Teaching smart paper to bend to human needs The New York Times July 11, by Henry Fountain
“Smart” materials, which can change in response to external stimuli, are often associated with high
technology. They are already found in many applications, including tiny actuators like those that deploy airbags
and window glass that can change opacity on command. Some of the uses are exotic, but many smart materials
themselves are mundane. They have just gotten even more ordinary. Researchers in South Korea have made smart
paper out of cellulose... The paper, a sheet of cellophane with thin gold electrodes deposited on each side,
bends when a voltage is applied... The crystalline regions react to the electrical charge. Dr. Kim, whose findings
are reported in the June 27 issue of the journal Macromolecules,
discovered that a small piece of cellophane can deflect by about half an inch under a 5- to 7-volt charge.
Soak it up St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri) July 3
LDL—the “bad” form of cholesterol—seeps into artery walls, where it oxidizes. These modified
LDL particles can lead to atherosclerosis, also known as hardening of the arteries. A Chinese-style marinade lowers
these modified LDL particles, which can be formed during food processing and storage. Food chemists in Taiwan cooked
pork and eggs for at least one hour in a marinade consisting of 10 percent soy sauce, 1 percent sugar, and 89 percent
water. “The volume of the marinade has to be large enough to cover food samples,” said Bing-Huei Chen, a
professor in the department of nutrition and food sciences at Fu Jen University in Taipei... The level of 10 percent
soy sauce can sometimes be reduced for a better taste, but it can still reduce oxidized LDL formation substantially,
said Chen, who published the findings in the June 28 issue of the
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
Study: Almonds healthy as fruits and veggies The Common Voice July 7
Now that almonds have been declared the next great health food, be looking for them to be added to more and more foods
in the coming months and years. I already try to eat at least a handful of almonds daily. The brand I buy from my
local Walgreen’s store contains over 300 mg of potassium, which serves two purposes for me. First, I am salt-sensitive
so it helps reduce the amount of sodium that is used to flavor them. Second, the potassium helps me ward off the leg
cramps associated with a deficiency in this nutrient when you are following a low-carb program. I LOVE THEM and they
give me the crunchy goodness I need to satisfy my appetite when the hunger bug hits. Dr. Blumberg’s study was
funded in part by the Almond Board of California and was published in the
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
Not on my back lawn Chemistry World July 7
Moles beware: The chemical repellent responsible for the fox-like odour given off by several species of fritillary
plants has been identified, potentially boosting the gardener’s armoury against their burrowing foes...
Synthetic 3-methyl-2-butene-1-thiol might be a good way to encourage a family of pesky moles to move on to pastures
new, says Helpser, who reports the discovery in the current edition of the
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
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