American Chemical Society

Will bubble-powered microrockets zoom through the human stomach?

Journal of the American Chemical Society Scientists have developed a new kind of tiny motor — which they term a “microrocket” — that can propel itself through acidic environments, such as the human stomach, without any external energy source, opening the way to a variety of medical and industrial applications. Their report in the Journal of the American Chemical Society describes the microrockets traveling at virtual warp speed for such devices. A human moving at the same speed would have to run at a clip of 400 miles per hour.

ACS Nano Letters co-editors A. Paul Alivisatos and Charles M. Lieber win prestigious Wolf Foundation

WASHINGTON, — A. Paul Alivisatos, Ph.D., and Charles M. Lieber, Ph.D., co-editors of the American Chemical Society (ACS) peer-reviewed journal, Nano Letters, are among eight winners of the prestigious Wolf Prize for 2012.

Outlook for an industry that touches 96 percent of all manufactured goods

The chemical industry, which touches 96 percent of all manufactured goods, is seeing some positive signs for 2012, although the overall outlook is not very rosy. Growing demand for chemicals used in agriculture, electronics, cars and airplanes will boost an industry that generates $674 billion in sales in the U.S. alone, but expiring patents and global economic woes will take a toll. These forecasts and others are in the cover story in the current issue of Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly news magazine of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society.

Tear drops may rival blood drops in testing blood sugar in diabetes

Scientists are reporting development and successful laboratory testing of an electrochemical sensor device that has the potential to measure blood sugar levels from tears instead of blood — an advance that could save the world’s 350 million diabetes patients the discomfort of pricking their fingers for droplets of blood used in traditional blood sugar tests. Their report appears in ACS’ journal Analytical Chemistry.

Advance toward an imaging agent for diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease

Scientists are reporting development and initial laboratory tests of an imaging agent that shows promise for detecting the tell-tale signs of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in the brain — signs that now can’t confirm a diagnosis until after patients have died. Their report appears in the journal ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters.

Why do dew drops do what they do on leaves?

Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore once wrote, “Let your life lightly dance on the edges of time like dew on the tip of a leaf.” Now, a new study is finally offering an explanation for why small dew drops do as Tagore advised and form on the tips, rather than the flat surfaces, of leaves. It appears in ACS’ journal Langmuir.

Why coffee drinking reduces the risk of Type 2 diabetes

Why do heavy coffee drinkers have a lower risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, a disease on the increase around the world that can lead to serious health problems? Scientists are offering a new solution to that long-standing mystery in a report in ACS’ Journal of Agricultural & Food Chemistry.