Search Immortality Topics:

Page 21234..1020..»


Category Archives: Chemistry

US science funding hangs in the balance with continuing resolutions – Chemistry World

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 five months into the fiscal year is dysfunctional, stated Sudip Parikh, the chief executive of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in a 4 March statement. With the passage of this CR, Congress yet again takes only one step back from the brink of effectively surrendering our global leadership in science and technology to other nations that have chosen to prioritise investments in biomedical research, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, fusion, [science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine] education, and more, he continued.

If Congress fails to fund the federal government by 30 April, large automatic cuts to research and development will be triggered, Parikh warned. These cuts would have real and lasting consequences for the science and technology foundations of our future health, economy, and national security. He urged Congress to pass full-year appropriations bills before the end of April to ensure that US science and technology leadership is maintained.

With the latest CRs passage, the new funding deadline for several federal agencies and programmes is 8 March and for the remainder it is 22 March.

Meanwhile, just days after the CR was signed, congressional appropriators unveiled a six-bill funding package, dubbed a minibus, as a step to moving some agencies off a CR. But the research community had some concerns about that measure, which was released on 3 March.

For example, The Science Coalition representing more than 50 of Americas top public and private research universities cautioned that cuts to certain federal science agencies in the minibus, including the National Science Foundation (NSF), will restrict US research and innovation, impede progress on critical societal challenges, and jeopardise the USs scientific leadership.

While trends vary by agency, proposed cuts to vital federal science agencies like NSF are troubling, stated Science Coalition president Jill Pentimonti. She noted that the minibus would reduce the NSFs budget below the enacted level in its baseline funding.

The Association of American Universities president, Barbara Snyder, is pleased that Congress has reached agreement on a package of bills to fund a portion of the government through the end of fiscal year 2024. Nevertheless, she said she is deeply concerned about the budget proposed for the NSF in particular.

The funding proposed in the package would reduce NSFs capacity by almost $500 million or more than 5% below current levels, Snyder stated. By undercutting the NSFs work, we are gambling our nations future as a global leader in science and innovation.

View original post here:
US science funding hangs in the balance with continuing resolutions - Chemistry World

Posted in Chemistry | Comments Off on US science funding hangs in the balance with continuing resolutions – Chemistry World

Researchers provide unprecedented view into aerosol formation in Earths lower atmosphere – Argonne National Laboratory

Eighty-five percent of the Earths air resides in the lowest layer of its atmosphere, or troposphere. Yet, major gaps remain in our understanding of the atmospheric chemistry that drives changes in the tropospheres composition.

One especially important gap in knowledge is the formation and prevalence of secondary organic aerosols (SOAs), which impact the planets radiation balance, air quality and human health. But that gap is closing due to the groundbreaking discoveries of an international team of researchers led by the U.S. Department of Energys (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories and NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

The scientists detail their findings in a new paper published this month in Nature Geosciences.

The team focused on a class of compounds known as Criegee intermediates (CIs). Researchers suspect that CIs play a critical role in the formation of SOAs when they combine via a process called oligomerization. But no one had ever directly identified the chemical signatures of this process in the field until now.

First, we discovered that CI chemistry may play a bigger role in altering the composition of the troposphere than current atmospheric models account for probably by an order of magnitude. Carl Percival, researcher at NASAs JPL

Using the most advanced methods available for detecting gas-phase molecules and aerosols in the atmosphere, the team took field measurements in the Amazon rainforest, one of the most crucial SOA areas on Earth. There, they found clear evidence consistent with reactions of a Criegee intermediate compound containing carbon, hydrogen and oxygen (CH2OO).

This discovery is extremely significant because we were able to make direct connections between what we actually saw in the field, what we anticipated was happening with oligomerization of CIs and what we were able to characterize in the lab and determine theoretically, explained Rebecca L. Caravan, an assistant chemist at Argonne and first author on the paper.

These field observations constitute just one component of the innovative science enabled by the collaboration across the laboratories.

In addition to the field measurements, we were able to employ the worlds most advanced experimental methods for directly characterizing the Criegee intermediate reactions. We used the most advanced theoretical kinetics to predict reactions we cant measure directly. And we took advantage of the most advanced global chemistry modeling to assess the effects we would expect oligomerization to have in the troposphere based on those kinetics, said Craig A. Taatjes, a combustion chemist at Sandia.

This combination of components produced some critically important findings.

First, we discovered that CI chemistry may play a bigger role in altering the composition of the troposphere than current atmospheric models account for probably by an order of magnitude, said Carl Percival, a researcher at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Second, the updated modeling that we performed based on our work produced only a fraction of the oligomerization signatures we observed in the field.

