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Lee Cronin [mp4] Scientists at the University of Glasgow say they have taken their first tentative steps towards creating 'life' from inorganic chemicals potentially defining the new area of 'inorganic biology'. Professor Lee Cronin, Gardiner Chair of Chemistry in the College of Science and Engineering, and his team have demonstrated a new way of making inorganic-chemical-cells or iCHELLS.

Regulations that control chemicals used to make the drug 'ice' work, but they come at a cost, according to new research published today in the journal Addiction. Lead author Rebecca McKetin from the Centre for Mental Health Research at The Australian National University said the paper reviewed the results of credible studies on the impacts of what are known as 'precursor regulations'.

Researchers have successfully incorporated a diagnostic biological "computer" network in human cells. This network recognizes certain cancer cells using logic combinations of five cancer-specific molecular factors, triggering cancer cells destruction. Yaakov (Kobi) Benenson, from ETH Zurich, has spent a large part of his career developing biological computers that operate in living cells.

Tiny particles that measure microRNA levels in tissue samples could help diagnose and monitor many diseases. CAMBRIDGE, Mass. ' About 10 years ago, scientists discovered a new type of genetic material called microRNA, which appears to turn genes on or off inside a cell. More recently, they found that these genetic snippets often go haywire in cancer cells, contributing to tumors' uncontrollable growth.

Exposure during pregnancy to flame retardant chemicals commonly found in the home is linked to lower birthweight babies, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley's School of Public Health. In the study, to appear Tuesday, Aug. 30, in the peer-reviewed publication American Journal of Epidemiology , researchers found that every tenfold increase in levels of PBDEs, or polybrominated diphenyl ethers, in a mother's blood during pregnancy corresponded to a 115 gram (4.1 ounce) drop in her baby's birthweight.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. A new physics-based theory could give researchers a deeper understanding of the unusual, slow dynamics of liquids composed of large polymers. This advance provides a better picture of how polymer molecules respond under fast-flow, high-stress processing conditions for plastics and other polymeric materials.

University of Minnesota professor part of international team that finds primordial cloud of hydrogen to be centrally powered MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (08/17/2011) —University of Minnesota physics and astronomy professor Claudia Scarlata in the College of Science and Engineering is part of an international collaboration that has shed light on the power source of a rare vast cloud of glowing gas in the early Universe.

Organic semiconductors hold immense promise for use in thin film and flexible displays - picture an iPad you can roll up - but they haven't yet reached the speeds needed to drive high definition displays. Inorganic materials such as silicon are fast and durable, but don't bend, so the search for a fast, durable organic semiconductor continues.

In the world of solar energy, organic photovoltaic solar cells have a wide range of potential applications, but they are still considered an upstart. While these carbon-based cells, which use organic polymers or small molecules as semiconductors, are much thinner and less expensive to produce than conventional solar cells made with inorganic silicon wafers, they still lag behind in their ability to efficiently convert sunlight into electricity.

A team of researchers has shown for the first time that chemical reactions at the nano-level which change the structure of carbon nanotubes can be sparked by an 'attack' from within. The discovery challenges previous scientific thinking that the internal surface of the hollow nanostructures is chemically unreactive, largely restricting their use to that of an inert container or a 'nano-reactor' inside which other chemical reactions can take place.

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has spotted the signature of flat carbon flakes, called graphene, in space. If confirmed, this would be the first-ever cosmic detection of the material - which is arranged like chicken wire in flat sheets that are one atom thick. Graphene was first synthesized in a lab in 2004, and subsequent research on its unique properties garnered the Nobel Prize in 2010.

Prostate cancer that has become resistant to hormone treatment and that does not respond to radiation or chemotherapy requires new methods of treatment. By attacking stem cell-like cells in prostate cancer, researchers at Lund University are working on a project to develop a new treatment option.

Cambridge, MA - Astronomers have discovered the darkest known exoplanet - a distant, Jupiter-sized gas giant known as TrES-2b. Their measurements show that TrES-2b reflects less than one percent of the sunlight falling on it, making it blacker than coal or any planet or moon in our solar system. "TrES-2b is considerably less reflective than black acrylic paint, so it's truly an alien world," said astronomer David Kipping of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), lead author on the paper reporting the research.

PA 239/11 Research involving scientists from The University of Nottingham is pioneering a new method of studying and making molecules. The work, reported , could pave the way for the production of nanomaterials for use in a new generation of computers and data storage devices that are faster, smaller and more powerful.

A research team has harnessed neutrons to view for the first time the critical role that an elusive molecule plays in certain biological reactions. LOS ALAMOS, New Mexico, August 8, 2011—A Los Alamos National Laboratory research team has harnessed neutrons to view for the first time the critical role that an elusive molecule plays in certain biological reactions.

Scientists have discovered a technique to track urban atmospheric plumes, thanks to a unique isotopic signature found in vehicle emissions. Brian Giebel, a marine and atmospheric chemistry graduate student working with University of Miami researchers Daniel Riemer and Peter Swart, discovered that ethanol mixed in vehicle fuel is not completely burned, and that ethanol released in the engine's exhaust has a higher 13C to 12C ratio when compared to natural emissions from most living plants.

Scientists from the University of Birmingham studying the effects of the widely-used pesticide fenitrothion, have discovered unexpected cell damage in a common freshwater fish, roach, exposed to the toxin. With colleagues from the universities of Exeter and Sussex the researchers exposed male roach to the pesticide for 28 days then studied the metabolites in their cells.

CHAMPAIGN, lll. They make up less than one-hundredth of 1 percent of the microbes that live in the colon, but the bacteria and archaea that sop up hydrogen in the gut are fundamental to colon health. In a new study, researchers take a first look at these "hydrogenotrophic" microbes, mapping where they live and how abundant they are in different parts of the lower intestine.

Experiments support controversial theory about how water behaves in confined spaces, providing insights for biology and manufacturing. CAMBRIDGE, Mass. An MIT doctoral student and a team of researchers have carried out new experiments supporting a controversial theory about water's behavior that could help explain some of its mysteries.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. Glucose meters aren't just for diabetics anymore. Thanks to University of Illinois chemists, they can be used as simple, portable, inexpensive meters for a number of target molecules in blood, serum, water or food.