Disaster In The Gulf
Quote of the Week
"Disclosing the end product of a process is not the same thing as disclosing the process to make that end product."
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY POLICY – p. 36
June 14, 2010
In This Issue:
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Highlights
Cover Story
Failure On Many Fronts
The BP oil spill shows the U.S.'s inability to plan for, control, and clean up an environmental disaster due to deep-sea drilling. (pp. 15-24)
Science & Technology
Speeding Up Separationsl(Member Content)
Ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography improves separations and cuts run times by as much as 90%. (pp. 40-44)
Employment
Promoting Diversity Through Conversation
Foreign-born chemists have rich life histories to share, they're just waiting for someone to ask. (pp. 49-52)
Table of Contents
Disaster In The Gulf
BP's Ever-Growing Oil Spill pp. 15-24
Environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico Reveals U.S.'s inability to plan for, control, and clean up oil spills in deep waters.
President, Some Members Of Congress Hope BP Spill Will Invigorate Energy Legislation Push p. 18
Oil Spill Leads To Fame And Fury For Makers Of Dispersant Chemicals p. 22
Scientists Use Social Networking To Study Spill p. 24
Chronology Of A Catastrophe pp. 16-17
News Of The Week
New Personnel At Science Foundation p. 9
Appointments: MIT's Subra Suresh nominated to lead agency; new Chemistry Division head named.
Court Convicts Bhopal Managers p. 10
Gas Tragedy: Judge in India rules that former Carbide officials were criminally negligent.
Nature Publishing May Face Boycott p. 10
Publishing: University of California libraries decry journal price hikes.
Iodine Catalysis Goes Green p. 11
Synthetic Chemistry: Oxidative cyclization route to chiral drug scaffolds is metal-free.
Fast Track p. 11
Patent applicants could request expedited reviews for an additional fee.
Suits Target Bayer Schering p. 12
Court Case: Claimants say 1970s-era pregnancy test drug caused birth defects.
Nanoreduction Of Graphene Oxide p. 12
Materials: Scanning probe method patterns insulator with conducting features.
Catalyst Goes Viral p. 13
Nanotechnology: Material grown on a virus template performs better than catalysts grown conventionally.
Strike At University of Puerto Rico Impacts Research p. 13
Academe: Despite disruptions, chemistry faculty and students continue working.
Business
FDA Struggles To Keep Up In India pp. 28-31 (Member Content)
Facility inspections are declining in the country that supplies the most generic drugs to the U.S.
Going Beyond Silica p. 32 (Member Content)
W.R. Grace leverages its materials expertise to expand into the instrumentation market.
Familiar Product, Different Use p. 34 (Member Content)
Firms are hoping new environmental regulations will spark greater sodium bicarbonate demand.
Business Concentrates pp. 25-26 (Member Content)
- Pemex Sues BASF Over Stolen Feedstock
- Pemex, Mexico’s state-owned oil and gas company, is suing BASF in a Houston federal court...
- DuPont Scientist Admits Secrets Theft
- Former DuPont research chemist and conductive polymer expert Hong Meng has pleaded guilty to one count of trade secret theft...
- European Chemicals To Grow In 2010
- CEFIC, the European Chemical Industry Council, forecasts that output in the European chemical industry will grow by 9.5% in 2010 and 2.0% in 2011...
- BASF Polymer For Lighter Furniture
- BASF scientists have designed a foamed styrenic polymer to reduce the weight of wood-based furniture chipboard by about one-third...
- Bayer To Turn CO2 Into Polyurethanes
- Bayer has teamed up with German electricity firm RWE Power and RWTH Aachen University to make polyether polycarbonate polyols from carbon dioxide...
- Wacker Acquires Silicon Plant
- Wacker is purchasing a 50,000-metric-ton-per-year silicon metal plant in Holla, Norway, from materials maker Fesil Group for about $80 million...
- Novolyte To Expand Aryl Phosphines
- Novolyte Technologies is adding new facilities for the production of aryl phosphines at its Baton Rouge, La., plant...
- Solvay Soda Ash Deal Scuttled
- A deal Belgium-based Solvay thought it had sealed in September (C&EN, Sept. 14, 2009, page 18) to buy a majority stake in a Berezniki, Russia, soda ash plant...
- Linde Builds Hydrogen Stations
- Linde North America is building two hydrogen fueling stations in the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District in northern California...
- Plasma Deal To Join Grifols And Talecris
- Grifols, a Spanish producer of plasma protein therapies, has agreed to acquire U.S.-based Talecris for about $3.4 billion...
- Forest, TransTech In Diabetes Drug Pact
- Forest Laboratories will pay $50 million for access to TransTech Pharma’s glucokinase activator compounds...
