Canada’s SCISAT satellite, which last year marked 10 years of actively observing more than 30 different molecules in our planet’s upper and lower atmosphere, has earned a reputation for providing a unique collection of measurements that sometimes contain surprises. This reputation was reinforced this past...
Read More >>At 68 C, vanadium oxide (VO2) undergoes a significant change in electronic properties that has vexed physicists and chemists for more than 50 years. In 1959 it was discovered that as the material cools, it changes from a metal to a semiconductor while its atoms reorganize themselves from a tetragonal to monoclinic crystal structure.
Read More >>Blood clotting is essential to surviving any wound but it can work against us when modern medicine needs to operate inside the body. In cases where a piece of equipment must be inserted to extract fluids or deliver medicine, blood clots can foul up the intricate parts of this technology.
Read More >>Nanoparticle technology being developed at the University of Waterloo could come to the rescue of individuals taking cyclosporin eye drops to treat dry eye syndrome. Users — who sometimes find they must administer the medication several times a day — could ultimately wind up applying the drops just...
Read More >>A device developed by chemists at Université de Montréal promises to improve the way a powerful cancer-fighting drug is administered to patients. By using nanoparticles to generate optical effects, this new technology will make it possible to determine almost immediately how much of the drug remains in...
Read More >>Oxidation states — describing the number of electrons an atom loses or gains when it joins [IrO4]+with other atoms in chemical compounds — have fascinated Gary Schrobilgen since his graduate school days in the 1970s, when he managed to make the first bromine VII cation, [BrF6]+. Today, as a chemistry professor...
Read More >>A decade after the official launch of Canada’s first synchrotron in Saskatoon, many members of the nation’s research community might start to wonder how they ever managed without this powerful investigative resource. For his part, University of Saskatchewan biochemist Miroslaw Cygler points to the...
Read More >>Given how much information we regularly store in magnetic form on everything from computer hard disks to credit card strips, researchers are increasingly interested in the stability of magnetic properties in materials. Mary Anne White, a chemist at Dalhousie University...
Read More >>Tomislav Friscic calls it “lazy man’s chemistry.” At the 23rd Congress and General Assembly of the International Union of Crystallography in Montreal this past August, Friscic, a McGill University chemist, described experiments where he combined simple, mineral-like metal oxides...
Read More >>The Yukon may be most famous for gold, but water is among its other treasures. For mining companies that are developing operations in some of the territory’s more isolated corners, that includes drinking water for the dozens of people who may be working at any given site.
Read More >>A Quebec firm has solved a critical challenge for the aluminium industry, earning the 2014 Canadian Green Chemistry and Engineering Award (CSA Group Award for Organizations) from the Chemical Institute...
Read More >>Amber, a relatively simple resin secreted by trees, is among nature’s sturdiest and perhaps most elegant compounds. It is tough enough to withstand millions of years’ worth of environmental abuse, yet it remains capable of capturing light in a gem-like fashion suitable for jewelry.
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