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1. Pluto’s bladed terrain as seen from New Horizons during its July 2015 flyby. Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI 2. An example of the penitentes from the southern end of the Chajnantor plain in Chile. Though these ice formations only reach a few feet in height, while Pluto’s bladed terrain reaches hundreds of feet, they both have similar sharp ridges. Credits: Wikimedia Commons/ESO

NASA’s New Horizons mission revolutionized our knowledge of Pluto when it flew past that distant world in July 2015. Among its many discoveries were images of strange formations resembling giant knife blades of ice, whose origin had remained a mystery...

New Application of Old Material: Chinese Traditional Ink for Photothermal Therapy of Metastatic Lymph Nodes. ACS Omega, 2017; 2 (8): 5170 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.7b00993

For hundreds of years, Chinese calligraphers have used a plant-based ink to create beautiful messages and art. Now, one group reports in ACS Omega that this ink could noninvasively and effectively treat cancer cells that metastasize, to lymph nodes. Photothermal therapy (PTT) is an emerging noninvasive treatment option in which nanomaterials are injected and accumulate in cancer cells. A laser heats up the nanomaterials, and this heat kills the cells. Many of these nanomaterials are expensive, difficult-to-make and toxic...

Marc Aurel Busche at the two-photon microscope, which allows to visualize nerve cells with high temporal and spatial resolution in the intact brain. Credit: Copyrighted image: Kurt Bauer / Technical University of Munich

BACE inhibitor successfully tested in Alzheimer’s animal model. The protein amyloid beta is believed to be the major cause of Alzheimer’s disease. Substances that reduce the production of amyloid beta, such as BACE inhibitors, are therefore promising candidates for new drug treatments. A team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has recently demonstrated that one such BACE inhibitor reduces the amount of amyloid beta in the brain. By doing so, it can restore the normal function of nerve cells and significantly improve memory performance.

Around 50 million people worl...

Synthesis schemes of (a) conventional carbonaceous catalysts and (b) this work for ordered carbonaceous frameworks. Credit: Copyright: Hirotomo Nishihara

Researchers have developed a new synthesis route for alternative catalysts of noble metals for versatile chemical reactions that could help address environmental concerns. Noble metals such as platinum are useful as catalysts for versatile chemical reactions including fuel cell vehicles and reduction of CO2 emission. However, they are too costly to be used for these purposes.

As inexpensive alternatives, organic-based catalysts and carbonaceous catalysts were explored, but were ultimately found to be impractical...