Chemical reaction

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A chemical reaction is a process that always results in the interconversion of chemical substances. The substance or substances initially involved in a chemical reaction are called reactants. Chemical reactions are usually characterized by a chemical change, and they yield one or more products, which usually have properties different from the reactants. Classically, chemical reactions encompass changes that strictly involve the motion of electrons in the forming and breaking of chemical bonds, although the general concept of a chemical reaction, in particular the notion of a chemical equation, is applicable to transformations of elementary particles, as well as nuclear reactions. Different chemical reactions are used in combination in chemical synthesis in order to get a desired product. In biochemistry, series of chemical reactions catalyzed by enzymes form metabolic pathways, by which syntheses and decompositions ordinarily impossible in conditions within a cell are performed.

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News tagged with chemical

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Fine-tuned

Fine-tuned: A wholly new approach to tuning a laser's frequency

Physics / Optics & Photonics

created Dec 04, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (9) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- For more than 30 years, scientists have been trying to harness the power of terahertz radiation. Tucked between microwaves and infrared rays on the electromagnetic spectrum, terahertz rays ...


Researchers restore some function to cells from cystic fibrosis patients

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created 17 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

In an encouraging new development, a team led by Scripps Research Institute scientists has restored partial function to lung cells collected from patients with cystic fibrosis. While there is still much work to be done before ...


Studying a Star Before it is Born

Studying a Star Before it is Born

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 04, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (5) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- The first phase of a star's formation are thought to begin deep inside a natal cloud of gas and dust. In the earliest stages, material coalesces under the influence of gravity into so-called ...


Poisonous Poisson

Poisonous Poisson

Biology / Evolution

created Dec 04, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (6) | comments 0

In contrast to the exhaustive research into venom produced by snakes and spiders, venomous fish have been neglected and remain something of a mystery. Now, a study of 158 catfish species, published in the ...


Stopping MRSA before it becomes dangerous is possible, researchers find

Stopping MRSA before it becomes dangerous is possible, researchers find

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Dec 03, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Most scientists believe that staph infections are caused by many bacterial cells that signal each other to emit toxins. The signaling process is called quorum sensing because many bacteria must be present ...


Random DNA mix-ups not so random in cancer development

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Dec 03, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Researchers at the UC San Diego School of Medicine have pinpointed a mechanism that may help explain how chromosomal translocations - the supposedly random shuffling of large chunks of DNA that frequently lead to cancer - ...


Toxic chemicals found in a third of children's toys: study

Medicine & Health / Health

created Dec 02, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

A third of the most popular children's toys in the United States this year contain harmful chemicals including lead, cadmium, arsenic and mercury, a US consumer group said Wednesday.


A little magic provides an atomic-level look at bone

Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry

created Dec 02, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study using solid-state NMR spectroscopy to analyze intact bone paves the way for atomic-level explorations of how disease and aging affect bone. The research by scientists at the University of Michigan ...


Suzaku spies treasure trove of intergalactic metal

Suzaku spies treasure trove of intergalactic metal

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 02, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (6) | comments 1

Every cook knows the ingredients for making bread: flour, water, yeast, and time. But what chemical elements are in the recipe of our universe?


Fruit Fly

Latest epidemic? High cholesterol, obesity in fruit flies

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Dec 02, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

How do fruit flies get high cholesterol and become obese? The same way as people do - by eating a diet that's too rich in fats.


Nervy research: Researchers take initial look at ion channels in a model system

Nervy research: Researchers take initial look at ion channels in a model system

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Dec 02, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Before one of your muscles can twitch, before the thought telling it to flex can race down your nerve, a tiny floodgate of sorts -- called an ion channel -- must open in the surface of each cell in these organs ...


A light touch: Iron complexes as efficient catalysts for the light-driven extraction of hydrogen from water

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Dec 02, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 3

(PhysOrg.com) -- Hydrogen is a promising alternative energy carrier that can be efficiently converted into electrical energy in fuel cells. One hurdle to the introduction of sustainable hydrogen technology is the fact that ...


All decked out: Networks of chitin filaments are integral components of diatom silica shells

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Dec 01, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A whole microcosm of various bizarrely shaped life forms opens up when you look at diatoms, the primary component of ocean plankton, under a microscope. The regularly structured silica shells of these tiny ...


Blushing dusty nebula

Blushing dusty nebula

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 01, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 1

On Earth, we tend to find dust nothing more than a nuisance that blankets our furniture and causes us to sneeze. Cosmic dust can also be a hindrance to astronomers because cameras using visible light cannot ...


First Pump-Probe Experiment at LCLS Completed

First Pump-Probe Experiment at Linac Coherent Light Source Completed

Physics / General Physics

created Nov 30, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (12) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- The first experiment using the Linac Coherent Light Source to illuminate molecules via a "pump-probe" technique has been completed by an international team of more than 30 scientists from ...