This could mean that CI chemistry could be driving even more transformation within the troposphere, or that other, yet unidentified chemical mechanisms are at work.

We still have a lot of work to do to fully define the role of CI reactions in the troposphere, concluded Caravan. But these findings significantly expand our understanding of one potentially significant pathway for SOA formation in the most important layer of the earths atmosphere.

Besides Caravan, Argonne authors include Ahren Jasper and Stephen Klippenstein.

Funding for the work carried out at Argonne and Sandia was provided by DOEs Office of Science Basic Energy Sciences program and the National Nuclear Security Administration. NASA funded the research done at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Read this article:
Researchers provide unprecedented view into aerosol formation in Earths lower atmosphere - Argonne National Laboratory

Posted in Chemistry | Comments Off on Researchers provide unprecedented view into aerosol formation in Earths lower atmosphere – Argonne National Laboratory

Greg Voth delivers Borden Endowed Lecture in theoretical chemistry – Dailyuw

Greg Voth, a professor at the University of Chicagos department of chemistry, presented Overcoming the Multiscale Challenge for Biomolecular Systems on his findings in protein modeling during the UW department of chemistrys Borden Endowed Lecture on Feb. 28.

The Weston and Sheila Borden Endowed Lecture, which sponsors annual presentations by theoretical chemistry researchers, is one of five lectures supported by the departments endowed funds.

Voth, whose work focuses on computer simulations of biomolecules, has an extensive history with the biological applications of computation.

I started years ago, in college, and was fascinated by science, and especially theoretical science, Voth said. Somewhere, as I went through graduate school, computers became more and more powerful and available. And so you could kind of see the blending of scientific concepts with computation I realized these biological questions are really fascinating, and very challenging.

Voths lecture focused specifically on multiscale theory: the challenge of modeling intricate systems efficiently and accurately. His lab has completed this through ultra-coarse-grained (UCG) modeling systems that can interpret complicated biomolecular interactions while maintaining low resolution.

I do computer simulations, and we're very interested in dealing with very complex systems, usually ones involving biology, Voth said. The difficulty of using straightforward computer simulations to get at that [is that] they're very big; they take a long time to evolve These systems of interest [have] way too many atoms, so we have to develop special methods. And these are called multiscale methods theyre ways of dealing with this complexity.

Protein modeling innovations are especially important in understanding how biomolecules work. By modeling the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) capsid, Voth hopes there will be advancements in understanding the virus.

In the specific case of HIV, we've discovered how a key part of the virus assembles, Voth said. [A virus] replicates in your infected cells and reassembles, and it goes and attacks another cell [If] we can understand key aspects of that, [we can] potentially find weaknesses that could be drug targets for therapeutics.

UCG modeling has also pushed the limitations of computational technology. Beth Fawcett, a masters student in chemistry at UW, remarked on the significance of the seminar.

I've worked in data science for five years, so it was really cool to see [this lecture], Fawcett said. After watching this talk, it seems like there's still going to be computational challenges, even though there's been a lot of advancements [in modeling proteins]. Theres been a wall for the number of computations you can do with traditional computing, so it was really cool to see that they were able to leverage what is currently available to get the HIV capsid model.

More information about the Voth groups research can be found here.

Reach contributing writer Amiya McLean at news@daily.com. X: @amiyamcllean

Like what youre reading? Support high-quality student journalism by donating here.

See original here:
Greg Voth delivers Borden Endowed Lecture in theoretical chemistry - Dailyuw

Posted in Chemistry | Comments Off on Greg Voth delivers Borden Endowed Lecture in theoretical chemistry – Dailyuw

Good Chemistry Bonds XPC Water with Orion Water Solutions – OILMAN Magazine

Multiple factors point to a successful 2024 for the oil and gas industry, with many betting on niche services. With the drive to enhance current services and increase efficiency, the service sector alone is well-positioned to prosper. Offering the best in service and beating the competition will secure business and establish relationships. Still, the critical component of the equation is finding that particular service or meeting that individual need that levies such a magnitude of success in driving up profits that the end user can only function with it.

Gary Griesenbeck, CEO of Orion Water Solutions, discovered the secret to success early when starting his company in 2016. Competing in the emerging market, Orion treats produced water generated through hydraulic fracturing, a staple to North American shales success. During the earlier years of operation, fracking, as hydraulic fracturing is commonly called, demanded massive quantities of fresh water to be used during operation. Due to the costs and demand for increasing amounts, science pointed to the potential in treating produced water that returns from the well during fracking.

