Decoding Paleolithic art For Paleolithic humans, horses were an important food source and an artistic inspiration. Dating as far back as 37,000 years ago, people decorated European caves with hauntingly beautiful images of horses, mammoths, ancestral cattle called aurochs, salmon, and other prey. These animals are often decorated with abstract signs. Lines, dots, and Y-shaped symbols occur in about 66% of animal art from the late Paleolithic. Anthropologists have puzzled over their meaning for 150 years. In a painting of a horse in the Chauvet cave in France, for example, the delicately shaded creature sports three red splotches on its muzzle. Another horse, found in the country’s Lascaux cave, has two Y-shaped signs along its hairy belly.
by Katherine Bourzac | January 29, 2023
The art for microbe providers is in finding the species and strains that form robust spores but then crank out enzymes in their active form, Harp says. The right ones are usually Bacillus bacteria. The species being used are classified by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as biosafety level 1.
by Craig Bettenhausen | January 29, 2023
In addition to his scientific achievements, Kenney was a generous benefactor to the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Cleveland Orchestra, as well as the Open Doors Academy.”—John Protasiewicz, colleague and friend Most recent title: Hurlbut Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, Case Western Reserve University Education: BS, chemistry, University of Redlands, 1950; PhD, inorganic chemistry, Cornell University, 1953 To recognize your late loved one or colleague, submit obituary information at cenm.ag/obits.
by Alexandra A. Taylor | January 20, 2023
—Scott Rychnovsky, University of California, Irvine Kevin Burgess Citation: For pioneering work on the applications of BODIPY [boron dipyrromethene] and cyanine dyes in biomedicinal chemistry and intracellular imaging Current position: Gradipore Chair of Chemistry, Texas A&M University Education: BS, chemistry, University of Bath; MS, chemistry, University of East Anglia; PhD, organometallic chemistry, University of Cambridge Burgess on how he became a scientist: “My art teacher at high school made it possible. I had wanted to take chemistry rather than art, and when I presented Mr. Bradnock with my mangled clay pot, he immediately took me to the chemistry class. There, my chemistry teacher, Mr. Bishop, enhanced the motivation process. Alan Katritzky taught me the importance of self-discipline, Ian Fleming and Stuart Warren the importance of clarity in research and teaching, Jack Lewis and Dan Brown encouraged me to try to be a decent person, and Barry Trost taught me passion for science.
by Nina Notman, special to C&EN | January 13, 2023
Hach Award Fund Citation: For entrepreneurial and scientific leadership, exemplified by successful development and commercialization of transformative light-scattering technology, which impacts biotechnology, analytical chemistry, materials, and nanoscience Current position: Founder and chairman of the board, Wyatt Technology Education: BA, liberal arts, and BS, physics, University of Chicago; MS, physics, University of Illinois; PhD, physics, Florida State University Wyatt on who inspired him to become a scientist: “My uncle Boris Podolsky; a great physicist and a kind man who worked with Albert Einstein.
by Nina Notman, special to C&EN | December 30, 2022
In his exams, he always had five extra-credit questions about literature, geography, history, art, and music. I use this in my own exams.” What Oyama’s colleagues say: “Ted’s research has greatly advanced the understanding and practice of catalytic processing applied to hydrocarbon and petroleum conversion.
by Nina Notman, special to C&EN | December 30, 2022
This mysterious art is perfected over hundreds of bowls of guacamole, and supermarkets and avocado distributors have a hard time replicating the process at scale. They test some avocados by poking them or cutting them, but those methods are slow. The lack of information makes it hard to put the best fruit in front of customers, leading to waste.
by Matt Blois | December 16, 2022
The outsize computer power of these state-of-the-art machines will allow chemists to simulate even bigger molecular systems and on longer timescales. The data collected from those models could help researchers push the boundaries of what’s possible in chemistry by narrowing the gap between the reactions in a flask and the virtual simulations used to model them.
by Ariana Remmel | December 15, 2022