Crystals And Catalysts

Using high doses of green tea extract supplements for weight loss become increasingly popular, but at the same time potential liver toxicity has become a serious concern. In the last decade, dozens of people have been diagnosed with the condition. However, it’s been found that drinking green tea in the weeks before taking supplements likely reduces risk, according to researchers. Researchers gave mice high doses of the green tea polyphenol epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG).  The dosage was equivalent to the amount of the polyphenol found in some dietary supplements taken by humans. The research data showed that dietary pre-treatment with the green tea polyphenol protects mice from liver toxicity caused by subsequent high oral doses of the same compound, explained Josh Lambert, associate professor of food science. He suggested that the research has relevance to people who are taking or are considering taking supplements containing green tea extract. There are some daring peop...

Are we ready for hypoallergenic parks? Sounds like an oxymoron, right?  Well, this dream could soon become a reality thanks to research published in the American Society of Agronomy. The researchers hope their efforts will lead to “fantastic urban green spaces that don't cause allergic reactions for 30 percent of the city's population”. Professor Paloma Carinanos’ team specifically studies the city of Granada, Spain. This city's climate and layout is like that of many cities in the Mediterranean area, which has the highest occurrence of pollen allergies in the world. The researchers hope their efforts will lead to fantastic urban green spaces that don't cause allergic reactions for 30% of the city's population. To research team lead by Carinanos began by classifying the trees in Granada's ten largest green spaces. They grouped the trees into three categories. Then they recorded the type of pollination, the length of the pollination period, and the potenti...

Designer drugs  make up a larger proportion of the illegal drug market and although they  don’t have a specific definition, it's a term that’s used to describe illegal and abused drugs such as ketamine, fentanyl, LSD, PCP, quaaludes, methcathinone, and amphetamine derivatives such as ecstasy and cocaine. Chemists are continually trying to solve the growing problem of designer drugs – whose regulation is elusive because they involve ever-changing formulas. This is one of the topics which has been discussed at a session at the 250 th  ACS National Meeting & Exposition this summer in Boston U.S.A. “ It is relatively simple to take a drug that has a known psychoactive effect and change one substituent group to make it into another drug that is not yet classified as illegal but provides the same or similar psychoactive high”, explains   William Hoffmann , a postdoctoral student at West Virginia University’s forensic and investigative science department. Hoffmann a...

The flu virus mutates every year and there are many different strains of flu virus. If you are in the “at risk” group of people you’re required to take a flu shot every year / every flu season. This can be very cumbersome, so scientists are working on developing a universal flu vaccine that would be active against all strains of the virus and you wouldn’t need inoculations every year. Promising research published in Science Express journal, demonstrates how the team of scientists at the  Crucell Vaccine Institute at the Janssen Center of Excellence for Immunoprophylaxis in the Netherlands (and other research centres in the US) , have extracted different antigens from most flu virus and placed them in the vaccine to mimic the flu virus and stimulate the immune response to produce antibodies in defence, and also keep in memory different types of flu virus, so in the future, dealing with the virus is easier and less burdensome on the victim.  Final results of the stud...

Today, a new Meningitis B vaccine has been released for babies at age two, four and 12 months old. Every year, 1761 cases are diagnosed in the UK.  Meningitis is the acute inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord,  known as the meninges. The inflammation may be caused by infection with Meningococcal bacteria, which is carried harmlessly in the nose or throat by approximately 1 in 10 people. Meningitis can be life-threatening because of the inflammation's proximity to the brain and spinal cord; therefore, is a serious medical emergency. After years of discussions and plenty of research, the Meningitis B vaccine will be available for children from September 2015. Campaigners said it could prevent up to 4,000 cases by 2025, but warned that parents should also be aware of meningitis symptoms.  Finally, a catch-up programme will be available for babies born since May who have missed the first jabs. This vaccination has been delayed before...

This Christmas, kids will be expecting something bigger and a million times better than the latest new toy or piece of tech, instead they'll be expecting an invisibility cloak! (Okay, maybe not this year, but very soon indeed.) Scientists in the University of California - San Diego are working on making a  cloaking device that is "both thin and does not alter the brightness of light around a hidden object." They've basically created an invisibility "carpet" which doesn't change the brightness of light around an object sitting on a flat surface by mimicking  the reflection of light off the flat surface, which therefore   cancels the overall distortion of light caused by the object's shape - making the observer  think that there's a flat surface .   Commenting on their research, Dr Hsu explains  "By changing the height of each dielectric particle, we were able to control the reflection of light at each point on the cloak." Dr Hsu...

Modafinil (a stimulant drug normally used to treat narcolepsy, to help people with sleeping disorders to stay awake) could soon become the new “smart drug” according to a review published in European Neuropsychopharmacology. Neuroenhancement is the term used to describe the targeted enhancement and extension of cognitive and affective abilities based on an understanding of their underlying neurobiology. The FDA-approved drug modafinil, has been heavily researched for cognitive modulation in healthy humans, and appears safe for widespread use. Their review on the cognitive effects of the “smart pill” modafinil has found that it can improve the performance of healthy people on cognitive tasks, meaning it can be considered the first of these “neuroenhancement agents”. References: [ 1 ]

I'm starting this second year on my blog, trying to come up with new ways to grow Crystals and Catalysts and create content that you will like at the same time. Starting with: One Paragraph Science..... Starting from next week. Mondays, Tuesdays & Wednesdays, I will be posting new news in science but in  a new and different way. This is called One Paragraph Science where I will be condensing down news in science (obviously) to just one paragraph, whilst maintaining its meaning and keeping them, short, snappy and straight to the point. This idea I believe, is a great challenge for me because condensing down a long piece of complex research is way harder than it looks. New logo..? Yes,  I've made a brand new, shiny, more professional logo to go with Crystals And Catalysts. I hope everyone likes it as much as I do. :)

In this past year, my blog has been seen internationally in countries I would have never even dreamed of being seen in (which I think is absolutely amazing). My first priority for this blog is to ensure that everyone enjoys reading my new posts and understands them really well. I even have a google translate button in the sidebar. But as we all know, sometimes (or more often than not) google translate doesn’t always correctly translate text in the ways its supposed to be. I'd like to thank a really good friend of mine, who has offered to translate one of my blog posts in Arabic so that my blog could reach more corners of the earth. Enjoy!

MRSA ( methicillin-resistant-staphylococcus aureus ) is a type of bacteria which is resistant to a number of widely used antibiotics, therefore making it one of the most difficult to treat bacterial infections.