10 May 2010

This BP oil spill fiasco is getting ridiculous. Apparently some engineer thinks that they can fire garbage with enough force several thousand feet below the ocean's surface against an oil pressure generated by the pressure of the Earth's crust at a hole and plug it up. I'm not really a sports guy, but I do believe this is a maneuver called a "Hail Mary." I wonder how many ecosystems we'll destroy before we are stopped?

So I was in lab until 4 am last night doing a column and some TLC of my PDC reaction. After I take an 1H NMR today I will be just 3 steps away from one of my target molecules!!

Ok, now for some SWEET science!

One of the most remarkable organ systems of animal life on this planet is the nervous system. This network of highly specialized cells takes environmental information (chemical, physical, visual, etc...) turns that analogue signal into an electrical pulse which is then amplified and transmitted to the brain. Once in the brain these signals are integrated and analyzed and then a response is made. These cells communicate with each other across very tiny spaces called a synapse. In this synapse tiny fat blobs called vesicles transmit chemicals from one cell to another. The release of these vesicles is a highly complex process which remains to be completely elucidated. Researchers have now demonstrated in a Science paper that vesicle fusion (i.e. neurotransmitter release) is dependent upon a protein called synaptotagmin 1. The more we know about how our nervous system works the more well equipped we will be to cure neurodegenerative diseases and other neurological disorders as well as perhaps develop a synthetic brain. Citation: Science 7 May 2010 Vol. 328 nol 5979, pp. 760-763.

Some of the most ubiquitous life and chemistry on this planet takes place within the cells of green stuff, plants. Plants have the ability to take photons (light) from the sun and convert it into chemical energy. Arguably the most important chemical reaction on our planet is the Hill reaction taking place in the oxygen evolving complex (OEC). The source of almost all of the oxygen we breath comes from this crucial reaction and the process through which the light energy is absorbed and converted to charge separation is the subject of intense research. In another Science paper, Swedish researchers used X-ray flashes to catch the movement of one of the proteins involved in light energy capture and found that a highly conserved tyrosine (TyrL162) is deprotonated resulting in a movement of just 1.3 angstroms. This research will hopefully help in the development of synthetic light capture technologies that would allow us to use our local star for energy rather than burn the liquefied remains of our ancestors. Citation: Science 30 April 2010, Vol. 328, no. 5978, pp. 630-633.

The NASA New Horizons spacecraft is almost halfway to pluto with just 1890 days 17 hours 19 minutes until it arrives (as of this post). This spacecraft will analyze these distant objects in greater detail than ever before. Below is a picture taken by New Horizons as it passed by Jupiter and its moon, Io, the most geologically dynamic body in our solar system. Take note of the blue plume (a volcanic plume) on the top of Io (the foreground).