In step toward controlling chemistry, physicists create a new molecule, atom by atom

By working in extremely controlled conditions, Eric Hudson and his colleagues could observe properties of atoms and molecules that have previously been hidden from view. (Stuart Wolpert/UCLA)

For the past 200 years, scientists have been observing the natural chemical reactions that occur in our environment- from food and drugs to living organisms to develop rules and gain a better grasp of chemistry. A universal rule in chemical reactions is the “octet rule”, stating that each and every atom in a molecule that is made by a chemical reaction will have eight outer orbiting electrons. Scientists have found out exclusions to the octet rule, but those exclusions are rare.

Michael Mills, Prateek Puri, Eric Hudson and Christian Schneider ((Stuart Wolpert/UCLA)

In recent events, the molecule that was created by a University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) professor, Eric Hudson and with the help of his colleagues, Christian Schneider, a UCLA research scientist; Ionel Simbotin, a University of Connecticut physics postdoctoral scholar; John Montgomery Jr., a University of Connecticut research professor of physics; Robin Côté, a University of Connecticut professor of physics; and Arthur Suits, a University of Missouri professor of chemistry breached that rule.

They discovered a new method for creating a unique molecule that can be potentially applied in medicine, food science, and other relating fields. The research shows how chemical reactions can be observed on a microscopic scale using tools of physics. Barium-Oxygen-Calcium or BaOCa+, is the first ever molecule that was observed by scientists that are composed of an oxygen atom bonded to two different metal atoms. Generally, one metal atom can only react with an oxygen atom to produce a stable molecule. Yet, the scientists at UCLA added a second metal atom and produced a new molecule, BaOCa+, in which the octet rule is no longer fulfilled. There have been numerous observations using other molecules that could violate the octet rule, but the researched conducted by the UCLA scientist is the first to be observed using tools from physics like ion traps, laser, and ultra-cold atom traps. 

Under these highly controlled conditions, the scientists could observe properties of the atoms and molecules that are otherwise hidden from view, and the physics tools they used enabled them to hold a sample of atoms and observe chemical reactions one molecule at a time. In Hudson’s laboratory, to cool tiny amount of the reactant atoms and molecules, he used laser light with extremely low temperature and then float them into a space smaller than the width of a human hair, inside of a vacuum chamber. The ultra-cold temperatures used in the experiment can also be used to simulate the reaction as it would occur in outer space. This approach is part of a new physics-inspired subfield of chemistry that uses the tools of ultra-cold physics, such as lasers and electromagnetism, to observe and control how and when single-particle reactions occur.

According to Hudson, the research could help scientists understand how certain complex molecules, including some that could be precursors to life, came to exist in space. The researchers found that when they brought together calcium and barium methoxide inside of their system under normal conditions, no reaction would occur because the atoms could not find a way to rearrange themselves to form a stable molecule. However, when the scientists used a laser to change the distribution of the electrons in the calcium atom, the reaction quickly proceeded, producing a new molecule, CaOBa+. 

UCLA graduate student Prateek Puri, the project’s lead researcher, said the experiment demonstrates not only how these techniques can be used to create exotic molecules, but also how they can be used to engineer important reactions. The discovery could ultimately be used to create new methods for preserving food by preventing unwanted chemical reactions between food and the environment or developing safer medications by eliminating the chemical reactions that cause negative side effects.

"Experiments like these pave the way for developing new methods for controlling chemistry," Puri said. "We're essentially creating 'on buttons' for reactions."

Hudson hopes the work will encourage other scientists to further narrow the gap between physics and chemistry and to demonstrate that increasingly complex molecules can be studied and controlled.

One key factor to the success of the new study was the involvement of experts from various fields: experimental physicists, theoretical physicists, and a physical chemist. The device enables us to detect and identify the products of reactions on the single-particle level, and it has created a new bridge between the fascinating fields of chemistry and physics. 

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JOURNAL REFERENCE:

1. Prateek Puri, Michael Mills, Christian Schneider, Ionel Simbotin, John A. Montgomery, Robin Côté, Arthur G. Suits, Eric R. Hudson. Synthesis of mixed hypermetallic oxide BaOCa from laser-cooled reagents in an atom-ion hybrid trap. Science, 2017; eaan4701 DOI: 10.1126/science.aan4701

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SOURCES:

1.http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/step-toward-controlling-chemistry-physicists-create-new-type-molecule-atom-by-atom

2.https://www.thesciencemic.com/feed-items/in-step-toward-controlling-chemistry-physicists-create-a-new-molecule-atom-by-atom

