October 2016

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Halloween is a season for jitters and jump-scares galore. But what happens inside your body when you feel afraid? And why do so many of us seem to actually like scaring ourselves silly? ACS Chemical Neuroscience Associate Editor Anne Andrews recently appeared on NBC’s “Today” show to uncover the mysteries behind the chemistry of fright.

“What happens when you get scared, is that your body releases epinephrine, adrenalin, and that causes your heart rate to go up, causes your blood pressure to go up, causes your eyes to dilate. So these are all your body’s responses to some type of threat,” Andrews said during the clip. “When you’re doing something like going to a haunted house or going to a scary movie, you know there’s no real bodily threat and so it’s almost like you can enjoy the rush of the fear response without the stress that would come along with an actual threat of danger.”

Anne Andrews is a professor of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences and Chemistry & Biochemistry at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her work focuses on basic and translational research on anxiety and depression, and at the nexus of nanoscience and neuroscience. Andrews’ interdisciplinary research team focuses on understanding how the serotonin system and particularly, the serotonin transporter, modulate neurotransmission to influence complex behaviors including anxiety, mood, stress responsiveness, and learning and memory.

Read the full article with more comments from Andrews on the chemistry of fear and watch a video of Today’s Brooke Sassman getting into the spirit of the season with a spooky trip to Knott’s Scary Farm.

Learn more about Andrews’ research in ACS Publications.

This summer, I participated in the SciFinder Future Leaders program and it has been a life-changing experience. When I think about the experience, I feel a whirlpool of emotions, but one of my important take-homes is positivism about the future.

During the program, we went deep into a company that is the information solution provider for scientific research. In purchases, intellectual property, academic training, bibliographic research etc., it has become more intuitive, more valuable, and more human. I am talking, obviously, about CAS, a division of the American Chemical Society. The leaders at CAS are now more open-minded than ever, and their innovation elegantly captures the essence of the scientific method: Propose your hypothesis, test it in the market and refine accordingly.

Vincent Blay Roger

The program also afforded me the opportunity to attend the 252^nd ACS National Meeting & Exposition. The event made it undeniable that scientific developments are accelerating at an exponential pace, building upon all of our discoveries and developments from the last centuries. I attended talks by top-class researchers, and judging by their presentations, I conclude that we are on the brink of some major breakthroughs. Just look at the Kavli Lecture Series, the Talented 12 or at my SciFinder Future Leaders brethren for examples of the kinds of great work being done in science today.

One of my favorite memories from the ACS Meeting comes from the International Activities Committee: a big reception that facilitates networking with top researchers and other science-related personalities from every corner of the world, all of them open to exchanging ideas and working together.

My prediction for the future of research is that it will become really transdisciplinary – mathematicians and philosophers working together with biologists and chemists, all of this taking place in borderless networks. With the arrival of millions of people to the middle class in many economies, the number of researchers will multiply and the competitiveness and quality in science will increase. The roles of scientists and businesspeople will blend, as they work to bring disruptive technologies to every facet of our life such as robotics, nanorobotics, artificial intelligence, solar energy, 3D printing, precision medicine and more. Now more than ever the future is ours. What a time to be a scientist!

Vincent Blay Roger is a researcher and entrepreneur at Universitat de València and Instituto de Tecnología Química (UPV-CSIC) in Spain, where he works on solutions for a sustainable future. His recent startups include Scientiart and Angel.

Chemical & Engineering News covers the world of chemistry, from research and education to business and policy. Here’s a sampling of their coverage of research from ACS journals:

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Sea Life Untainted by Wrecked WWII Submarine’s Mercury Leak
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Researchers say metallic mercury leaking from a World War II German submarine wreck has polluted ocean floor sediment near the Norwegian island of Fedje. Fortunately, an analysis of crabs in the area suggests the mercury has not had a large effect on the local food web, even though sediment samples showed mercury levels as high as 24,000 mg/kg. The researchers theorize a lack of organic matter in the sediment keeps bacteria from methylating the mercury, limiting the element’s bioavailability.

