Toward the World's Smallest Radio
A graduate student of the University of California-Irvine demonstrates world's first working version of a carbon nanotube radio system. A report on this amazing device appeared in Nano Letters, one of the American Chemical Society's 36 peer-revewed scientific journals. This video was among supporting materials for the research paper.
Peter Burke and Chris Rutherglen developed a carbon nanotube "demodulator" that is capable of translating AM radio waves into sound. In a laboratory demonstration, the researchers incorporated the detector into a complete radio system and used it to successfully transmit classical music wirelessly from an iPod to a speaker several feet away from the music player. Nano is short for "nanometer," and that means small, so small that thousands of the carbon nanotube radio devices would fit across the diameter of a human hair. Video Copyright 2007, American Chemical Society

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Laundry Detergents With An On/Off Switch
In a report to the 234th national meeting of the American Chemical Society, scientists in Australia described development of a new detergent with a wide range of potential applications — from a laundry detergent that hardly needs a rinse cycle to a non-irritating eye rinse to increasing the amount of oil that companies can extract from a well.
Here is how Annette Dexter, Ph.D., of the University of Queensland described the biological detergent or surfactant, called a Pepfactant ®. "Dexter is a biochemist and co-inventor of the material along with colleague Anton Middelberg, a chemical engineer:
"One of the possible applications that we are aware of is a surfactant that would switch between the wash cycle and rinse cycle during clothes washing, which would mean you could remove visible suds without having to use as large a quantity of water."
IN THE VIDEO:
The tube on the left shows an emulsion, a combination of oil and water. The tube on the right shows the rapid separation of the emulsion into oil and water after addition of the Pepfactant ®.
(Video Courtesy of Annette Dexter, The University of Queensland)

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Kids and Parents at ACS Health & Wellness Event

Hundreds of children and parents in the Boston area got first-hand experience with health and wellness topics Sunday during a special event at the 234th national meeting of the American Chemical Society. Theygathered at the Museum of Science in Boston for a program entitled "Chemistry in Action: Health and Wellness." It featured experiments on protection from ultraviolet rays, healthful food choices, testing for glucose and other health and wellness-related subjects.

The objective was to give children a better appreciation for science and scientists and to help them understand the many ways chemistry affects their everyday lives. Lending a hand at the event were volunteers from ACS Student Affiliates Chapters in the greater Boston area; ACS member volunteers from the Committee on Community Activities; and ACS staff. The ACS Office of Community Activities sponsored the event. (more) (less)

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It's Alive!!!
Not quite — yet, anyway. In an advance toward giving artificial cells the ability to move, one of the hallmarks of life, chemists in Japan and Italy endowed the oil droplet shown in this video with the ability to undergo sustained, forward movement. The Journal of the American Chemical Society reported the achievement, and the American Chemical Society Office of Communications has more information.
Video Courtesy of Tadashi Sugawara, University of Tokyo

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