This article describes how data are used to analyze the pattern of ionization energies of the lanthanide elements. Different observed pathways of ionization between different ground states are discussed, and the effects of pairing, exchange, and orbital interactions on ionization energies of the lanthanides are evaluated. When all the above…

The physics of nuclei is not a democratic field. It has to be said, some nuclei are just more interesting than others. And some are more useful than others, either to explain the origins of the elements, or the nature of matter itself, or for uses in medicine and other applied fields. The trick is to work out which nuclei are going to be the most…

This article presents a "Proteopedia" page that shows the refined version of the structure of the "Haloarcula" large ribosomal subunit as solved by the laboratories of Thomas Steitz and Peter Moore. The landmark structure is of great impact as it is the first atomic-resolution structure of the highly conserved ribosomal subunit which harbors…

An educational demonstration shows the combustion of carbon to carbon dioxide and then the reduction of carbon dioxide to carbon. A melee diamond is the source of the carbon and the reaction is carried out in a closed flask. The demonstration helps students to realize that diamonds are made of carbon and that atoms do not change or vanish in…

The electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is growing in significance as society begins to rely more on renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power. Thus, research on designing new, inexpensive, and abundant HER catalysts is important. Here, we describe how a simple experiment combined with results from density functional…

Public funding for biomedical research is often justified as a means to encourage development of more (and better) treatments for disease. However, few studies have investigated the relationship between these expenditures and downstream pharmaceutical innovation. In particular, although recent analyses have shown a clear contribution of federally…

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder consisting of a constellation of symptoms that sometimes occur as part of a complex disorder characterized by impairments in social interaction, communication and behavioral domains. It is a highly disabling disorder and there is a need for treatment targeting the core symptoms. Although autism is accepted…

Using the symbolic interactionist perspective that meaning is constituted as individuals interact with one another, this study examined how group thinking during cooperative inquiry-based activity on chemical bonding theories shaped and influenced college students' understanding of the properties of ionic compounds in solution. The analysis…

The Holy Grail in CVD community is to find precursors that can afford the following: good nucleation on a desired substrate and conformal deposition in high AR features. Good nucleation is not only necessary for getting ultra-thin films at low thicknesses; it also offers films that are smooth at higher thickness values. On the other hand,…

The concept of Lewis base activation of selenium Lewis acids has been effectively reduced to practice in the Lewis base catalyzed selenofunctionalization of unactivated olefins. In this reaction, the weakly acidic species, "N"-phenylselenyl succinimide, is cooperatively activated by the addition of a "soft" Lewis base donor (phosphine sulfides,…

A thematic course called "Climate Change: Chemistry and Controversy" was developed for upper-level non-STEM students. This course used the socioscientific context of climate change to teach chemical principles and the nature of science. Students used principles of agnotology (direct study of misinformation) to debunk climate change…

This study investigates ways to enhance secondary school students' knowledge transfer in complex science domains by implementing question prompts. Two samples of students applied two web-based models to study molecular genetics--the model of genetic code (n = 258) and translation (n = 245). For each model, the samples were randomly divided into…

Energy eigenvalues for a non-relativistic particle in a linear potential well are available. In this paper we obtain the eigenenergies for a relativistic spin less particle in a similar potential using an extension of the well-known WKB method treating the potential as the time component of a four-vector potential. Since genuine bound states do…

This column provides original articles on innovations in case study teaching, assessment of the method, as well as case studies with teaching notes. In this month's issue the goal of the case study is for students to expand their understanding of membrane permeability and the proton motive force in mitochondria through the study of…

Hydrogenation of alkenes is an important reaction in the synthesis of organic molecules. In this experiment, students conduct a high-yield microscale hydrogenation reaction of methyl "trans"-cinnamate using a readily available, safe, and convenient hydrogen source. The conditions are similar to those seen in an organic chemistry textbook for an…