US derailment highlights continuing chemical rail freight concerns

A three-train crash in Pennsylvania, US, has spilled diesel fuel and plastic pellets into the nearby Lehigh river, a Delaware river tributary that provides drinking water for hundreds of thousands of people. All three trains were operated by Norfolk Southern, which also operated the freight train that derailed in the Ohio town of East Palestine […]

Read More

Deep learning algorithm predicts structures of biomolecular assemblies

A new deep learning algorithm can predict the structure of proteins bound to a variety of other molecules such as drugs, fluorophores and metals. The work, which allowed researchers to design proteins to bind specific molecules, could be useful in fields such as enzymatic catalysis. Proteins comprise thousands of atoms, so solving their structure using […]

Read More

First prosecution in the US for trafficking greenhouse gases

A California man has been arrested and charged with smuggling greenhouse gases into the US from Mexico and selling them. This is the first time that the US Department of Justice (DOJ) has prosecuted anybody for illegally importing greenhouse gases. Michael Hart, a San Diego resident, was charged with violating US government regulations aimed at […]

Read More

Enzyme engineering makes blue denim greener

Enzyme engineering could enable a greener and safer way to dye denim, with only a modest increase in cost. The method could alleviate the environmental and health impacts linked to the manufacture of jeans, of which around four billion pairs are sold each year. Denim is given its typical blue colour by dyeing it with […]

Read More

US science funding hangs in the balance with continuing resolutions

US president Joe Biden has signed another continuing resolution (CR) to maintain funding for government agencies and avoid a government shutdown for the time being, nearly half a year into the fiscal year, but many science advocates are not celebrating even though this keeps research funders afloat. ‘Funding the government with short-term continuing resolutions over […]

Read More

Classic cross-coupling reactions rerouted to make new products

A technique that combines two widely used coupling reactions offers a new way to make diaryl amine compounds. The new reaction brings together Suzuki–Miyaura and Buchwald–Hartwig couplings to make carbon–nitrogen–carbon linked products. The researchers behind the work hope that it will enable synthetic chemists to create diverse libraries of compounds that could boost drug-discovery efforts. […]

Read More

Chemours suspends chief and senior executives over accounting issues

Chemical giant Chemours has suspended three senior executives, including its chief executive and chief financial officer, pending an internal review over suspicious accounting and compensation practices. The DuPont spin-off postponed reporting its 2023 financial results in mid-February, saying it needed extra time to complete the reporting process. But on 29 February there were further revelations, […]

Read More

Two Canadian scientists were fired in 2021 for passing information to China

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) said it has tightened security after two scientists lost their jobs over their links with China. Earlier this month, Canada’s health minister released government documents detailing how two scientists at the National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) – which is the only biosafety level 4 infectious disease lab in the […]

Read More