Stereo Chemistry

The smell of old books. The crinkle of the yellowing pages. While admiring the wonders of libraries, have you ever wondered how paper ages and why some sheets last longer than others? Paper conservation scientists have. Stereo Chemistry caught up with a slew of these researchers after hearing about a special collection of books at the U.S. Library of Congress. The more than 1,000 volumes in this collection have essentially donated their bodies to science. We embarked on a time-travel journey to learn more about this collection and the self-trained chemist, a polarizing figure, who donated it and who helped bring about modern-day paper preservation testing. Read "The Great Promoter: William J. Barrow and His Role in the History of Conservation" by Sally Cruz Roggia here: https://cool.conservation-us.org/coolaic/sg/bpg/annual/v20/bp20-09.pdf “The Ants Built a City on His Chest” by Doctor Turtle is licensed under CC BY 4.0. http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Doctor_Turtle/The_Double-Down_Two-Step/the_ants_built_a

Even scientists can have superstitions: a lucky shirt, a supernatural paper towel, an elaborate ritual to keep the NMR running smoothly. In this episode of Stereo Chemistry, we’re sharing superstitions from our listeners to celebrate Halloween. Join host—and proud black cat owner—Kerri Jansen as she explores the not-exactly-scientific notions of the chemistry world. View a transcript of this episode at https://cen.acs.org/people/Chemists-share-lab-superstitions/96/i44. Watch videos from the Talented 12 symposium at the American Chemical Society national meeting in Boston at bit.ly/t12vids2018. Read more about the honorees’ research at bit.ly/2OKJ2Dw. This episode was written, hosted, and produced by Kerri Jansen. Music: “Moonlight Hall” by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under CC BY 3.0 “The Confrontation” by Podington Bear is licensed under CC BY-NC 3.0

Deborah Blum's new book, "The Poison Squad," comes out Sept. 25. The author and award-winning science writer sat down with us to discuss the crusading chemist—and crazy experiment—behind the book's title and America's first food safety regulation. To register for C&EN's Nobel Prize prediction webinar, visit https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/acs-webinars/popular-chemistry/predicting-nobel-4.html "Glass Bells Dancing With A Synthesizer" by Daniel Birch is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0 http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Daniel_Birch/Minimal_Bells_From_The_Deep/Glass_Bells_Dancing_With_A_Synthesizer "The Confrontation" by Podington Bear is licensed under CC BY-NC 3.0 http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Podington_Bear/Passages/The_Confrontation "Drive Til Dawn" by Rockit Maxx is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0 http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Rockit_Maxx/Rockit_Maxx/Rockit_Maxx_-_Rockit_Maxx_-_04_Drive_Til_Dawn

Graduate students handle myriad challenges, including a labmate’s annoying habit and loneliness when transplanted into a foreign country. C&EN reporters Kerri Jansen, Matt Davenport, and Linda Wang spoke to several international Ph.D. candidates to learn how they stay motivated, productive, and find balance amid the chaos. Find a transcript of this episode and even more thoughts from grad students around the world at https://cen.acs.org/education/graduate-education/Hear-stories-grad-students-around/96/web/2018/09 Register for the Nobel Prize predictions webinar at https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/acs-webinars/popular-chemistry/predicting-nobel-4.html This episode was written and produced by Kerri Jansen. “The Zeppelin” by Blue Dot Sessions is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0 http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Blue_Dot_Sessions/Aeronaut/The_Zeppelin_1908 “The Confrontation” by Podington Bear is licensed under CC BY-NC 3.0 freemusicarchive.org/music/Podingto…_Confrontation

Three of chemistry’s rising stars joined us on stage at the ACS national meeting in Boston for a light-hearted look at some of this summer’s most buzzworthy chemistry news. Luisa Whittaker-Brooks (University of Utah), Staff Sheehan (Catalytic Innovations and the Air Company), and Jillian Dempsey (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)—all members of C&EN’s Talented 12 this year or in past years—went head-to-head in our quiz show that covered everything from avocados to ZIF-8, a metal organic framework. To hear the full episode and find all the stories featured in the quiz, visit our website at bit.ly/stereochemlive. Check out all of C&EN's meeting coverage at http://bit.ly/CENmeetingnews "Beach Wedding Dance" by Rolemusic is licensed under CC BY 4.0. "60's Quiz Show" by Podington Bear is licensed under CC BY 3.0. "Funky perc" loop is by eshar. https://www.looperman.com/loops/detail/50060/funky-perc-by-eshar-free-120bpm-funk-percussion-loop

