“Single man in a field is not a warrior” is a Russian proverb that has proved to be true when it comes to science research according to Brian Uzzi and colleagues from Northwestern Institute on Complexity that authored “The Increasing Dominance of Teams in Production of Knowledge” published in the May 18th issue of “Science” […]

So, Mikhail Tsvet was trying to solve the separation problem of the green leaf pigments. He took a glass cylinder, filled it with chalk powder, and poured a little bit of the alcohol leaf extract on the top layer . The extract was brownish-green, and the top layer of chalk column also became the same […]

Shortly after I posted “Proteomics made faster” I saw another research article published on the topic. Now, Detlev Belder and colleagues at the University of Regensburg, have developed a glass microchip that directly couples electrophoretic separation techniques with the electrospray process. As per “Chemistry World“: Chemists in Germany have created a glass microchip that combines […]

The large-scale studies of structure and function of proteins (proteomics) are performed using a variety of analytical techniques from two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, immunoaffinity chromatography to tandem and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. The words “large-scale” in proteomics definition refers to the fact that the number of proteins that need to be evaluated is enormous. For example, the […]

Yesterday “Nano Letters” released an article – “Photosensitization of ZnO Nanowires with CdSe Quantum Dots for Photovoltaic Devices” by Eray S. Aydil and et al. (DOI: 10.1021/nl070430o). I could not read the entire article because I am not a subscriber and don’t want to spend $25, but judging by the abstract the research team’s quantum-dot-sensitized […]

The research group from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (NY) led by Ganapathiraman Ramanath was able to glue two materials together a one nanometer-high layer of polymer chains. This thin but very strong nanoglue could become a useful adhesive in computer chips and other materials devices where thicker layers wouldn’t fit. One other unique property of the […]

John J. Kasianowicz from NIST and his colleagues created a 2D method for mass spectrometry capable of a single-molecule analysis based on the interaction between a nanometer-scale pore and analytes. The method is a “nano” version of Wallace Coulter patented technique that detects particles suspended in solution by driving them through a capillary which is […]

The AP released the highlights of the first day of Floyd Landis arbitration hearing in Malibu who is the first Tour de France winner in its 104-year history to be stripped of his title because he tested positive for steroids. What caught my attention and really made me laugh was The Mercury News definition of […]

Imagine yourself in a rather large and almost empty room with an iron bed in the corner. Autumn. Cold. Gloomy. It has been raining for days and the roof is leaking. In the opposite corner on the ceiling the wet spot is slowly spreading; the rain drops are falling into the bucket on the floor. […]

Today is 135th birthday anniversary of chromatography‘s founding father Mikhail Tsvet and to celebrate his birthday I will be posting some interesting stories and facts from his life during the course of today this week.