Read the story in C&EN.
Read the research in Environmental Science & Technology.

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Strengthening Silk With Nanomaterials
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Silkworms fed graphene or carbon nanotubes produce silk fibers that are twice as tough, can withstand about 50% more stress, and can even conduct electricity, a study finds. The worms were fed their usual diet of mulberry leaves with a twist: The leaves were coated in a 0.2% aqueous solution of graphene or single-walled carbon nanotubes. While there are other methods for treating silk with nanomaterials, this method is less complex and environmentally destructive, researchers note.

Read the story in C&EN.
Read the research in Nano Letters

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New Nanobot Design Could Offer Targeted Intestinal Drug Delivery
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Self-driven nanobots could someday provide targeted medicine or medical imaging to patients by traveling to specified points in their intestines. In tests, devices were delivered to specific parts of the intestine by varying the thickness of a pH-sensitive methacrylate-based polymer coating, which slowly dissolves in the neutral pH environment of the intestine. Once the coating dissolves entirely, a reaction occurs that embeds the device in the subject’s intestinal wall, where medicine can be deployed. Researchers plan to conduct further experiments to study the device’s effectiveness in targeted drug delivery in mice.

Read the story in C&EN.
Read the research in ACS Nano.

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New Biomarker Panel Test Improves Detection of Liver Damage

An improved blood test for acetaminophen-induced liver injury looks solely at proteins expressed at high levels in the liver, removing the ambiguity of tests that relied on biomarkers expressed throughout the body. In a trial, researchers found that a test for a panel of five liver-enriched proteins was able to detect 12 out of 14 sick patients, compared with just 3 spotted by the standard test. While evaluation of the method is needed, researchers say this approach could someday lead to new tests for a variety of organ-specific conditions.

Read the story in C&EN.
Read the research in Journal of Proteome Research.

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Study Explores Formation of Carbon Nanotubes in Diesel Exhaust
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Burning diesel fuel with sulfur and ferrocene, a common fuel additive, promotes the creation of carbon nanotubes in exhaust fumes. Inhaling nanotubes has been tied to cancer and lung disease in tests on rats and mice. While particulate exhaust filters typically remove carbon nanotubes from engine exhaust, researchers say the nanotubes may still pose a risk in countries with less stringent emission limits and fuel mixtures that include more sulfur and additives.

Read the story in C&EN.
Read the research in Environmental Science & Technology Letters.

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That’s just a small sample of the robust coverage C&EN provides. Get the latest news in your discipline with weekly e-mail updates.

This week: treating coronary heart disease, molecular machines, hexavalent chromium in drinking water wells – and more!

Also, in honor of Open Access Week, ACS is promoting ACS AuthorChoice article from every journal. View articles by portfolio:

Each and every day, ACS grants free access to a new peer-reviewed research article from one of the Society’s journals. These articles are specially chosen by a team of scientific editors of ACS journals from around the world to highlight the transformative power of chemistry. Access to these articles will remain open to all as a public service.

Check out this week’s picks!
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Direct Observation of a Dark State in the Photocycle of a Light-Driven Molecular Motor

J. Phys. Chem. A, Article ASAP
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.6b09644
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Discovery of Highly Potent Liver X Receptor β Agonists

ACS Med. Chem. Lett., Article ASAP
DOI: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.6b00234
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Polystyrene-Supported TRIP: A Highly Recyclable Catalyst for Batch and Flow Enantioselective Allylation of Aldehydes

ACS Catal., 2016, 6, pp 7647–7651
DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.6b02621
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Genetic, Structural, and Phenotypic Properties of MS2 Coliphage with Resistance to ClO2 Disinfection

Environ. Sci. Technol., Article ASAP
DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b04170
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Origin of Hexavalent Chromium in Drinking Water Wells from the Piedmont Aquifers of North Carolina

Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett., Article ASAP
DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.6b00342
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Current Challenges toward In Vitro Cellular Validation of Inorganic Nanoparticles

Bioconjugate Chem., Article ASAP
DOI: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.6b00514
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How Large Should the QM Region Be in QM/MM Calculations? The Case of Catechol O-Methyltransferase

J. Phys. Chem. B, Article ASAP
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.6b07814
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Love ACS Editors’ Choice? Get a weekly e-mail of the latest ACS Editor’s Choice articles and never miss a breakthrough!

