What if trains, planes and automobiles all were powered simply by the air through which they move? What if their exhaust and by-products helped the environment? Such an energy-efficient, self-propelling mechanism already exists in nature. The salp, a small, barrel-shaped organism that resembles a streamlined jellyfish, gets everything it needs from ocean waters to feed and propel itself…

Researchers have collected venom from octopuses in Antarctica for the first time, significantly advancing our understanding of the properties of venom as a potential resource for drug-development…

Two of the world’s largest scientific societies have unveiled new Web sites showcasing information intended to help the general public better understand how the science of chemistry can help solve global challenges such as global climate change, abundant food, safe drinking water, new energy sources, and medical breakthroughs looming in the 21st Century…

A new Florida State University study is investigating how quickly the Deepwater Horizon oil carried into Gulf of Mexico beach sands is being degraded by the sands’ natural microbial communities, and whether native oil-eating bacteria that wash ashore with the crude are helping or hindering that process. What oceanography professors Markus Huettel and Joel E…

Male fish that used to be feminized after chemicals, such as the pharmaceutical ethinylestradiol, made it through the Boulder, Colo., Wastewater Treatment Plant and into Boulder Creek, are taking longer to become feminized after a plant upgrade to an activated sludge process, according to a new study. The results will be presented Sunday at The Endocrine Society’s 92nd Annual Meeting in San Diego…

With bed bugs reemerging as a nuisance in some parts of the country, scientists are reporting the first preliminary description of the bug’s sialome - the saliva proteins that are the secret to Cimex lectularius’ ability to suck blood from its human victims and escape to bite again without risking a lethal slap…

As you go about your day-to-day activities, tiny bubbles of nitrogen come and go inside your tissues. This is not a problem unless you happen to experience large changes in ambient pressure, such as those encountered by scuba divers and astronauts. During large, fast pressure drops, these bubbles can grow and lead to decompression sickness, popularly known as “the bends…

Using a chemical trick that allows them to change the acidity of a solution almost instantly, a team at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has demonstrated a simple and effective technique for quantifying how the stability of nanoparticle solutions change when the acidity of their environment suddenly changes*…

A Johns Hopkins team has identified a protein in sensory cells on the “tongues” of fruit flies that allows them to detect a noxious chemical and, ultimately, influences their decision about what to eat and what to avoid…

On March 20th, the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, and the Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of the Environment, released the draft screening assessment reports for 17 substances assessed in Batch 9 of the Chemicals Management Plan. Proposed risk management information on Batch 9 substances was also provided for those substances considered likely to require actions to reduce risks…