The European X-ray Free Electron Laser recently came online as the biggest and brightest source of X-rays on planet Earth. This will allow chemists to do groundbreaking research, but with great science comes great responsibility. In our latest Stereo Chemistry podcast, C&EN contributing editor Mark Peplow visits the X-ray facility to learn about its growing pains, its staff’s unique approach to keeping it running, and some of its early successes. “Kitty In The Window” by Podington Bear is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License. http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Podington_Bear/Said_Lion_To_Lamb_Box_Set_Disc_3/Kitty_In_The_Window “The Confrontation” by Podington Bear is licensed under CC BY-NC 3.0. http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Podington_Bear/Passages/The_Confrontation “Gerald's Place” by Raleigh Moncrief is licensed under CC BY-NC 3.0. http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Raleigh_Moncrief/Vitamins_EP/Raleigh_Moncrief_-_Vitamins_EP_-_06_Geralds_Place Matt stands by his awful W

Although genome sequencing has helped scientists reveal proteins wreaking havoc in our bodies, that doesn’t guarantee scientists can invent the drugs to take them down. Depending on who you talk to, up to 85% of the human proteome is currently “undruggable,” meaning these proteins lack easy-to-find pockets where therapeutics, such as small molecules, can bind. But a wave of biotech companies, each one armed with new technology, has arrived to tackle the problem. Industry and academic scientists explain why they think the business and scientific environment is ripe for finally overcoming the most elusive drug targets. For a full transcript and more links, visit https://cen.acs.org/pharmaceuticals/drug-discovery/quest-drug-undruggable/96/i26 Subscribe to Stereo Chemistry now on iTunes, Google Play, or TuneIn. “Soundboy” by 4bstr4ck3r is licensed under CC BY-4.0. http://freemusicarchive.org/music/4bstr4ck3r/4bstr4ck3r/4bstr4ck3r_-_4bstr4ck3r_-_01_Soundboy_CC-BY-NC “The Ascent” by A. A. Aalto is licensed under CC

Our bones contain chemical information about our diet, our behavior, and even our geographic origin. With the right tools, scientists can decode that information to learn about the past lives behind skeletal remains. Christine France of the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute uses stable isotope ratio analysis to help anthropologists answer questions about possible 18th-century pirates and more. Sign up for C&EN’s newsletter at bit.ly/chemnewsletter. Find a full transcript of the episode at http://cenm.ag/storyinbones. Stereo Chemistry is published by C&EN, the newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society. Contact us at cen_multimedia@acs.org. This episode was written, hosted, and produced by Kerri Jansen. Music: “Shoe Glaze” by Jesse Spillane is licensed under CC BY 4.0

Stereo Chemistry had its recorders rolling for four days during the ACS national meeting in New Orleans in March. Listen to our latest episode to hear what brought a wide range of chemists to the meeting, including a Priestley Medal winner, a hurricane survivor, and an (in)famous duck. Find the full transcript and links to the stories we talk about here: https://cen.acs.org/acs-news/acs-meeting-news/Lets-hear-ACS-national-meeting/96/web/2018/04 “The Confrontation” by Podington Bear is licensed under CC BY-NC 3.0. http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Podington_Bear/Passages/The_Confrontation “Analog” by Jon Luc Hefferman is licensed under CC BY-NC 3.0. http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jon_Luc_Hefferman/20170730112628534/Analog_1208

