Periodic Tabloid

“A mathematician is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat which isn't there.” This remark contains the truism that looking for a black object in the dark is challenging, even if the object is there. And what is the blackest known material? A recent report from the University of Michigan reveals that single-walled carbon nanotube forests fit the bill as the blackest of them all.

Orlando Battista was a prolific polymer chemist; there are over 65 patents to his name. But his scientific career wouldn't have happened without his non-scientific talents.

Music aficionados swear that instruments by Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri are the very definition of superlative. Could it be physics: the shape and structure of the instrument producing perfect intonation? Or could it be chemistry: the varnish and other finishes adding the final definitive touch to timbre excellence? A new study suggests it may be neither.

The ubiquitous elements that are both in our bodies and our environment are the focus of Dove Bradshaw’s 2004 print Song of Which (Evelina kneeling, looking left). Bradshaw, an internationally acclaimed artist based in New York, recently offered to donate this work to CHF's collections. We are thrilled to have a work that poetically suggests that we are physical and chemical selves, made up of the same carbon and nitrogen that is in the soil and the stars.

Most people’s resolutions are old favorites like losing weight, exercising more, not obsessing about things you can’t change, or volunteering for a favorite charity. We no longer have the happiness of 2011’s International Year of Chemistry, but since I'm still intent on taking a chemistry centric view, I offer the following resolutions for 2012.

The International Year of Chemistry technically ended with 2011, but it’s clear from IYC’s  event page that the celebrations – and discussions – aren’t over.

As the International Year of Chemistry draws to a close it seems fitting to offer seasonal greetings to all those in the chemical and wider scientific communities who believe in the power of chemistry to make life better. Thus, I offer the traditional salutation in several languages of CHF friends and supporters.

Hydrogen sulfide is toxic, flammable, and smelly. Think rotten eggs and you’ve identified this simple gas. It is commonly found in natural gas and has uses in the synthetic chemistry of sulfur compounds. H₂S is also produced by many kinds of bacteria, but until illuminated by a recent paper its function was generally a mystery. The new work reveals that inactivation of H₂S production renders clinically nasty bacteria much more susceptible to most ordinary antibiotics.

Most of CHF’s oral histories focus on scientists—the individuals producing scientific research. But CHF also has an insider’s look into how that research gets to others, via the interviewees in our Scientific and Technical Information Systems collection. One of these interviewees is Claire Schultz, who observed wartime technologies turn into to computerization and, ultimately, the internet – a tool that would revolutionize scientific research and human knowledge worldwide.

A popular sport at this time of year is the gift guide—suggestions of cool items for every possible taste. You can find guides for men, women, teens, babies, and other assorted humans, for techies, for design and arts fans, and even for tree huggers. I couldn’t find one for chemistry aficionados, however, so here is my own offering to fill this vital gap.