It was a natural migration from using fresh water to produced water, says Griesenbeck.

No matter the water type used, according to Griesenbeck, it must be chemically treated to ensure safe use during fracking procedures. Bacteria and other components that contaminate frack water can damage the wellbore and cause such financial devastation that oil and gas companies would spend millions without seeing any positive return on the investment.

It is essential to keep naturally occurring bacteria and other contaminants out of the well, says Griesenbeck. We treat 500,000 to 600,000 barrels of water per day.

When considering Orions contribution of treated water per day and pairing that with estimations from other companies and competitors that conduct the same operation, the need to enhance that ability suddenly surfaces as a niche service that ensures increased profits.

Ivan Sager identified the available opportunity and utilized his technical background to establish XPC Water, a company focusing on water chemistry analytics and real-time data alerting. While companies like Orion own their data, the XPC platform acquires, normalizes, assesses and cultivates data to provide valuable insights to the end user, enabling a streamlined approach to managing water treatment.

According to Sager, the XPC platform is a multi-tenant application that uses advanced pattern recognition to categorize water quality and alert the user of critical spikes. Orion refers to its configuration on the platform as remote data visualization (RDV) that provides operators and managers the analytics needed to manage and monitor the injected chemicals before the water is sent downhole and then treat the water as it exits the wellbore called produced water.

Pennies spent on chemicals count when processing massive volumes of water and identifying overdosage or anomalies in the process is critical, says Sager.

Griesenbeck breaks his company service down into two equally essential services. Orion disinfects water going down the wellbore using chlorine dioxide (CLO2) and then treats the produced water through a Dissolvable Air Flotation (DAF) Process. These require a disciplined and focused approach to chemical management. Orion sets up remote processing sites at each fracking location to provide these services. As a result, managing the water chemistry of each specific site proves difficult, and errors can lead to loss of revenue.

XPC Water provides the solution by capturing and monitoring data centrally. The XPC platform records and reports all essential cost and performance data for each job site. This includes downtime, pump failure, and chemical use, which Griesenbeck estimates to be 20 to 30 percent of his sales. XPC provides reports, emails and text messaging that display chemistry data with a barrels per day trend and cost-to-treat data.

This information is essential, says Griesenbeck. A number diverging from the norm signals that something is wrong.

With XPCs ability to provide accurate data that can be managed in real-time, the operator can correctly add chemicals and treat water as needed. This influences chemical usage and provides the ability to refrain from wasting chemicals.

Staying on top of chemical usage greatly enhances efficiency and is often a make or break for operators, says Sager.

While oil and gas companies strive to streamline and refrain from enduring additional costs, when expenditures are made, they are typically costly. Software, automation and further areas of expense demand significant investment, but the XPC platform proves genius in its ability to be integrated with existing systems utilized by the end user.

How Orion generates data that is acquired by XPC has no relevance. Data cultivation is triggered on the XPC side of the equation. As a result, XPCs technology can be integrated with any data processing system.

Our goal is to remove friction and be the bridge to allow secure and rapid data collaboration and collaboration, says Sager. We simply integrate with other platforms. We format the data, and then the customer can import it, or we leverage our open standards Application Programming Interface (API).

Orion can retrieve the XPC data through its hardware compilation. While under habitat with XPC, the information resides in a secure cloud-based environment. Sager says by leveraging the end users existing investments, XPC ensures rapid implementation and profitability.

Technology knows few limitations, and when efficiency can be further improved, a place of necessity is established. Building upon the foundation of what XPC and Orion offer the industry, the company identified another outlet to enhance business needs. XPC is blazing the frontier of artificial intelligence with Chatxpc. This technology will optimize production operations by offering insights into the impact of multiple production parameters and suggesting the optimal production design. Additionally, it will play a role in real-time monitoring of production operations, identifying potential problems, and suggesting appropriate corrective actions.

AI is machine learning algorithms, and that data helps predict spikes and forecast chemical usage, says Sager. Generative AI will allow the operator to generate detailed content from the data that will be used in reports or management of the operations.

According to Sager, the primary advantage of Chatxpc lies in its ability to address technical issues quickly and accurately as they surface. Through its ability to recognize complex terms and concepts, Chatxpc will provide explanations and examples to assist the user in sending or accessing data more quickly.

The XPC technology depicts a robust picture of how it ensures efficiency and its positive fiscal impact can be forecasted in additional business areas. Griesenbeck sees a ne

ed for the XPC platform in multiple areas of the oil and gas industry alone.

