α,β-Unsaturated carbonyl functionality- those with connected carbon-carbon and carbon-oxygen double bonds- are commonly found in bioactive compounds. Late-stage functionalization of these compounds could involve oxidation of methylene (2°)…
Category: 1. Edi-Choice
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Biologist who made cloning possible
Credit: Jerry Mason/Science Photo Library
John Gurdon transformed biology by proving that when cells specialize to become a specific type, such as skin or nerve cells, they do so by switching genes on and off, not by losing genetic information….
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how I gained hands-on experience in marine biology
“While I was an undergraduate student at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John, Canada, I did the marine semester programme. This involved living in the small town of Saint Andrews, also in New Brunswick, for three months and taking…
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Mysterious Spot in Earth’s Magnetic Field Now Growing Rapidly
A major dip in the Earth’s magnetic field over the South Atlantic has been puzzling scientists for over a century.
Perhaps most strangely, the weak spot — dubbed the South Atlantic Anomaly — has grown rapidly over the last eleven…
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US And Japanese NASA supercomputer predicts when the world will end
Scientists from Toho University in Japan have collaborated with NASA researchers to determine when the world will end.
It might sound scary until you realise that it would mean never having to do taxes, emails, or group projects ever again.
But in…
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Satellite captures image of enormous sewage spill in coastal waters
NASA’s imaging spectrometer riding on the International Space Station has spotted a wastewater plume pouring from the Tijuana River into the Pacific. The signal is strong enough that scientists can track the pollution from orbit with a single…
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Photographer’s Once-in-a-Lifetime Shot of Lightning Sprites and the Milky Way
Dan Zafra (Capture the Atlas) caught elusive red lightning sprites fizzing in front of the galactic core of the Milky Way while the aurora australis glows in the bottom left corner. While out photographing the dark skies of New Zealand…
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8 science-backed secrets to a more restful night’s sleep
The author of The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald, once said, “The worst thing in the world is to try to sleep and not to.” He was far from alone in that sentiment. Listen to any group of bleary-eyed new parents and one of them is likely to…
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