In an effort to continuously improve the ACS Publications website for our global community, we recently introduced a number of upgrades. These improvements will enhance the discoverability and accessibility of articles, while concurrently increasing security and preventing unauthorized access of customer data.

One key improvement is the addition of “Remember Me” functionality for ACS ID logins on our website. With this functionality, we can recognize repeat website visits so that you can seamlessly save and access your favorite content. It also authenticates your login across other ACS websites, including ACS ChemWorx and C&EN.

Another enhancement is the improvement of our search function. When searching for an author name, you can locate and identify it via phonetic or a similar spelling to the actual name.

Finally, as a security measure, we have introduced two-factor authentication for library administrators on InfoCentral. Our two-factor authentication is verified either via IP Authentication or SMS text message. The first time you, an administrator, access your account from outside of an institution’s IP range, you will be asked to provide a SMS compatible phone number. A short code will be sent to your mobile device to verify your identity. Two-factor authentication has become a widely implemented security practice, with many universities implementing it for their accounts. ACS is committed to supporting best practices and keeping customers’ accounts secure.

Account Administrators: if you have any questions regarding two-factor authentication, please contact ACS Publications Customer Service & Support any time: acs_pubs_assist@acs.org.

October 24-28 is Open Access Week, a time to share open access research, learn about open access publishing options, and to ponder the implications of making more research more freely available. Authors now have more options that ever for making their research open, such as ACS Omega, ACS Central Science, ACS AuthorChoice, ACS Editors’ Choice, and ACS Author Rewards. As a result, chemists around the world can now read an ever-growing trove of open access chemistry research.

What are the effects of this important trend? We asked you to share your thoughts on the impact of open access – the good, the bad and everything in between. Here are some of our favorite comments:

The ACS open access options provide our authors with flexibility to achieve whatever they need for their manuscript, assuring them a greater impact and increased dissemination. — Jonathan Sweedler, Editor-in-Chief of Analytical Chemistry

My experience with publishing open access in ACS has been exceptionally positive. After the ACS Editors’ Choice open access initiative was launched, I found the selected articles to not only feature intellectually stimulating work from a scientific standpoint, but the papers were also able to communicate their discoveries clearly to me. I was ecstatic when our submission to ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering was selected for this program and would be accessible to global communities of scientists and engineers. — Jeff Ting, University of Minnesota

Open access is important for nationally-funded research. It gives greater access to the public community to access the results of scientific investment. — Bryan Coad, University of South Australia

Editor’s Note: Comments have been edited for length, clarity and style.

Learn more about all the different ways that ACS is promoting open access chemistry research – and discover some of our open access papers for yourself.
Now it’s your turn. Tell us what open access mean to you in the comments!

More than five years ago, Irina P. Beletskaya and Valentine P. Ananikov published an article in Organometallics entitled, “Can We Predict the Future of Organometallic Chemistry?” The article took a critical eye to the past and present state of the discipline as it stood in 2011. Additionally, the authors made predictions about the future of organometallics in particular and organic chemistry in general.

At the time, Beletskaya and Ananikov wrote:

“We believe more and more industrial applications will benefit from implementation of new techniques in catalysis and from the preparation of new transition-metal complexes serving as catalysts. To our knowledge this will also include syntheses of enantiomerically pure compounds. It is not uncommon to expect that transition metal complexes themselves (both reagents and catalysts) will be generated or assembled in situ directly under the reaction conditions. Expensive and rare metals should be replaced by simple and readily available analogues. Understanding the mechanism of catalytic reactions is a rational way to find suitable replacements (Pd, Pt, Rh → Cu, Ni, Co, Fe) and encourage the further development of catalysts (Ru, Re, Au, Ag, Ln). For several important organic reactions (such as reduction and oxidation, formation of new bonds, cyclization, etc.), where a considerable mechanistic knowledge has been gained, rapid elaboration of new, highly efficient catalysts operating under mild conditions may be anticipated without time-consuming trial and error screening. Thanks to the development of a diverse range of fascinating ligands, the behavior of catalytic metal centers can be controlled to promote the desired chemical transformation and suppress the side reactions.” [Emphasis added]