The push for remote operations will require technology to support rapid data acquisition and analysis. The XPCs platform enables such a process. Additionally, as oil and gas companies attempt to manage aging infrastructure while constructing new, spill prevention becomes paramount. XPC would offer an invaluable service by providing the means to monitor pipeline levels and a medium for calculating the decrease in pipeline capacity after a spill. Accurate accounting of contents that contact the earth is critical in managing environmental disasters.

With over 218 million barrels of water, XPC has perfected the niche in enabling efficiency and profitability in water treatment capabilities. With the abundance of possibilities, XPC can impact oil and gas for the greater good of the environment and its users.

Anyone using chemistry can benefit from the XPC platform, says Griesenbeck. Storage facilities, retailers and collection batteries for saltwater could all see ideal results. RDV has improved my profit margin easily by two to three percent.

Headline photo: From left to right: Tee Jay Hayes, Operator, and Anthony Yanez, Field Supervisor, verifying data at a produced water recycling location. Photos courtesy of XPC Water Solutions.

Freelance Writer and Photographer

Nick Vaccaro is a freelance writer and photographer. In addition to providing technical writing services, he is an HSE consultant in the oil and gas industry with twelve years of experience. Vaccaro also contributes to SHALE Oil and Gas Business Magazine, American Oil and Gas Investor, Oil and Gas Investor, Energies Magazine and Louisiana Sportsman Magazine. He has a BA in photojournalism from Loyola University and resides in the New Orleans area. Vaccaro can be reached at 985-966-0957 ornav@vaccarogroupllc.com.

3 Ways Technology is Going to Shape the Oil and Gas Industry Free to Download Today

Oil and gas operations are commonly found in remote locations far from company headquarters. Now, it's possible to monitor pump operations, collate and analyze seismic data, and track employees around the world from almost anywhere. Whether employees are in the office or in the field, the internet and related applications enable agreater multidirectional flow of information and control than ever before.

See the original post here:
Good Chemistry Bonds XPC Water with Orion Water Solutions - OILMAN Magazine

Posted in Chemistry | Comments Off on Good Chemistry Bonds XPC Water with Orion Water Solutions – OILMAN Magazine

Frank Popoff, Who Sought to Lead a Friendlier Dow Chemical, Dies at 88 – The New York Times

Frank Popoff, who as chief executive and chairman tried to make Dow Chemical more conciliatory toward regulators and environmentalists in the late 1980s and 90s, and who prodded the chemical industry to adopt safer practices, died on Feb. 25 at his home in Midland, Mich., where Dow is based. He was 88.

A spokesman for the company said the cause was cancer.

When the Bulgarian-born Mr. Popoff was named Dows president and chief executive in 1987, the company had begun trying to shed its image as a pugnacious chemical giant that had manufactured napalm and the defoliant Agent Orange for the U.S. military during the Vietnam War; released toxic waste, like dioxins, into the Tittabawassee River from its plant in Midland; and fought the Environmental Protection Agency to prevent flyover inspections of its emissions.

An estimated $50 million advertising campaign, begun two years before Mr. Popoff rose to the top, used the slogan Dow lets you do great things. It was intended to change public perceptions of Dow, promoting an image of it as a nicer corporation, underlining its charitable giving and humanitarian uses of its products.

I think we have a fair amount of work to do in terms of the way we are viewed, Mr. Popoff told The New York Times in 1987, shortly before succeeding Paul F. Oreffice as chief executive. We know well never change Ralph Naders mind. But Dow is at peace with itself, and we want our people to feel good about the company, too.

The company was best known then for manufacturing chemicals, including chlorine, as well as for using chemicals in making plastics, pharmaceuticals and supermarket goods like Saran Wrap, Fantastik cleaning liquid and Ziploc bags.

Regulators and environmentalists were heavily focused on chemicals at the time. In 1991, Mr. Popoff and another Dow executive, David Buzzelli, set up a panel of outside environmental policy advisers among them Lee Thomas, a former E.P.A. administrator who scrutinized Dows operations and were able to obtain confidential information. A current version of that panel remains in place at Dow.

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit andlog intoyour Times account, orsubscribefor all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber?Log in.

Want all of The Times?Subscribe.

Link:
Frank Popoff, Who Sought to Lead a Friendlier Dow Chemical, Dies at 88 - The New York Times

Posted in Chemistry | Comments Off on Frank Popoff, Who Sought to Lead a Friendlier Dow Chemical, Dies at 88 – The New York Times

Chemistry taking Mount Zion boys basketball to doorstep of state title – Herald & Review

MOUNT ZION Every day in the summer since he was a little kid, JC Anderson would be in the driveway with friends playing pickup basketball.

