Hacker News with Generative AI: Chemistry

Scented products cause indoor air pollution on par with car exhaust (newatlas.com)
Using scented products indoors changes the chemistry of the air, producing as much air pollution as car exhaust does outside, according to a new study.
Environmental Science, Health, Pollution, Chemistry
366 points by clumsysmurf 2 days ago | 192 comments
Among top researchers 10% publish at unrealistic levels, analysis finds (chemistryworld.com)
About 10% of the most influential researchers worldwide in various scientific fields, including chemistry, are achieving ‘implausibly high’ publication and new co-author rates.
Science, Research, Publishing, Academia, Chemistry
188 points by crescit_eundo 3 days ago | 112 comments
Physicists decipher structure of antimony melt, explain structural anomalies (phys.org)
Physicists decipher structure of antimony melt, explain nature of observed structural anomalies
Physics, Materials Science, Chemistry
4 points by PaulHoule 8 days ago | 0 comments
A pair of scissors on formica table suddenly bursts into flames (reddit.com)
A pair of scissors sitting on my table (formica top) suddenly burst into flames. No heat source, electricity, or battery nearby. No contact with anything but the table. I suspect some sort of chemical reaction between the handles and the table occurred. Any ideas?
Strange Phenomena, Household Accidents, Chemistry
59 points by 83457 10 days ago | 47 comments
Rubidium Can Be More Than a Lithium Cast-Off (ieee.org)
Rubidium is often an unwanted by-product of lithium mining and extraction—but it has its own high-tech uses.
Chemistry, Mining, Technology
6 points by abe94 10 days ago | 2 comments
"A pair of scissors sitting on my table suddenly burst into flames" (reddit.com)
A pair of scissors sitting on my table (formica top) suddenly burst into flames. No heat source, electricity, or battery nearby. No contact with anything but the table. I suspect some sort of chemical reaction between the handles and the table occurred. Any ideas?
Strange Occurrences, Household Mysteries, Chemistry, Fire Safety
12 points by davidbarker 11 days ago | 0 comments
Durable plastic gets a sustainability makeover in novel polymerization process (phys.org)
Car tires, replacement hip joints, bowling balls—these and other items are made from a class of plastics called thermosets, known for extreme durability.
Sustainability, Materials Science, Chemistry, Polymers
89 points by PaulHoule 11 days ago | 29 comments
Why gold loves arsenic (2021) (mining.com)
An international team of geochemists discovered why gold is concentrated alongside arsenic, a phenomenon that explains the formation of most deposits of the precious metal.
Geology, Mining, Chemistry, Gold
52 points by DoreenMichele 14 days ago | 27 comments
NASA's Asteroid Bennu Sample Reveals Mix of Life's Ingredients (nasa.gov)
Studies of rock and dust from asteroid Bennu delivered to Earth by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security–Regolith Explorer) spacecraft have revealed molecules that, on our planet, are key to life, as well as a history of saltwater that could have served as the “broth” for these compounds to interact and combine.
Space Exploration, Astronomy, Science, Chemistry, Biology
106 points by zrkrlc 21 days ago | 23 comments
Chem With Amanda: free chemistry curriculum – Jr High thru early college (chemwithamanda.com)
This website is for anyone who is interested in learning or reviewing introductory general, organic and biological chemistry topics.
Chemistry, Education, Curriculum, Science, Online Learning
14 points by hammock 23 days ago | 0 comments
Superheavy element half-life measurements push back the limits of stability (chemistryworld.com)
The limit of known half-lives of superheavy massive nuclei has been pushed down by two orders of magnitude with the observation of the half-life of a neutron deficient rutherfordium isotope.
Science, Chemistry, Physics, Nuclear Physics, Nuclear Chemistry
22 points by bookofjoe 24 days ago | 11 comments
Excuse me sir, would you like to buy a kilo of isopropyl bromide? [pdf] (sciencemadness.org)
Chemistry, Science, Research Papers
6 points by fanf2 24 days ago | 1 comments
Plastic supercapacitors could solve energy storage problems (newsroom.ucla.edu)
UCLA chemists have created a new type of textured, fur-like PEDOT film with more surface area to store charge and built a supercapacitor with it that stored nearly ten times more charge than conventional PEDOT and lasted nearly 100,000 charging cycles.
Energy Storage, Nanotechnology, Materials Science, Chemistry
5 points by gnabgib 31 days ago | 2 comments
New tech turns seawater into drinking water without tons of chemicals (news.umich.edu)
Water desalination plants could replace expensive chemicals with new carbon cloth electrodes that remove boron from seawater, an important step of turning seawater into safe drinking water.
Water Desalination, Environmental Technology, Chemistry, Sustainability
24 points by openmaze 32 days ago | 1 comments
Making glow-in-the-dark Strontium Aluminate (maurycyz.com)
Making things that glow in the dark is fun, but I wanted to do something more then just buy glow powder from china.
Chemistry, DIY, Glow-in-the-Dark
91 points by LorenDB 33 days ago | 36 comments
A generative model for inorganic materials design (nature.com)
The design of functional materials with desired properties is essential in driving technological advances in areas like energy storage, catalysis, and carbon capture1–3. Generative models provide a new paradigm for materials design by directly generating novel materials given desired property constraints, but current methods have low success rate in proposing stable crystals or can only satisfy a limited set of property constraints 4−11.
