Chemical Business & Science News

Uninsured minority pedestrians hit by cars are at a significantly higher risk of death than their insured white counterparts, even if the injuries sustained are similar, new research suggests.

Experiments prompted by a 2008 surprise from NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander suggest that soil examined by NASA's Viking Mars landers in 1976 may have contained carbon-based chemical building blocks of life.

Researchers have developed a new type of pump for drug-delivery patches that might use arrays of "microneedles" to deliver a wider range of medications than now possible with conventional patches.

The higher up a male bonobo is placed in the social hierarchy, the greater his mating success is with female bonobos, researchers have found. But even males who are not so highly placed still have a chance of impressing females. A new study finds evidence of direct support from mothers to their sons in agonistic conflicts over access to estrous females.

Survival rates in heart failure patients with reduced levels of vitamin D are lower than in patients with normal levels. This is the finding of a major study carried out in the Netherlands.

A doctoral student who discovered a new species of bee in Toronto has completed a study of 84 species of sweat bees in Canada. Nineteen of these species are new to science -- never before identified -- including the new Toronto bee, which is actually quite common in eastern Canada and the US. The new research will help scientists track bee diversity, and understand pollination biology and insect social behavior.

Move over, Sunbelt. The New North is coming through, a geographer predicts in a new book. As worldwide population increases by 40 percent over the next 40 years, sparsely populated Canada, Scandinavia, Russia and the northern United States will become formidable economic powers and migration magnets, Laurence C. Smith writes.

Only about one in every six Americans who have ever been overweight or obese loses weight and maintains that loss, according to researchers.

As anyone who has ever struggled to keep his or her eyes open after a big meal knows, eating can induce sleepiness. New research in fruit flies suggests that, conversely, being hungry may provide a way to stay awake without feeling groggy or mentally challenged.

With a loud roar and mighty column of flame, NASA and ATK Aerospace Systems successfully completed a two-minute, full-scale test of the largest and most powerful solid rocket motor designed for flight. The motor is potentially transferable to future heavy-lift launch vehicle designs.

Iron deficiency is a relatively common nutritional disorder that affects more than one third of the general population, and is often associated with chronic diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, Parkinson's disease, rheumatoid diseases and renal failure. New research has demonstrated that iron deficiency also affects at least one-third of non-anaemic chronic heart failure patients.

Scientists have determined the fine-scale genetic structure of the first animal to show an evolutionary response to rapid climate change.

A former Dow research scientist has been charged with stealing trade secrets

Simple three-step synthesis produces mesoporous millimetre-sized carbon spheres that remove toxic substances from blood

Microneedle device offers pain-free detection of disease-specific proteins in the skin

A cheap modification can sweep away dust in minutes, no brushing required

Helma Wennemers is known for her contagious enthusiasm for science. Joanne Thomson gets infected

Water vapour has been detected in the dust cloud of a carbon-rich star, suggesting previously unrecognised photochemistry could be taking place

Sealed up carbon nanotubes containing radioactive salts could be the ultimate in targeted radiotherapy, say researchers

The performance of organic light emitting diodes could be enhanced by employing better purification and depositing techniques