In 2016, Ananikov won the prestigious Organometallics Distinguished Author Award. So now seems like a fine time to ask: how does the state of the field of organometallics compare to the predictions Beletskaya and Ananikov made back in 2011, and in what way(s) was the process of making such predictions an educational process?

In this video, Ananikov sits down with Organometallics Editor-in-Chief Paul Chirik to discuss that 2011 article and the accuracy of its predictions in the light of 2016. The video also touches on how time and technology have changed the article submission process for authors as well as the role publishers can play in promoting innovation. The video is part of a video series of conversations between Chirik and Ananikov, which cover topics as diverse as Ananikov’s career, his advice to other researchers, science culture in Russia, and more.

Read more great research in Organometallics and check out the American Chemical Society’s YouTube page for more chemistry videos.

In celebration of Open Access Week, we are highlighting some of the best research made open by our authors via ACS AuthorChoice in 2016. Below are the most-read AuthorChoice articles from our Physical Chemistry portfolio of journals. Learn more about ACS open access initiatives.

Read more Open Access Week content: Analytical | Applied | Biological | Materials Science & Engineering | Organic/Inorganic
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Accounts of Chemical Research

Making and Breaking of Lead Halide Perovskites

DOI: 10.1021/acs.accounts.5b00455
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ACS Energy Letters

All-Soluble All-Iron Aqueous Redox-Flow Battery

DOI: 10.1021/acsenergylett.6b00049
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ACS Photonics

Second-Harmonic Generation of Spoof Surface Plasmon Polaritons Using Nonlinear Plasmonic Metamaterials

DOI: 10.1021/acsphotonics.5b00580
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Chemical Reviews

Cu and Cu-Based Nanoparticles: Synthesis and Applications in Catalysis

DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.5b00482
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Energy & Fuels

Diesel Surrogate Fuels for Engine Testing and Chemical-Kinetic Modeling: Compositions and Properties

DOI: 10.1021/acs.energyfuels.5b02879
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Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research

Adsorption Materials and Processes for Carbon Capture from Gas-Fired Power Plants: AMPGas

DOI: 10.1021/acs.iecr.5b05015
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Journal of the American Chemical Society

11-Step Total Synthesis of (−)-Maoecrystal V

DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6b06623
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Journal of Chemical & Engineering Data

Effect of the Presence of MEA on the CO2 Capture Ability of Superbase Ionic Liquids

DOI: 10.1021/acs.jced.5b00710
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Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling

Blind Pose Prediction, Scoring, and Affinity Ranking of the CSAR 2014 Dataset

DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.5b00337
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Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation

CHARMM-GUI Input Generator for NAMD, GROMACS, AMBER, OpenMM, and CHARMM/OpenMM Simulations Using the CHARMM36 Additive Force Field

DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.5b00935
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The Journal of Physical Chemistry A

Rotational Spectrum and Structure of the 1,1-Difluoroethylene···Carbon Dioxide Complex

DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.5b11345
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The Journal of Physical Chemistry B

Correlating Nitrile IR Frequencies to Local Electrostatics Quantifies Noncovalent Interactions of Peptides and Proteins

DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.6b02732
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The Journal of Physical Chemistry C

Introducing Cu2O Thin Films as a Hole-Transport Layer in Efficient Planar Perovskite Solar Cell Structures

DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.5b11540
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The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters

Optoelectronic Properties of CuInS2 Nanocrystals and Their Origin

DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.5b02211
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Read more Open Access Week content: Analytical | Applied | Biological | Materials Science & Engineering | Organic/Inorganic

In celebration of Open Access Week, we are highlighting some of the best research made open by our authors via ACS AuthorChoice in 2016. Below are the most-read AuthorChoice articles from our Organic/Inorganic portfolio of journals. Learn more about ACS open access initiatives.

