chemistry

Is the Red Rectangle a cosmic Rosetta Stone?

Cracking the puzzle of unusual molecules in deep space that absorb some wavelengths of starlight is like unlocking the secrets of the Rosetta Stone, according to Rob Sharp of the Australian National University’s Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics. “It’s the longest-standing problem in astronomical spectroscopy,” he says. The identity of the molecules has been [...]

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Yeast—the next wine frontier

Australia’s scientific approach to grape growing and winemaking means that you can be confident in what you’re buying when you drink Australian wines. And that’s helped Australian wine become the market leader in the UK and second behind Italy in the US market.

Now researchers at the Australian Wine Research Institute are tracking down the compounds that give wine its complexity. In 2007 they identified the compound responsible for the ‘black pepper’ aroma in Shiraz, and more recently they found the cause of the ‘minty eucalypt’ aroma of some Australian reds.

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Nano-magnets to guide drugs to their target

Microscopic magnets ferrying drugs through the bloodstream directly to diseased tissue are a new ‘green chemistry’ product which will improve health and the environment.

A team led by Prof. Colin Raston, of the University of Western Australia fabricated the nano ‘bullets’ which can be directed by an external magnetic field to specific parts of the body. The new technology will enable doctors to send the drugs directly to the disease site, leaving healthy tissue intact and minimising toxic side-effects.

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