Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions

American Chemical Society

Taking inspiration from trees, scientists have developed a battery made from a sliver of wood coated with tin that shows promise for becoming a tiny, long-lasting, efficient and environmentally friendly energy source. Their report on the device — 1,000 times thinner than a sheet of paper — appears in the journal Nano Letters.

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20 episodes
Updated Sep 12, 2011

Episodes20

Newest first

Sep 12, 2011
Promoting Public health: Toward a vaccine for methamphetamine abuse
Today’s solution addresses the development of a potential vaccine to fight methamphetamine abuse. Methamphetamine abuse costs the United States more than 23 billion annually in medical expenses, law enforcement costs, and lost productivity.
Aug 24, 2011
Providing Safe Foods: Safety of nanoparticles in food crops is still unclear
Today’s solution sounds a warning bell about the much-anticipated new era of nanoagriculture — using nanotechnology to boost the productivity of plants for food, fuel, and other uses.
Aug 10, 2011
Developing New Materials: Using banana peels to purify water
A study in the American Chemical Society’s journal, Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research, reports that minced banana peel performs better than an array of other water purification materials and can do so in a sustainable way.
Jul 25, 2011
Our Sustainable Future: A “green grid” for delivering solar and wind-based electricity
Today’s solution addresses the development of a “green grid” to more efficiently deliver solar and wind-based electricity.
Jul 11, 2011
Promoting Public Health: Toward new medication for chronic brain diseases
A needle-in-the-haystack search through nearly 390,000 chemical compounds has led scientists to a substance that can sneak through the protective barrier surrounding the brain with effects promising for new drugs for Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease. They report on the substance, which blocks formation of cholesterol in the brain, in the journal, ACS Chemical Biology.
Jun 27, 2011
Developing New Sources of Energy: Self-powered nanogenerator uses body movements to generate electricity, transmit data wirelessly
Today’s solution is A first-of-its-kind nanogenerator that can produce electricity using energy from a gentle breeze, movements of a person walking and other sources and power wireless data transmissions.
Jun 13, 2011
Our Sustainable Future: “Green” cars made from pineapples and bananas
Today’s solution explains how manufacturers building hybrids that have excellent gas mileage, can create stronger, lighter, and more sustainable materials for cars and other products, made, in part, out of bananas or pineapples.
May 23, 2011
Combating Disease: New rapid diagnostic test for MRSA Superbugs
Today’s solution is a new blood test that can quickly tell whether patients are infected with an antibiotic-resistant bacterium that’s become a global plague. This superbug is called methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or simply MRSA.
Apr 25, 2011
Our Sustainable Future: A greener process for a key ingredient used to make paint, diapers, and other products
A study published in the American Chemical Society’s journal, ACS Catalysis, reports that scientists have developed a new catalyst that provides an environmentally way to make acrylic acid without using petroleum.
Jan 12, 2011
Our Sustainable Future: Biodegradable plastic from milk and clay
With continuing concern about plastic waste accumulating in municipal landfills, and reliance on imported oil to make plastics, scientists have created an ultra-light biodegradable foam plastic material made from two unlikely ingredients.
Nov 25, 2010
Promoting Public Health: Black rice bran may fight inflammation
Scientists are reporting evidence that black rice — a little-known variety of the grain that is the staple food for one-third of the world population — may help soothe the inflammation involved in allergies, asthma, and other diseases.
Nov 18, 2010
Supplying Safe Drinking Water: Electrified nano filter promises to cut costs for clean drinking water
Scientists are reporting development and successful initial tests of an inexpensive new filtering technology that kills up to 98 percent of disease-causing bacteria in water in just seconds without clogging.
Oct 28, 2010
Our Sustainable Future: Saving energy by reducing food waste
A new study published in the American Chemical Society’s Environmental Science and Technology journal provides a compelling new reason not to waste food. It saves energy, lots of money at home and fights global hunger.
Oct 21, 2010
In the green of health: Just five minutes of green exercise optimal for good mental health
New research suggests that just five minutes of outdoor activities, such as exercising in a park, working in a backyard garden or walking on a nature trail, will benefit mental health.
Sep 7, 2010
Future Cities: Nanotechnology promises more sustainable buildings, bridges, and other structures
Bricks, blocks, and steel I-beams — step aside. That’s because scientists are reporting that a new genre of construction materials, made from stuff barely 1/50,000th the width of a human hair, is about to debut in the building of homes, offices, bridges, and other structures. The new report highlights both the potential benefits of these nanomaterials in improving construction materials and the need for guidelines to regulate their use and disposal. The report appears in the monthly journal ACS
Sep 1, 2010
Developing new sources of energy: Producing cost-effective biodiesel from sewage sludge
Existing technology can produce biodiesel fuel from municipal sewage sludge that is within a few cents a gallon of being competitive with conventional diesel refined from petroleum. Intro theme and music by Kevin MacLeod. Creative Commons licensed audio from freesound.iua.upf.edu.
Aug 30, 2010
Our Sustainable Future: “Smart” roofs that can save energy
Scientists are reporting development of a “smart” roof coating, made from waste cooking oil from fast food restaurants, that can “read” a thermometer and help save energy. Roofs coated with the material would reflect scorching summer sunlight and reduce sticker-shock air-conditioning bills. When chilly weather sets in, the coating would change roles and transmit heat to help warm the interior. Scientists described the sustainable material at the 239th National Meeting of the American Chemical So
Jul 19, 2010
Promoting Public Health: Dusting off a hidden challenge
Where does dust come from? Scientists in Arizona are reporting a surprising answer to that question, which has puzzled and perplexed generations of men and women confronted with layers of dust on furniture and floors. Intro theme and music by Kevin MacLeod. Creative Commons licensed audio from freesound.iua.upf.edu.
Jun 24, 2010
Promoting Public Health: Toward a fast, accurate urine test for pneumonia
Scientists are reporting the discovery of the potential basis for a urine test to diagnose community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), a difficult-to-diagnose lung disease that is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. The test could save lives by allowing doctors to begin the right treatment earlier than they do now. The study appears online in ACS’ Journal of Proteome Research. Intro theme and music by Kevin MacLeod. Creative Commons licensed audio from freesound.iua.upf.edu.
Jun 10, 2010
New fuels: Biofuels: A more economical process for making ethanol from non-food sources
Scientists in Wisconsin are reporting discovery of a way to lower the cost of converting wood, corn stalks and leaves, switch grass, and other non-food biomass materials into ethanol fuel. The process reduces amounts of costly enzymes needed to break down tough fibrous cellulose matter in biomass for fermentation into alcohol. Intro theme and music by Kevin MacLeod. Creative Commons licensed audio from freesound.iua.upf.edu.