Generative AI, Materials Science, Machine Learning, Chemistry
47 points by rbanffy 36 days ago | 5 comments
Device uses wind to create ammonia out of air (ieee.org)
Lots of green energy experiments in the lab publish impressive results—but what’s more impressive is when those results come from an actual on-site pilot demonstration in the real world. That’s the case with new research that is able to generate ammonia out of thin air, without requiring an external power source.
Renewable Energy, Green Technology, Chemistry, Engineering
147 points by rbanffy 36 days ago | 116 comments
3M knew firefighting foams containing PFAS were toxic, documents show (theguardian.com)
The multibillion-dollar chemicals company 3M told customers its firefighting foams were harmless and biodegradable when it knew they contained toxic substances so persistent they are now known as “forever chemicals” and banned in many countries including the UK, newly uncovered documents show.
Environmental Issues, Chemistry, Corporate Misconduct, Lawsuits
8 points by jmsflknr 37 days ago | 0 comments
Chemical reactions deplete nutrients in plant-based drinks (phys.org)
Over the last decade, the global market for plant-based beverages has seen remarkable growth, with oat, almond, soy and rice drinks emerging as popular alternatives to cow's milk in coffee and oatmeal during this time.
Food Science, Plant-Based Diets, Nutrition, Chemistry
6 points by PaulHoule 46 days ago | 21 comments
Plastic crystals could replace greenhouse gases used in refrigerators (techxplore.com)
A team of chemical engineers at Deakin University, working with colleagues from the University of Western Australia, the University of Sydney and Monash University, all in Australia, has found that a type of plastic crystal can be used as a refrigerant, possibly replacing the greenhouse gas currently used in most refrigerators.
Refrigeration, Chemistry, Materials Science, Sustainability, Environment
10 points by geox 48 days ago | 2 comments
EPA Report Finds That Formaldehyde Presents "Unreasonable Risk" to Public Health (propublica.org)
A long-awaited report from the Environmental Protection Agency has found that formaldehyde presents an unreasonable risk to human health.
Environmental Health, Public Health, Government Regulations, Chemistry, Formaldehyde
7 points by Jimmc414 48 days ago | 5 comments
Phase behavior of Cacio and Pepe sauce (arxiv.org)
"Pasta alla Cacio e pepe" is a traditional Italian dish made with pasta, pecorino cheese, and pepper. Despite its simple ingredient list, achieving the perfect texture and creaminess of the sauce can be challenging. In this study, we systematically explore the phase behavior of Cacio and pepe sauce, focusing on its stability at increasing temperatures for various proportions of cheese, water, and starch.
Food Science, Chemistry, Pasta, Italy, Cooking
381 points by rev13013 49 days ago | 192 comments
'Forever chemical' found in mineral water from several European countries (theguardian.com)
Mineral water from several European nations has been found for the first time to be contaminated with TFA, a type of PFAS “forever chemical” that is a reproductive toxicant accumulating at alarming levels across the globe.
Environment, Chemistry, Europe, Health, Water
5 points by mtlebe 50 days ago | 0 comments
Urine Led to the Foundation of Chemistry (bigthink.com)
Hennig Brand was on to something. Or rather, he thought he was.
Chemistry, History, Science
21 points by Brajeshwar 52 days ago | 8 comments
Nature inspires self-assembling helical polymer (phys.org)
Inspired by this twisty ladder, researchers from Hiroshima University's Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering have developed an artificial polymer that organizes itself into a controlled helix.
Science, Materials Science, Chemistry, Polymer Science
4 points by PaulHoule 56 days ago | 0 comments
Thermodynamic model identifies how gold reaches Earth's surface (phys.org)
A research team including a University of Michigan scientist has discovered a new gold-sulfur complex that helps researchers understand how gold deposits are formed.
Geology, Chemistry, Gold, Earth Science, Scientific Research
70 points by wglb 57 days ago | 8 comments
Inverse Design of Complex Nanoparticle Heterostructures via DL on Graphs (chemrxiv.org)
Nanotechnology, Machine Learning, Chemistry, Materials Science
23 points by pizza 57 days ago | 8 comments
Huge math error corrected in black plastic study; authors say it doesn't matter (arstechnica.com)
Editors of the environmental chemistry journal Chemosphere have posted an eye-catching correction to a study reporting toxic flame retardants from electronics wind up in some household products made of black plastic, including kitchen utensils.
Science, Environmental Science, Chemistry, Consumer Products, Research
173 points by ars 67 days ago | 112 comments
A simple math error sparked a panic about black plastic kitchen utensils (nationalpost.com)
The simple arithmetic error that unnecessarily sent countless plastic spatulas into the trash over a toxic chemical scare came to light a few days ago as Joe Schwarcz, director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society, sat reading a research paper in his office in the Otto Maass Chemistry building on Montreal’s Sherbrooke Street.
Science, Misinformation, Consumer Products, Chemistry
16 points by cpncrunch 71 days ago | 0 comments
Scratch and Sniff Stickers and the Gas Panic of '87 (hackaday.com)
Ever wonder how those scratch and sniff stickers manage to pack a punch of aroma into what looks like ordinary paper? The technology behind it is deceptively clever, and has been used everywhere from children’s books to compact discs.
Technology, History, Chemistry, Design
57 points by jlund-molfese 75 days ago | 4 comments