That group included Lyncoln Koester, Sam Driscoll, Brayden Trimble and Anderson, with Koester winning the games to 21 most often between the four.

Mount Zion celebrates its 47-46 win of the 3A Springfield Super-sectional boys basketball game against Centralia at the BOS Center. The Braves' players have a bond that started as kids.

Now, Koester is the Braves' leading scorer and Anderson is a dominant post presence while Trimble and Driscoll are playing key roles as starters on a 35-1 team that will play in its first-ever state tournament this weekend with a 9:30 a.m. tip on Friday against Chicago Mount Carmel in the IHSA Class 3A State Tournament semifinals in Champaign.

"I remember it like it was yesterday, man," Anderson said. "Off each other, we just thrived."

Mount Zion's Grant McAtee takes the ball to the basket earlier this season.

Andersons mother, Becky Clayton-Anderson, would, from in the house, hear them mixing it up as little kids years before theyd grow up and become one of the most dominant basketball teams in the state, and the best team in Mount Zion history.

"It was just the best thing as a basketball player watching them all out there just playing, and they would fight and hit and punch and cuss at each other, and then they'd get done playing and they're just best friends," Clayton-Anderson said. "I just smile ear to ear every time they're out there playing because that's what it's all about growing up together and playing together. They just always have each other's backs; they always have."

The Braves beat Centralia 47-46 on Monday at the Class 3A Springfield Super-sectionals, overcoming a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit after a season where their offense has helped them mow through most of the teams in their path. Mount Zion averages 64.3 points per game, but its grit helped it overcome an early deficit against local rival MacArthur in the sectional finals as well.

Mount Zion players celebrate their 47-46 super-sectional win.

"They just don't give up," Braves coach Dale Schuring said. "They've got a determination and grit and a toughness to them that you've got to have in these types of situations. They've shown it every time we've needed it and they came through again."

That winning edge has been slowly building with the Braves as their roster got older. With juniors like Koester, Driscoll and Trimble, along with senior starter Grant McAtee, theres years of experience throughout the teams lineup. Thats a big reason why the team has put together a record-breaking run after a 1-14 record in 2020-21.

"It takes time," Schuring said. "The juniors ... they've been playing since they were freshmen, but 14-year-olds against 17- and 18-year olds, it's not as fair as you would think no matter how talented you are. It's a progression. They've gotten stronger; they've gotten better. It's so gratifying for them that they've shown that and they get the opportunity to go to state."

As the players grew physically and mentally over the past few seasons theyve become a local juggernaut. They feature high-level athletes, but its the understanding and speed they can play with together that has allowed the Braves to go on a special postseason run.

Mount Zion's JC Anderson celebrates during the Braves' win against Centralia in the super-sectionals.

"We knew we always had the potential to be big, but I think it's just Coach Schuring helped us a lot," Anderson said. "He disciplined us and he helped our heads not get too big. So it's just been being patient and waiting for our turn."

The Braves are ready to take the intensity they built in their games in the Anderson driveway to the floor at the State Farm Center.

"It's a special group," Anderson said. "Words can't explain it. No one believed we'd be here. We don't have five-star players. We don't have (Division I) basketball recruits, but we have chemistry like no other."

Signs cheer on the Mt. Zion boys basketball team, who are heading to the state final for the first time, outside McGaughey Elementary School on Thursday.

Jill Sams puts up signs in town for the Mt. Zion boys basketball team, who are heading to the state final for the first time, on Thursday.

Whitney Getz, Kamry Getz, 4, and Macklin Sams, 3, put up signs in town for the Mt. Zion boys basketball team, who are heading to the state final for the first time, on Thursday.

Signs cheer on the boys basketball team, who are heading to the state final for the first time, in Mt. Zion on Thursday.

Mount Zion senior Tyson Evans high-fives basketball team members Thursday as the Braves head to the State Farm Center in Champaign for the state final tournament.

Mount Zion students cheer as the boys basketball team heads to the State Farm Center in Champaign for the state final tournament on Thursday.

The Mount Zion boys basketball team proceeds past students on the way to the bus on Thursday to head to the State Farm Center in Champaign and prepare for the state final tournament.

Sent weekly directly to your inbox!

Go here to see the original:
Chemistry taking Mount Zion boys basketball to doorstep of state title - Herald & Review

Posted in Chemistry | Comments Off on Chemistry taking Mount Zion boys basketball to doorstep of state title – Herald & Review