and Dow executive with expertise in industrial bio-products.

Segetis is a green chemistry company, which received $15 million in funding from Khosla Venture last year.

It intends to use agricultural feedstocks to make products typically made from petroleum, such as plastics, solvents, and other specialty chemicals. But apart from a little bit of information about planned "sustainable chemistry solutions" on its Web site, the company has been quiet about its plans.

Stoppert worked at chemicals giant Dow and at Cargill as its director … Read more

Chemists brew 'greener' fireworks

Researchers are working to reduce the pollution left by the shooting stars and bursting bombs that spangle skies in fireworks displays.

Efforts by Walt Disney and the military are driving the changes, according to a report by Bethany Halford in Chemical and Engineering News.

Fireworks have become more colorful within the last two centuries, but the basic technology hasn't changed much in 800 or more years since early forms of gunpowder were likely used in rituals and battles in China.

Staple ingredients are a fuel to create heat and an oxidizer to accelerate burning. Additional chemicals slow the burn, … Read more

Can tech make chemistry greener?

BOSTON--To many people, the term "green chemistry" is either a contradiction or a fancy name for long-held sensible chemistry practices.

All chemical products won't become benign overnight but they can get greener, even taking small steps, said Rich Engler, the program manager for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Green Chemistry Program.

Engler gave an overview of green chemistry at the CTSI Clean Technology conference here on Monday, where he said that most of what qualifies as green chemistry is focused on reducing the amount of hazards that chemicals introduce.

The impact of the green chemistry movement … Read more

Weekend Webware: The periodic table of the elements 2.0

Science can produce some very cool things on the Web. One of them being this ridiculously useful Web version of the periodic table of the elements--a staple for chemists and scientists at large. The chart, found at Ptable.com, is completely dynamic, letting you adjust nearly every aspect of the data to see what each element does at various temperatures, and even turn back the hands of time to see which parts of the chart were missing before being discovered by scientists.

The table is hooked up directly to Wikipedia, letting you view the encyclopedia entries as small pop-ups that … Read more

Green chemistry--the tech behind a lot of green tech

Green chemistry is a green movement you may not have heard of, but one certainly worth paying attention to.

Over the past month, I got to hear some of the leading lights in the field, notably professors John Warner and Paul Anastas, speak about what green chemistry is and its effects. Click here for the full report.

Chemicals touch so many industries that the ideas behind green chemistry, such as reducing waste and making non-hazardous materials, can be applied very widely--electronics, pharmaceuticals, biofuels, bioplastics, water purification, green buildings, consumer health and care products.

In just one example, Anatsas, professor of … Read more