Periodic Tabloid

Both the iPad and the cell phone are hard, very stiff, and prone to damage if dropped. But suppose they could be made of a flexible material that could be rolled up, squished at will, and stuck anywhere? Sounds impossible based on current technology, but a group of chemists based in Korea and Illinois have an intriguing new possibility—graphene transistors.

This month’s item comes hot off the processor’s desk. One of our archivists is currently processing a collection and came across a newspaper from Midland, Michigan (home to Dow Chemical) on the day that the company’s founder, Herbert H. Dow passed away.

Oil powers the modern world, both as a source of fuel and as the supply for many of the fundamental building blocks of organic chemistry. Someday—exactly when is the basis of much debate—we will run out of oil, so naturally one wonders what we will do in that eventuality. One prospect was announced two years ago when the oil giant ExxonMobil teamed up with the ambitious biotech Synthetic Genomics on a project to create biofuels from lowly algae.

Think your fluoridated drinking water protects you from Halloween-related cavities? A recent article in The New York Times carried the headline, “Looking to Save Money, More Places Decide to Stop Fluoridating the Water.” It follows last year’s report from the National Center for Health Statistics, which showing an increased occurrence of dental fluorosis, a flecking or mottling of the tooth enamel that occurs when children ingest too much fluoride. Does the combination of increased fluorosis and cash-strapped governments mean the end of fluoridated water?

Observation of nature is a pleasant task—field work is surely one motivation for choosing to become a scientist—but such work can also be tedious and time consuming. Is there a faster alternative? The answer is dirt, specifically the DNA fragments left behind in dirt by living creatures.

Planet Money is a great podcast that explores timely stories and issues through a global economic lens. Sound wonky? You might be surprised. You might also be surprised how often economics and chemistry overlap. The show a few weeks ago focused on the economics of energy and featured an interview with author Daniel Yergin about his new book The Quest, which focuses on the engineers and scientists who are searching for energy alternatives.

Julius Blank, a co-founder of Fairchild Semiconductor, passed away last month. In his obituary The New York Times described Blank as one of the two key engineers who built the microchip machinery that continues to power our world. One of his greatest achievements, along with Eugene Kleiner, was engineering the mass production of silicon chips from the ground up.

There is a large class of proteins called cyclins that regulate normal cell growth and division. Since cancer is a result of aberrant growth it comes as no surprise that cyclin over-expression is associated with many types of cancer. It would also follow that drugs aimed at suppressing hyperactive cyclins would present an intriguing opportunity as new therapeutic agents. Alas, no such drug yet exists for the treatment of human cancer.

The Nobel Prize is a symbol of great achievement in science and literature, but the history of this sought-after award says that the best man (or woman) does not always win. The tale of one American physical chemist illustrates why.

Yesterday a group of local art, science, and education organizations convened in Philadelphia’s Crane Arts Building to inspire the next generation of young artists and environmentalists. My colleague Gigi Naglak and I were thrilled to set up a CHF booth amidst food trucks and musical acts to participate in this mighty effort.