Data archiving with molecules

Reading synthetic polymers as data storage more efficiently

30-Oct-2024 - More and more data needs to be stored, often long-term. Synthetic polymers are an alternative to conventional storage media, as they retain stored information with significantly lower space and energy requirements. However, mass spectrometric data readout limits the length and thus the storage ...

Effects of chemical mixtures: Neurotoxic effects add up

Study demonstrates for the first time the toxicological relevance of chemical mixtures as they occur in humans

22-Oct-2024 - Chemicals are omnipresent today: they enter our bodies through food, air or the skin. But how do these complex mixtures of chemicals affect our health? In a study published in the journal Science, a research team from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) has shown that chemicals ...

Sulfurous acid H2SO3 - and it does exist

World's first proof under atmospheric conditions calls textbook opinion into question

05-Sep-2024 - Once again, the atmosphere amazes us with its diverse chemical processes. For the first time, researchers at the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS) in Leipzig have demonstrated the existence of sulfurous acid (H2SO3) under atmospheric conditions in the gas phase. The results ...

Evidence stacks up for poisonous books containing toxic dyes

21-Aug-2024 - If you come across brightly colored, cloth-bound books from the Victorian era, you might want to handle them gently, or even steer clear altogether. Some of their attractive hues come from dyes that could pose a health risk to readers, collectors or librarians. The latest research on these ...

Four-legged, dog-like robot ‘sniffs’ hazardous gases in inaccessible environments

Portable mass spectrometry for on-site detection of hazardous volatile organic compounds via robotic extractive sampling

12-Jun-2024 - Nightmare material or truly man’s best friend? A team of researchers equipped a dog-like quadruped robot with a mechanized arm that takes air samples from potentially treacherous situations, such as an abandoned building or fire. The robot dog walks samples to a person who screens them for ...

Uptake of tire wear additives by vegetables grown for human consumption

Chemical residues from tyre wear detected in leafy vegetables for the first time

06-Jun-2024 - Car tires contain hundreds of chemical additives that can leach out of them. This is how they end up in crops and subsequently in the food chain. Researchers at the Center for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science at the University of Vienna and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have ...

The longer spilled oil lingers in freshwater, the more persistent compounds it produces

Weathering assessments of polar and non-polar petroleum components using Orbitrap and Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry.

01-May-2024 - Oil is an important resource for many industries, but it can lead to serious environmental damage when accidentally spilled. While large oil spills are highly publicized, every year there are many smaller-scale spills into lakes, rivers and oceans. And, according to research published in ...

Detect 'forever chemicals' in under 3 minutes

New lab-based method to detect traces of PFAS from food packaging material, water and soil samples

12-Feb-2024 - PFAS have earned the name “forever chemicals” with good reason — the man-made compounds, which can take thousands of years to degrade and are found in everything from grease-resistant food packaging to water-repellent clothing, have made their way into nearlyhalf the U.S. tap water supply. Now, ...

PFAS flow equally between Arctic Ocean and Atlantic Ocean

How PFAS travel around the world

16-Jan-2024 - The frigid Arctic Ocean is far removed from the places most people live, but even so, “forever chemicals” reach this remote landscape. Now, research in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology Letters suggests that per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) won't stay there indefinitely. Instead, ...

Machine learning boosts search for new materials

Scientists have developed deep-learning models that can sift through the massive amounts of data generated by X-ray diffraction techniques

29-Dec-2023 - Scientists from theUniversity of Rochestersay deep learning can supercharge a technique that is already the gold standard for characterizing new materials. In annpj Computational Materialspaper, the interdisciplinary team describes models they developed to better leverage the massive amounts ...