Mindfully Curated
An ancient biological enzyme known as nickel-iron hydrogenase may play a key role in producing hydrogen for a renewables-based energy economy, researchers said. Careful study of the enzyme has led chemists to design a synthetic molecule that mimics the…
Salt marshes are some of the most biologically productive ecosystems on Earth. They play an outsized role in nitrogen cycling, act as carbon sinks, protect coastal development from storm surge, and provide critical habitats and nurseries for many fish,…
Scientists often look to the past for clues about how Earth’s landscapes might shift under a changing climate, and for insight into the migrations of human communities through time. A new study offers both by providing, for the first time, a reconstruc…
Chemists have achieved a new feat in the realm of chemical design and synthesis: They’ve helped create the first example of a synthetic molecule, with an asymmetric oxygen atom as its centerpiece, that remains stable and nonreactive — despite this typ…
A group of researchers discovered that the rhodopsin — a protein in the eye that detects light — of whale sharks has changed to efficiently detect blue light, which penetrates deep-sea water easily. The amino acid substitutions — one of which is cou…
Scientists have employed inventive chemistry to produce an injectable biomaterial with significantly improved adhesive strength, stretchability, and toughness. This chemically modified, gelatin-based hydrogel had attractive features, including rapid ge…