C&EN reporter Tien Nguyen takes us inside her months-long dealings with ChemRxiv, one of chemistry’s new preprints servers. She examines the benefits, questions, and frustrations presented by the server—not the least of which was chemists unwilling to discuss their own work with us. But it’s not all doom and gloom. We kinda got a Science publication out of this story. UPDATE: On March 16, 2018, Angewandte Chemie announced on Twitter that its editorial board voted to allow submissions of papers posted as preprints on ChemRxiv. https://twitter.com/angew_chem/status/974603394219462656?s=20 Nominate chemists for C&EN’s Talented 12 Class of 2018: http://talented12.cenmag.org/nominate-candidates-for-2018/ All music in this podcast is by Lee Rosevere and licensed under CC BY 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ The music you heard first and most often was “Puzzle Pieces.” http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lee_Rosevere/Music_For_Podcasts_2/Lee_Rosevere_-_Music_for_Podcasts_2_-_10_Puzzle_Pieces Th

In September, C&EN published a cover story on sexual harassment in chemistry. In the second episode of Stereo Chemistry, host Kerri Jansen talks with sexual harassment survivors and the C&EN reporters behind that cover story to learn what has changed—and what hasn’t—in the months since we released that story. Listener discretion is advised. Read C&EN’s cover story Confronting Sexual Harassment in Chemistry at cenm.ag/harassment Information on the Science of Sexual Harassment symposium and harassment response workshop can be found at http://bit.ly/ACSNOLAworkshop Stereo Chemistry is published by C&EN, the newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society. Contact us at cen_multimedia@acs.org Written, hosted, and produced by Kerri Jansen Music credit: AudioBlocks/Footage Firm

In our first full-length episode of Stereo Chemistry, we sit down with some of the leaders and up-and-comers in the field of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) to figure out why these materials are so hot right now. Subscribe to C&EN's weekly newsletter to stay up to date with the chemistry news you need to know: http://cenm.ag/cenewsletter Stereo Chemistry is published by C&EN, the newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society. Contact us at cen_multimedia@acs.org “What Have You Done” by Lee Rosevere is licensed under CC BY 4.0. http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lee_Rosevere/The_Big_Loop_-_FML_original_podcast_score/Lee_Rosevere_-_The_Big_Loop_-_FML_original_podcast_score_-_03_What_Have_You_Done “The Confrontation” by Podington Bear is licensed under CC BY-NC 3.0. http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Podington_Bear/Passages/The_Confrontation CC BY 4.0 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ CC BY-NC 3.0 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ This episode was written and prod

There’s just one week to go until the full-fledged premiere of C&EN’s new podcast, Stereo Chemistry. And we realized we haven’t bothered to let you in on what we’re doing or how we’re doing it. That changes now with our latest—and last—mini-episode. Stereo Chemistry is published by C&EN, the newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society. Contact us at cen_multimedia@acs.org

In September, C&EN published a cover story on sexual harassment in chemistry. This March, we’re coordinating a symposium at the ACS National Meeting and releasing an episode of our new podcast, Stereo Chemistry, to further discuss the topic. In this promo for the podcast, host Kerri Jansen talks with C&EN reporter Linda Wang to learn more about the symposium at the ACS meeting. Stereo Chemistry launches on Feb. 28. Hosted by Kerri Jansen and Matt Davenport Written and produced by Kerri Jansen Read the C&EN cover story at cenm.ag/harassment

We’re launching a new podcast, Stereo Chemistry, on Feb. 28. To get ready for that launch, reporters Matt Davenport and Kerri Jansen sat down with C&EN Editor-in-Chief, Bibiana Campos-Seijo, to hear her vision for the podcast and the future of the C&EN empire. Hosted by Kerri Jansen and Matt Davenport Written and produced by Matt Davenport

C&EN is launching a new podcast, Stereo Chemistry, on Feb. 28. To give you a little nibble of what to expect, hosts Matt Davenport and Kerri Jansen joined C&EN senior business editor, Melody Bomgardner, to learn how chemistry is helping support a sustainable fish farm in Idaho's Magic Valley. Stereo Chemistry is published by C&EN, the newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society. Contact us at cen_multimedia@acs.org Hosted by Kerri Jansen, Matt Davenport, and Melody Bomgardner Written by Matt Davenport and Melody Bomgardner Produced by Matt Davenport