2017 Nobel Prize Winners Fly Through Microcosm "Like Google Earth for Molecules"

Richard Henderson, one of the 2017 Nobel Prize winners in Chemistry, holds a bacterio rhodopsin model prior to a press conference at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England, Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017. Three researchers based in the U.S., U.K. and Switzerland won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry on Wednesday for developments in electron microscopy. The 9-million-kronor ($1.1 million) prize is shared by Jacques Dubochet of the University of Lausanne, Joachim Frank at New York's Columbia University and Richard Henderson of MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, Britain. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

NEW YORK (AP) — Three researchers won a Nobel Prize on Wednesday for developing a microscope technique that lets scientists see exquisite details of the molecules that drive life — basically providing a front-row seat to study these tiny performers in their biological dance.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said molecules can be captured down to the level of their atoms, and snapshots can catch them in mid-movement. That can help reveal how they interact.

"This method has moved biochemistry into a new era," the academy said in awarding its chemistry prize to Switzerland's Jacques Dubochet of the University of Lausanne, German-born U.S. citizen Joachim Frank at New York's Columbia University, and Briton Richard Henderson of MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England.

The detailed images may pave the way for developing new medicines, vaccines and industrial chemicals, but experts said such payoffs are largely in the future.

In this undated photo provided by the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) in Cambridge, Richard Henderson, right and Carsten Sasche at work in a laboratory. Three researchers based in the U.S., U.K. and Switzerland won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017 for developing a way to create detailed images of the molecules that drive life — a technology that the Nobel committee said allowed scientists to visualize molecular processes they had never previously seen. The 9-million-kronor ($1.1 million) prize is shared by Jacques Dubochet of the University of Lausanne, Joachim Frank at New York's Columbia University and Richard Henderson of MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, Britain. (Laboratory of Molecular Biology via AP)

"This is a technique that is just starting to find its way into the research community," said Allison A. Campbell, president of the American Chemical Society. It was recently used to reveal the structure of the Zika virus.

The method is called cryo-electron microscopy. It's like "Google Earth for molecules," Campbell said, because it "allows the scientist to zoom in down to the fine detail (giving) that fine resolution that you want to have."

Other methods have been used before to determine structures of some biological molecules, but they run up against fundamental limitations. The three winners of the $1.1 million (9 million kronor) prize adapted another technique, electron microscopy, which uses a beam of electrons rather than ordinary light to inspect samples.

Jacques Dubochet, University of Lausanne, one of the 2017 Nobel Prize winners in Chemistry smiles before a press conference at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017. Three researchers based in the U.S., U.K. and Switzerland won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry on Wednesday for developments in electron microscopy. The 9-million-kronor ($1.1 million) prize is shared by Jacques Dubochet of the University of Lausanne, Joachim Frank at New York's Columbia University and Richard Henderson of MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, Britain. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP)

Between 1975 and 1986, Frank developed mathematical models to turn fuzzy two-dimensional images into sharp, three-dimensional ones. Henderson, in 1990, was able to generate a three-dimensional image of a protein at atom-level resolution, showing the technology's potential, the Nobel committee said.

Dubochet, in the early 1980s, found a way to cool the water in a biological sample so quickly that it solidified without forming the ice crystals that can disrupt the electron beam.

Those early advances were followed by others that have greatly improved the technique, the Nobel committee said.

"It's the first time that we can see biological molecules in their natural environment and how they actually work together down to the individual atoms," said Nobel chemistry committee member Heiner Linke.

Henderson said Dubochet "kicked off the field; he invented this method of making specimens we now use."

Speaking to reporters in Cambridge, England, Henderson also said he felt "the three of us have been awarded the prize acting on behalf of the entire field."

Joachim Frank, of Columbia University, speaks at a Columbia University press conference Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017, in New York. Frank shares this year's Nobel Chemistry Prize with two other researchers for developing a method to generate three-dimensional images of the molecules of life. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Frank said he was "fully overwhelmed" and speechless upon hearing he had won a share of the prize.

"I thought the chances of a Nobel Prize were minuscule because there are so many other innovations and discoveries that happen almost every day," he said.

He said he hasn't yet thought about what to do with the prize money, but added: "I was telling my wife that we don't have to worry about a dog sitter anymore."

The chemistry prize was the third Nobel announced this week.

From left, Sara Snogerup Linse, chairman of the Nobel Committee in Chemistry, Goran K. Hansson, secretary of the Royal Academy of Sciences, and Peter Brzezinski, member of the Nobel Committee, sit during a press conference as they announce - Jacques Dubochet - from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, Joachim Frank from Columbia University, USA and Richard Henderson, from the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, in England as the winners of the 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, at the Royal Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017. The Nobel Prize for Chemistry rewards researchers for major advances in studying the infinitesimal bits of material that are the building blocks of life. (Claudio Bresciani/TT News Agency via AP)

The medicine prize went to three Americans studying circadian rhythms: Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young. The physics prize went to Rainer Weiss, Barry Barish and Kip Thorne for detecting gravitational waves.