- Genzyme, Icahn Call Off Proxy Fight
- Genzyme and activist investor Carl Icahn have agreed to settle their proxy contest...
- Sanofi Signs On Two New Partners
- Sanofi-Aventis will work with Ascenta Therapeutics to develop orally active small-molecule drug candidates that block a protein-protein interaction...
- Business Roundup
- La Seda de Barcelona, Air Products & Chemicals, Virent Energy Systems, Albemarle, Evonik Industries, Myriad Pharmaceuticals, RXi Pharmaceuticals and Philips Electronics...
Employment
Promoting Diversity Through Conversation pp. 49-52
Fledgling firms offer rewards that sometimes outweigh the risks of conducting high-stakes research on a fast track.
Foreign-Born Chemists Must Speak Up To Break Through The Glass Ceiling p. 52
This Week Online
Reel Science
"Splice"
Reel Science sifts through the schlock to review a film depicting
genetic engineering gone terribly wrong.
» read more...
Government & Policy
Revealing Identities pp. 36-37 (Member Content)
EPA aims to disclose now-redacted chemical names in industry-supplied health, safety studies.
Government & Policy Concentrates p. 35 (Member Content)
- CSB Urged To Examine BP Spill
- Reps. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) and Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) want the Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board to investigate the BP oil spill...
- Modified Soybeans Approved
- The U.S. Department of Agriculture has given the green light to Pioneer Hi-Bred’s Plenish—genetically modified soybeans...
- DOE Forms First Nuclear R&D ‘Hub’
- A nuclear energy research center or “hub,” the first of what could become many research hubs, was recently announced by the Department of Energy...
- Hazardous Waste Deregulation Nixed
- EPA has repealed an industry-sought deregulation that allowed certain hazardous wastes to be burned as fuel in industrial boilers...
- EPA Tightens Limits On SO2 Emissions
- EPA has set a new health standard that further limits emissions of sulfur dioxide, a pollutant known to trigger asthma attacks and cause other respiratory problems...
» more government & policy news...
Awards
Carolyn Bertozzi Wins Lemelson-MIT Prize p. 47
Awards: Prize recognizes Berkeley researcher's contributions to disease detection and molecular biology.
Kavli Prizes Announced p. 47
Awards: Researchers will share $1 million award.
Chemistry Earns Top Honors At International Science & Engineering Fair pp. 47-48 (Member Content)
Inorganic Nanoscience Award To Frank Osterloh p. 48 (Member Content)
Dreyfus Offers Lectureship For Undergrad Institutions p. 48 (Member Content)
Undergraduates Win Environmental Chemistry Awards p. 48 (Member Content)
Social Networking And C&EN
You can now follow C&EN on Facebook. Become a fan and track the latest news and discussions at facebook.com/CENews.
Science & Technology
Speeding Up Separations pp. 40-44 (Member Content)
Ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography improves separations and cuts run times by as much as 90%.
Science & Technology Concentrates pp. 38-39 (Member Content)
- Ultrasensitive Crystal Probe
- Optical method detects early onset of nucleation and crystallization of chiral compounds
- Stretching Alters Magnetics
- Cobalt complex's electron flow is disrupted when the square-shaped molecule is pulled into a rectangle
- Brain Helps Control Cholesterol
- Compound's circulation in blood isn't limited to dietary intake and liver production
- Membrane Proteins Yield To Hydrogen Exchange MS
- Analytical method provides a way to study the membrane proteins' conformations in nativelike conditions
- Polyketide Synthases Don't Determine Enediyne Ring Size
- Enzyme systems all generate the same simple linear heptaene intermediate
- Drugmakers Wash Painkillers Down The Drain
- Water Pollutants: Sewage treatment plants that serve drugmakers release pharmaceuticals at high concentrations
- Electronic Hint For Life's Origins
- Orbital overlap explains a counterintuitive step in a ribonucleotide synthesis feasible on an early Earth
- Key Anti-HIV Antibody Analyzed
- Structure revives hopes for an effective AIDS vaccine
» more science & technology news...
Books
Targeting Fraud pp. 45-46
Case studies provide the framework for examining the ultimate sin in science.
Meetings
2010 C&EN Calendar Web Exclusive
C&EN's latest list of meetings and events of interest to those in the chemical community is for June through December.
Editor's Page
Tapping A Beast p. 3
The Departments
Letters pp. 4-6
Newscripts p. 56
Mommy Bloggers Take Aim At New Diapers
C&EN Archives
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Head here to discover the past via the C&EN Archives, go to http://pubs.acs.org/cen-archives
CENtral Science
» News, notes, and musings from C&EN
Check out some of the recent posts from C&EN's blog, "C&ENtral Science"
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