Tag: chemistry
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U.S. Cosmetics Company Opens China R&D Center
Estée Lauder Companies Inc. in New York (ELC) is opening its Asia Innovation Center in Shanghai, China. The new center expands on the company’s research lab that opened in China in 2005. ELC has been doing business in China since 1993. The company says the center will help develop products tailored to the needs of…
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Adverse Effects Found with Permanent Hair Dye, Moisturizers
The Norwegian Institute of Public Health issued its first report of adverse effects from cosmetic products and found permanent hair dyes and face and body moisturizers to register the most severe or highest number of reports from health professionals. The institute defines cosmetic products as “all products that are applied to the external parts of…
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Solvay to Form Research Center at Korean Women’s University
Solvay, a chemical company in Brussels, Belgium, says it will locate its Korean research center on the campus of EWHA Women’s University in Seoul. The company’s investment in this venture will total EUR 16.8 million (USD 24.0 million). Solvay plans to invest EUR 13 million in a Research, Development and Technology (RDT) Centre at EWHA.…
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Process Devised for Custom-Made Composite Materials
Materials scientists and engineers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge have developed a process for generating composite materials with customized mechanical properties. The team published its findings last month in the journal Advanced Materials (paid subscription required). The research, funded by the U.S. Army, started looking into materials that could serve as armor for…
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Challenge Seeks Faster, Simpler Crop Analysis Methods
A new challenge on InnoCentive seeks better tools for farmers to evaluate their management practices and improve the use of fertilizer and other crop inputs. The competition, sponsored by the Environmental Defense Fund and the Iowa Soybean Association, will award a $15,000 prize to the winning entry. The deadline for the challenge is 13 August…
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Hydrogen for Energy Generated from Ethanol, Sunlight
A team of researchers from Scotland, New Zealand, and Spain have developed a simpler and less expensive technology to generate hydrogen for energy. Their findings appear online in the journal Nature Chemistry (paid subscription required). In this process, a solid photocatalyst is placed in a container with ethanol and exposed to ultraviolet light, part of…
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Virginia Universities Form Nanotech Research Center
The University of Virginia in Charlottesville, College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, and Old Dominion University in Norfolk, have begun a joint center to advance research in electronics based on nanotechnology. The Virginia Nanoelectronics Center (ViNC) will study properties of and develop materials at nanoscale, where one nanometer is equal to one billionth of…
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Non-Narcotic Natural Pain Killer Synthesized
Scientists from the Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, Florida have synthesized a rare natural product isolated from the bark of a plant widely used in traditional medicine, that has potential as a non-narcotic pain killer. Their findings appear online in the journal Nature Chemistry (paid subscription required). The study defined a way to generate quantities…
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Silver Nanoparticles Generated in Natural Environment
A team of university and government chemists have found that given a source of silver ions, naturally occurring humic acid can synthesize stable silver nanoparticles. The researchers published their findings last month in the journal Environmental Science and Technology (paid subscription required). Nanoscale silver particles — one nanometer equals one-billionth of a meter — are…
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Challenge Seeks New Pseudoephedrine Production Process
InnoCentive in Waltham, Massachusetts has released a challenge with a $100,000 award for new methods of producing the common medication pseudoephedrine that make it very difficult to extract ingredients for the illegal drug methamphetamine. InnoCentive acts as a marketplace that brings together companies or organizations seeking solutions with groups or individuals interested in providing those…