Read more Open Access Week content: Analytical | Applied | Biological | Materials Science & Engineering | Physical
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Accounts of Chemical Research

Making and Breaking of Lead Halide Perovskites

DOI: 10.1021/acs.accounts.5b00455
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ACS Catalysis

Palladium and Nickel Catalyzed Chain Walking Olefin Polymerization and Copolymerization

DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.5b02426
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ACS Combinatorial Science

Influence of the Cation Ratio on Optical and Electrical Properties of Amorphous Zinc-Tin-Oxide Thin Films Grown by Pulsed Laser Deposition

DOI: 10.1021/acscombsci.5b00179
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ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters

Small Molecule Antagonists of the Nuclear Androgen Receptor for the Treatment of Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer

DOI: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.6b00186
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Bioconjugate Chemistry

Simple Method To Prepare Oligonucleotide-Conjugated Antibodies and Its Application in Multiplex Protein Detection in Single Cells

DOI: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.5b00613
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Chemical Reviews

Cu and Cu-Based Nanoparticles: Synthesis and Applications in Catalysis

DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.5b00482
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Inorganic Chemistry

Analysis of Homogeneous Water Oxidation Catalysis with Collector–Generator Cells

DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.5b02182
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Journal of the American Chemical Society

11-Step Total Synthesis of (−)-Maoecrystal V

DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6b06623
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Journal of Medicinal Chemistry

Analysis of Past and Present Synthetic Methodologies on Medicinal Chemistry: Where Have All the New Reactions Gone?

DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.5b01409
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Journal of Natural Products

Antibacterial Azaphilones from an Endophytic Fungus, Colletotrichum sp. BS4

DOI: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.5b00436
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The Journal of Organic Chemistry

Total Synthesis of (−)-Luminacin D

DOI: 10.1021/acs.joc.6b00489
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Molecular Pharmaceutics

Molecular Imaging of Pancreatic Cancer with Antibodies

DOI: 10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.5b00626
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Organic Letters

Copper-Catalyzed Denitrogenative Transannulation Reaction of Pyridotriazoles: Synthesis of Imidazo[1,5-a]pyridines with Amines and Amino Acids

DOI: 10.1021/acs.orglett.5b03509
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Organic Process Research & Development

A Novel Internet-Based Reaction Monitoring, Control and Autonomous Self-Optimization Platform for Chemical Synthesis

DOI: 10.1021/acs.oprd.5b00313
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Organometallics

An Air-Stable Dimeric Ru–S Complex with an NHC as Ancillary Ligand for Cooperative Si–H Bond Activation

DOI: 10.1021/acs.organomet.6b00110
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Read more Open Access Week content: Analytical | Applied | Biological | Materials Science & Engineering | Physical

In celebration of Open Access Week, we are highlighting some of the best research made open by our authors via ACS AuthorChoice in 2016. Below are the most-read AuthorChoice articles from our Materials Science & Engineering portfolio of journals. Learn more about ACS open access initiatives.

Read more Open Access Week content: Analytical | Applied | Biological | Organic/Inorganic | Physical
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Nanowire Lasers of Formamidinium Lead Halide Perovskites and Their Stabilized Alloys with Improved Stability

DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b04053
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Read more Open Access Week content: Analytical | Applied | Biological | Organic/Inorganic | Physical

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What Happens to Your Body When You Feel Afraid?

What a Time to Be a Scientist!

C&EN Roundup: Stronger Silk, Nanobot Drug Delivery, and Mercury Leaks

ACS Editors’ Choice: Treating Coronary Heart Disease — and More!

ACS Publications Improves Website Features and Customer Security

What Does Open Access Mean to You?

Going Back to the Future With Organometallics Distinguished Author Valentine P. Ananikov

Celebrate Open Access Week With Physical Chemistry Week

Celebrate Open Access Week With Organic/Inorganic Research

Celebrate Open Access Week With Materials Science & Engineering Research