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Chemistry

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A tiny cage of gold responds to light, opening to empty its contents
 An exquisite container

Nov. 3,
2009 -- A tiny cage of gold covered with a smart polymer responds to light, opening to empty its contents and resealing when the light is turned off. The smart nanocages could be used to deliver drugs directly to target sites, thus avoiding systemic side effects.

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Pickled in Brine
 Mars may once have been awash in water but the water was very salty

Oct. 26,
2009 -- Andrew H. Knoll, Ph.D., Fisher Professor of Natural History and professor of earth and planetary sciences at Harvard University, will discuss the evidence for life on Mars at 7 p.m. Oct. 30 in Room 300, Laboratory Sciences Building, on the Danforth Campus of Washington University in St. Louis.

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Cloudy with a chance of pebble showers
 Simulation suggests rocky exoplanet has bizarre atmosphere

Sept. 29,
2009 --
Intrigued by the discovery last February of Corot-7b, a rocky exoplanet, Washington University in St. Louis scientists set out to investigate its atmosphere the only way so-far possible: mathematically and by simulation. Tidally locked with its star and orbiting very close to it, the planet is hot enough to melt rock on its star-facing side. Its atmosphere consists of the components of silicate rocks in gaseous form and, the simulation suggests, periodically rains pebbles or grains of sand onto the molten surface below.

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'Holy grail for icy volcanism'
 Saturnian moon shows evidence of ammonia

July 24,
2009 --
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| NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Saturn's moon Enceladus, seen by the Cassini spacecraft. |
Data collected during two close flybys of Saturn's moon Enceladus by NASA's Cassini spacecraft add more fuel to the fire about the Saturnian ice world containing sub-surface liquid water, according to a report in the July 23 issue of the journal Nature that is co-authored by a planetary researcher from Washington University in St. Louis.

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Going platinum
 New catalyst could boost cleaner fuel use

May 14,
2009 --
Material scientists at Washington University in St. Louis have developed a technique for a bimetallic fuel cell catalyst that is efficient, robust and two-to-five times more effective than commercial catalysts. The novel technique eventually will enable a cost effective fuel cell technology, which has been waiting in the wings for decades and should give a boost for cleaner use of fuels worldwide.

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Birds of a feather
 Study finds particles, molecules prefer not to mix

May 4,
2009 --
In the world of small things, shape, order and orientation are surprisingly important, according to findings from a new study by chemists at Washington University in St. Louis. Lev Gelb, WUSTL associate professor of chemistry, his graduate student Brian Barnes, and postdoctoral researcher Daniel Siderius, used computer simulations to study a very simple model of molecules on surfaces, which looks a lot like the computer game "Tetris." They have found that the shapes in this model (and in the game) do a number of surprising things.

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Novel energy
 DOE makes largest research award in Danforth Campus history

April 28,
2009 -- Washington University and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center have received two awards totaling $35 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to do research on novel energy initiatives. At $20 million, the Washington University research award is the largest ever received on the Danforth Campus. The $15 million for the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is the largest the organization has ever received.

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'Taco shell' protein
 Orientation of middle man in photosynthetic bacteria described

April 13,
2009 --
Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have figured out the orientation of a protein in the antenna complex to its neighboring membrane in a photosynthetic bacterium, a key find in the process of energy transfer in photosynthesis. Robert Blankenship, Ph.D., Markey Distinguished Professor of Biology and Chemistry in Arts & Sciences, led a team that for the first time combined chemical labeling with mass spectroscopy to verify the orientation. The team also included Michael Gross, Ph.D., WUSTL Professor of Chemistry, Immunology and Medicine, and Chemistry graduate students Jianzhong Wen and Hao Zhang. A paper describing this work appeared recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA.

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Nanoscience pioneer explains new imaging techniques
 Alivisatos to speak on new technique for creating biological imaging tools

Feb. 23,
2009 -- Paul Alivisatos shares his pioneering work with nanocrystals to develop medical breakthroughs in biological imaging at the Assembly Series on Wednesday, March 4, at 11 a.m. in Graham Chapel.

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Haskin honored with named feature on the Moon
 WUSTL man on the Moon

Feb. 3,
2009 --
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| Haskin |
A crater on the moon has been named after the late Larry Haskin, Ph.D., who spent much of his career as a WUSTL researcher in the Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences.

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