C&EN Monthly - April 2024

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Here are some of the top articles from cen.acs.org that have been creating a reaction:

Biomanufacturing isn’t cleaning up chemicals . Biomanufacturing firms have long promised that engineering microbes to convert biomass into chemicals would reduce the chemical industry’s carbon footprint. After decades of work, these efforts have barely made a dent in the nearly 1 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases released by the chemical industry each year.

Dementia’s next test: New Alzheimer’s diagnostics are coming . The diagnostic landscape for Alzheimer’s has recently begun to shift. Investors have committed tens of millions of dollars to developing new diagnostics, and hospital systems are beginning to incorporate some of these tests into their diagnostic workflows.

Why some researchers think calcium is the future of batteries . Lithium has reigned in the battery world for decades. Researchers have tried for years to make a cheaper, more sustainable successor to lithium-ion batteries by using the element’s more common neighbors on the periodic table. Rechargeable versions of these low-cost power sources can be made today, but commercialization remains far down the road.

To battle B-cell cancers, drugmakers are going beyond the covalent bond . Seeking to give patients options when covalent BTK inhibitors fail, drugmakers have been pursuing noncovalent BTK inhibitors—compounds that block BTK’s activity without forming a covalent bond to the enzyme.

What is ball lightning, a reality or myth ? A flash of lightning. A thundering boom. And then a curious light floating through the air, illuminating the dark room, and bouncing off surfaces. The mysterious phenomenon has been reported for centuries. Are scientists any closer to figuring it out?

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