Roughly 30 billion metric tons of the synthetic rock is produced globally each year to build soaring structures such as bridges, dams, and high-rise buildings; ground-level walkways, roads, and highways; and underground tunnels and sewage systems. Production of the critical building material has risen sharply in recent years, as lower-income countries, particularly in Asia and Africa, have undertaken huge construction projects.
by Mitch Jacoby | June 11, 2023
—Local sections participate in Chemists Celebrate Earth Week 2023 “Chemists engaged the public in a week of hands-on activities and demonstrations related to algae chemistry” From April 16 to 22, American Chemical Society members from 96 local sections and four international chemical science chapters coordinated events for Chemists Celebrate Earth Week (CCEW). This year’s theme was “The Curious Chemistry of Amazing Algae.” Thousands of people took part in hands-on activities or watched demonstrations at museums, parks, schools, libraries, and other public venues, as well as online. “Our CCEW celebration this year has been a big success. Groups all over the world explored the chemistry of algae, including its properties as an edible and nutritious plant, and its role in providing food, habitat, and oxygen in a healthy ecosystem,” says Lori R.
by Nina Notman, special to C&EN | June 09, 2023
The Japanese firm DIC, which signed a joint development agreement with Debut earlier this year, also participated. Debut spun out of the labs of chemist Gregory Weiss at the University of California, Irvine, in 2019 and raised $23 million in series A funding in 2021. Co-founder and CEO Joshua Britton says “the goal of the company is to turn the active ingredients space in beauty on its head” by combining biofermentation and cell-free enzymatic cascades to produce, at scale, molecules that nature makes in only minute quantities.
by Craig Bettenhausen | June 07, 2023
The pressure to succeed, long working hours, and intense competition can take a toll on early-career scientists’ mental health.In recent years, there has been growing concern over the mental health crisis facing early-career researchers, as studies show high rates of anxiety, depression, and burnout.
by Katherine R. Johnson, Chair, ACS Younger Chemists Committee | June 05, 2023
Pyrum’s demonstration plant in Dillingen, Germany, can recycle 7,000 tires per year. The firm plans to triple capacity at the site this year and build 15 other plants by 2030, CEO and cofounder Pascal Klein says. Across the whole industry, “there is a potential for up to 2,000 tire recycling plants around the world,” Klein says.
by Alex Scott | May 26, 2023
—From ‘science fiction’ to ‘just hard’: Mitochondrial DNA editing inches closer to reality “Compared with altering the nuclear genome, mitochondrial gene editing has different hurdles that drug developers need to navigate” Over a billion years ago, a single-celled archaean engulfed an overachieving bacterium.
by Shi En Kim | May 26, 2023
—Pacifichem 2025 opens call for symposia “ ” The 2025 International Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies, known as Pacifichem 2025, is issuing a call for symposia. The conference will be held Dec. 15–20, 2025, in Honolulu. Details can be found at pacifichem.org. Pacifichem is sponsored by the American Chemical Society, the Canadian Society for Chemistry, the Chemical Society of Japan, the Chinese Chemical Society, the Korean Chemical Society, the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry, and the Royal Australian Chemical Institute. The Canadian Society for Chemistry will serve as the host society of the 2025 congress. Laurel Schafer, a professor of chemistry at the University of British Columbia, is the congress chair. Tom Baker, professor of chemistry and biomolecular sciences at the University of Ottawa, is the Scientific Program Development Subcommittee chair.
by Nina Notman, special to C&EN | May 25, 2023
—Recovery of the ozone layer could face minor setbacks “Unregulated sources of chlorofluorocarbons and bromoform threaten to slow the process” Earlier this year, the United Nations announced that the stratospheric ozone layer is on track to recover within 4 decades thanks to actions taken under the Montreal Protocol. Adopted in 1987, the international agreement guided the phaseout of ozone-depleting compounds such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which were once widely used as refrigerants, solvents, and aerosol propellants. Although substantial progress has been made, the ozone layer’s recovery has also had its share of setbacks over the years.
by Krystal Vasquez | May 25, 2023