5 Chemistry Breakthroughs That Shaped Our Modern World

[longknife]

How often do we take things for granted? How about this screen you're looking at? Right now? Do you know how it came about?


In 1970 the MoD commissioned George Gray at the University of Hull to work on a way to make LCDs function at more pleasant (and useful) temperatures. He did just that when he invented a molecule known as 5CB. By the early 1980s, 90% of the LCD devices in the world contained 5CB, and you’ll still find it in the likes of cheap watches and calculators. Meanwhile derivatives of 5CB make the phones, computers and TVs of today possible.


Read the full story @ 5 Chemistry Breakthroughs That Shaped Our Modern World

 

[waltky]

Granny whupped up a new potion called possumium - it'll grow hair on yer tongue...

New Elements Added to Periodic Table
January 04, 2016 - Chemistry students will now have a tougher time memorizing the periodic table.

Four elements have been added to the table, according to the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). The elements, which have yet to be officially named, are being called Element 113, Element 115, Element 117 and Element 118.

Four new elements have been added to the periodic table​

The new elements also provide a certain symmetry to the periodic table, filling out the seventh row of the chart. "The chemistry community is eager to see its most cherished table finally being completed down to the seventh row,” said Professor Jan Reedijk, president of the Inorganic Chemistry Division of IUPAC.

The elements, which were discovered by teams in the U.S., Japan and Russia, were observed by colliding smaller, lighter nuclei and tracking the decay of the resulting radioactive elements. “To scientists, this is of greater value than an Olympic gold medal,” Ryoji Noyori, a Nobel laureate in chemistry, told The Guardian newspaper.

New Elements Added to Periodic Table