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Liquid calcium carbonate

By Guest PostAugust 23, 2013Environmentalloys, antacids, atmospheric, calcium carbonate, calcium carbonate mineralization, carbon cycle, carbon dioxide levels, carbon storage reservoirs, concrete, crystallization pathway, dense liquid droplets, dense liquid phase, energy barrier, geologist adam wallace, limestone, liquid calcium carbonate, marine organisms, molecular dynamics simulations, nanoscale phase, nanoscopic clusters, polymers, salt solutions, seashells, seawater chemistry

Geologist Adam Wallace reports in ‘Science’ that calcium carbonate has a dense liquid phase

Computer simulations could help scientists make sense of a recently observed and puzzling wrinkle in one of nature’s most important chemical processes. It turns out that calcium carbonate — the ubiquitous compound that is a major component of seashells, limestone, concrete, antacids and other naturally and industrially produced substances — may momentarily exist in liquid form as it crystallizes from solution.

“Our simulations suggest the existence of a dense liquid form of calcium carbonate,” said co-corresponding author Adam Wallace, an assistant professor of geological sciences in UD’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment who conducted the research while a postdoctoral researcher at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. “This is important because it is an as-yet unappreciated component of the carbon cycle.” (more…)

How Did Earth’s Primitive Chemistry Get Kick Started?

By Guest PostAugust 2, 2013Scienceacetate, alkaline hydrothermal fluids, alkaline hydrothermal vents, ancient enzymes, atlantic ocean, bottom of oceans, chemical signature, distribution, earliest oceans, earth, enceladus, evolution, floor, future of life, hypothesis, icy worlds, jupiter, lauren white, laws of thermodynamics, mike russell, moon europa, nano engines, NASA, organic carbon, origin, polymers, primitive chemistry, saturn

How did life on Earth get started? Three new papers co-authored by Mike Russell, a research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., strengthen the case that Earth’s first life began at alkaline hydrothermal vents at the bottom of oceans. Scientists are interested in understanding early life on Earth because if we ever hope to find life on other worlds — especially icy worlds with subsurface oceans such as Jupiter’s moon Europa and Saturn’s Enceladus — we need to know what chemical signatures to look for.

Two papers published recently in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B provide more detail on the chemical and precursor metabolic reactions that have to take place to pave the pathway for life. Russell and his co-authors describe how the interactions between the earliest oceans and alkaline hydrothermal fluids likely produced acetate (comparable to vinegar). The acetate is a product of methane and hydrogen from the alkaline hydrothermal vents and carbon dioxide dissolved in the surrounding ocean. Once this early chemical pathway was forged, acetate could become the basis of other biological molecules. They also describe how two kinds of “nano-engines” that create organic carbon and polymers — energy currency of the first cells — could have been assembled from inorganic minerals. (more…)

Novel Nanoparticle Mimicking Virus Offers New Route to Gene Therapy

By Guest PostDecember 10, 2011Sciencebrain tumors, cancer, caroline e weller, christopher j cheng, cystic fibrosis, diseases, gene therapy, healthy cells, huntingtons disease, hydrophobic, immune reactions, materials, mouse tumor model, nanoparticle, non viral gene therapy, novel chemistry, polymers, positive electric charge, repair, symptoms, treatments, viral gene therapy, w mark saltzman, water molecules, water repellant, yale university, zhaozhong jiang

Researchers at Yale University have developed a novel nanoparticle with promising applications in gene therapy, a type of medical treatment that addresses the root causes of diseases now typically treated for symptoms.

The advance could lead to new therapies for many forms of cancer, including brain tumors, as well as for cystic fibrosis and Huntington’s Disease. (more…)

Tag Archives: polymers

Liquid calcium carbonate

How Did Earth’s Primitive Chemistry Get Kick Started?

Novel Nanoparticle Mimicking Virus Offers New Route to Gene Therapy