09/03/10 @ 1:37PM EST
posted by will

Everything looks more epic with a desert horizon in the background, right? Also, excimer brought to my attention a great tumblr full of entertaining abstracts: TOCROFL. I can't be expected to keep up with them, so supplement your Will and Beyond reading.

(Also, as sam from everyday scientist points out, if you subscribe to any ACS journals via RSS, they switched over to using Feedburner, so you'll have to go through and resubscribe manually.  They could have at least sent out a last warning post via the feed...)

[Image: Nano Letters]

Twirly 'neath blue sky
But where is the sand texture
Long ass graphene strain

Godspeed.

[Comments: 0][Tags: science, art, abstract of the day]

09/01/10 @ 10:28PM EST
posted by will

See all of those lines and dots? Made with lasers! This is NIST610, a standard containing traces of all of the rare-earth elements.

This is what we used for calibrating the ICP-MS, which allows you to get the relative ratio of elements in a sample, useful for verifying amounts within doped samples.  You can see the plasma here.

Lasers are fun stuff
They make pretty lines and shapes
Expensive machine...

Godspeed.

[Comments: 0][Tags: science]

08/25/10 @ 4:42PM EST
posted by will

And that wraps up ACS. (Technically it's still running Thursday, but not much is happening at that point.) Fun times. Nothing interesting was happening in inorganic today so I just went to a bunch of assorted talks.

• Multiscale simulation of proton exchange membranes*
• Preparation of polymers conjugated with p-extended quinone: Optical and redox properties of the polymers
• Redox-driven structural folding and unfolding: Electronic communication between TTF units anchored onto a C₂-symmtric aryleneethynylene scaffold
• Conjugated polymers that respond to oxidation with increased emission
• Bitter, twisted truth of the hop
• Dry water: Can we still make waves?
• Nano Letters 10th Anniversary Reception

*This was actually meant to be a talk on carbon nanotubes, but apparently Grand Ballroom C and Commonwealth Ballroom C are different rooms. Sigh.

You can see above that they shut down the expo today, that was around 2pm (after I got some free lunch and more free swag thankfully). Tomorrow I plan to wander around Boston, hopefully the weather will cooperate.

At some point I might do some sort of wrap-up post, but we'll see.

Goodbye ACS
There were many many talks
And now I'm burnt out

Godspeed.

[Comments: 0][Tags: acs, science]

08/25/10 @ 10:45AM EST
posted by will

Not so many talks today, ended up sleeping in and spending more time at the expo:

• Nanomaterials for energy storage
• Chemical strategies in nanoscience
• Some memories and then some new chemistry of single walled carbon nanotubes
• Medicinal Chemistry Letters Reception
• Various Poster Sessions

And while I was at the expo, I met up with my good friend E.J. Corey. I wonder if he was at the Plagiarism in the Woodward-Hoffmann rules talk yesterday?

The conference is definitely winding down, most of the relevant talks for me were on days 1 and 2, and even most of the more interesting interdisciplanary talks were earlier as well. It's been pouring down rain pretty hard all week, otherwise I'd be tempted to ditch out for some of Wednesday or Thursday to sightsee. Hopefully it will tone down a bit for Thursday.

Bit burnt out on talks
Got lots of free expo swag
Rain, rain, go away

Godspeed.

[Comments: 0][Tags: acs, science]

08/24/10 @ 5:17PM EST
posted by will

Not quite as many talks as Day 1, but definitely some good ones.

• Lanthanide-based hybrid nanoparticles for biomedical imaging
• Naphthalimide sensitized lanthanide(III) luminescence
• Room temperature colloidal synthesis of magnetic EuTe nanoparticles
• All oxygen donor ligands as efficient antennae for lanthanide luminescence
• Was plagiarism involved in the development of the Woodward—Hoffmann rules?
• Physical properties of PbEuS nanocrystals
• The Power of Procrastination
• Sci-Mix Poster Session

A lot of relevant talks (found someone doing very similar stuff...)  The talk on the Woodward-Hoffmann rules was really good.

Read more...

[Comments: 0][Tags: acs, science]

06/29/10 @ 11:03PM EST
posted by will

Not being able to smell bad things (amines, thiols) is superficially awesome. Sadly, I don't know when brain cells are dying, so I need to keep canaries (undergrads) around.

I'd write up the stories here, but they're just not as fun without flailing hand gestures, ask me in person if you haven't been enlightened yet. (Hint: wafting is good.)

[Photo: Surviving the World]

"What the hell is that?"
"Hmm?" "Something some smells damn putrid!"
"Oh oops, right. Smelling."

Godspeed.

[Comments: 0][Tags: science]

05/06/10 @ 4:26PM EST
posted by will

As I was going through my RSS reader I came across the following abstract:

"On the Origin of Siphonariid Polypropionates: Total Synthesis of Baconipyrone A, Baconipyrone C, and Siphonarin B via their Putative Common Precursor"

My obvious first thought was: holy shit a bacon molecule? I'm switching into total synthesis. I did some searching and the first article I could find about the baconipyrones was this: "The baconipyrones. Novel polypropionates from the pulmonate Siphonaria baconi"

These have nothing to do with bacon, they're just named after Siphonaria baconi, which Wikipedia tells me is some sort of sea snail.

But... it's not bacon?
Disappointment of the day
I'm devastated.

Godspeed.

[Comments: 2][Tags: bacon, science]

01/28/10 @ 10:45AM EST
posted by will

I guess we better stick to production.

[via: SMBC]

Don't see the issue
It's proper nomenclature
Yay chemist humor

Godspeed.

[Comments: 0][Tags: science]

01/23/10 @ 6:49AM EST
posted by will

...for Emus and Ostriches. Research posted in Systemic Biology shows that the loss of flight ability closely correlates to the era of dinosaur extinction. With their primary predators gone, Ratites (the order of flightless birds that include the "ostrich, rheas, kiwi, emu, and cassowaries, along with extinct members, such as moa and elephant birds" gradually lost the ability to fly due to massive weight gain.

I for one anticipate that someday humans will become too fat to run or walk if our only predator ever dies out.

This development would eliminate the need for certain patterns of continental breakup. If these birds could once fly, we wouldn't need to have the continents once aligned in patterns in which they could walk from one to another where they are currently found.

[Photo: Flickr]
[Discovered: Telegraph]
[Via: @tweetscience]

Spielberg should have made
Flying ostriches, et al
In Jurassic Park

Godspeed.

[Comments: 0][Tags: science]

01/22/10 @ 12:33PM EST
posted by will

Chemistry of Materials just published: Symbiotic Coaxial Nanocables: Facile Synthesis and an Efficient and Elegant Morphological Solution to the Lithium Storage Problem.

Symbiosis leads to the yin-yang I suppose, and that's a cool picture of the coaxial nanocable (carbon nanotube coated with TiO₂.)

Lithium storage
Yin and yang, very zen-like
Pretty cable too

Godspeed.

[Comments: 0][Tags: art, science, abstract of the day]