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Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Researchers reported today in the journal Science Express that the ratio of the proton's mass to that of the electron has hardly changed over the past seven billion years. This fundamental constant of nature has changed by a maximum of one hundred thousandth of a percent over cosmic history. Scientists from VU University Amsterdam and the Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie (MPIfR) used the Effelsberg 100-m radio telescope to...
Researchers from the University of Arizona (UA) claim that they have found a way to observe the triatomic hydrogen ion believed to be the key element responsible for the formation of the first stars following the Big Bang. According to an article published to the UA News website on Wednesday, the molecule, which is known as H3+, is an ion that consists of three hydrogen atoms with just a pair of electrons to share between them, giving it a positive charge. It is believed to be the catalyst...
Los Alamos team sees unprecedented proof of ion's role in enzymatic processA Los Alamos National Laboratory research team has harnessed neutrons to view for the first time the critical role that an elusive molecule plays in certain biological reactions. The effort could aid in treatment of peptic ulcers or acid reflux disease, or allow for more efficient conversion of woody waste into transportation fuels.In a paper appearing this week in Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Los Alamos...
Mapping the structure of protonated water clustersWater molecules are continuously forming short-lived networks called clusters. These can in turn bind positively charged protons, and such clusters can provide active functional groups in proteins. Using infrared spectroscopy, it is possible to determine the bond strengths, geometrical structures and chemical properties of protonated water clusters. In order to measure the spectrum of molecular vibrations in clusters it is, however, necessary...
Boulder, Colo. -- A laboratory method developed for making and analyzing cold, concentrated samples of a mysterious "floppy" molecule thought to be abundant only in outer space has revealed new data that help explain the molecule's properties. The advance, described in the Jan. 6 issue of Science,[*] is a step toward overcoming a decades-old challenge in chemistry -- explaining reactions that occur within very cold clouds among the stars, and perhaps for developing new chemical...
New Haven, Conn. -- Free protons from acids associate with 1, 2 or 3 molecules of water and the structures can be identified by unique infrared laser spectrum signatures, according to a report in Science by Yale professor of chemistry Mark A. Johnson and his collaborators at Yale, the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Georgia. Acids yielding free protons are common in biological and chemical systems and the measurement of pH to determine acidity of an aqueous solution is a...