The literature winner will be named Thursday and the peace prize will be announced Friday.

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Jim Heintz reported from Stockholm. David Keyton in Stockholm, Jamey Keaten in Geneva and Bob Lentz in Philadelphia contributed to this story.

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Follow the AP's coverage on the Nobels here.

5 People You May Not Know that Probably Saved Your Life and Changed the World

History has no shortage of people who have greatly contributed to making the world a better place. People like Winston Churchill, Albert Einstein, Rosa Parks, and Alan Turing are but a few of those remarkable human beings that we owe our lives to today.

However, history is not only made by giants. In most cases, the greatest events that have shaped the world involved hundreds of nameless faces that are as heroic as their iconic contemporaries.

So, in today’s list, we are honoring some of those people whom the world has overlooked as we count down to 5 people you may not know that probably saved your life and changed the world!

#5 — Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov

The Cuban Missile Crisis put the world at the precipice of total Nuclear War. When Cuba opened its borders to Soviet ships carrying nuclear armaments, the United States and the rest of the international community held their breath, fearing if we would still be alive the next day.
Many people attribute the abating of the missile crisis to John F Kennedy himself, but the real story behind it was far from what the rest of the world has come to believe. 

In 1962, JFK and Soviet Premier Nikita Kruschev stood toe to toe regarding the transit of nuclear weapons to the Caribbean which is why the United States government placed a heavy embargo on Cuba to prevent weapons to come into its shores.

At the center of the conflict area, the USSR sent a B-59 Soviet Foxtrot Class Submarine that was armed to the teeth with nuclear weapons. To prevent the submarine from advancing beyond the embargo line, the US sent 11 destroyers and an aircraft carrier, the USS Randolph.

War should have broken out because the US began to barrage the submarine with depth charges but to fire back in retaliation, the Soviet submarine needed a unanimous launch approval from three on-board officials: Captain Valentin Grogorievitch Savitsky, Political Officer Ivan Semonovich Maslennikov, and another officer named Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov.

Savitsky and Semonovich gave the nod to launch the missile and essentially press the button for the Third World War, but Arkhipov convinced the two that it was a bad idea to fire back. Instead, despite protests from Savitsky and Maslennikov, the submarine resurfaced in plain view: a decision that decisively averted the annihilation of the human race.

#4 — Nils Bohlin

You may not know him but Swedish inventor, Nils Bohlin, has saved millions of lives in the past fifty years and continues to do so with a simple solution to the problem of comfort and laziness.
When the automobile was first introduced to the public the idea of seatbelts was non-existent if not completely optional. Though the seatbelt was introduced for mass consumption in 1959, these safety devices were basic lap-belts that did nothing to prevent any internal injury to the driver and passengers.

Back then, seatbelts were mostly employed by professional race car drivers and their design was more on the bulkier, less comfortable side being a four-point harness. While they were much safer than lap-belts, convincing the average Joe to go the extra mile of securing all attachments of the belt was another story. In fact, where they were offered, regular people just flat out refused to use them.

This was a problem, and Bohlin was able to identify it and find a solution to make life-preservation as simple and effective as possible. He ended up with the three-point seatbelt, a safety device that we use to this day and has saved many lives of motorists and their passengers.
To Bohlin, though the problem of overcoming laziness and comfort was a little bit of a hurdle, the solution was so simple that motorists need to only use one hand to fasten their belts and still have a generous amount of comfort while on the road.

Bohlin initially invented the belt for car manufacturer Volvo, but his idea was incredibly ground-breaking and innovative that the company made the patent available to all car manufacturers as a sign of goodwill and interest in public safety.

#3 — Viktor Zhdanov and Donald Henderson

Sometimes the biggest wars ever waged were on a microscopic level. The disease has been the bane of humanity since the beginning of time, and since the inception of the medical sciences, humanity has been waging a relentless battle against pathogens and potentially lethal diseases to this very day.

However, there have been victories where humanity has rid the world of illnesses like polio and dysentery. One of these victories came from an unlikely alliance.

In 1958, USSR Deputy Minister of Health Dr Viktor Zhdanov approached the World Health Assembly with a proposal to create a global effort to finally eradicate smallpox. Since the disease caused by the Variola virus has claimed millions of lives over the decades preceding the 1950s, Zhdanov found it necessary to step up to save lives.

The proposal and initiative, after being presented to the Assembly and the members of the international community, were accepted by the United States and was represented by a physician named Donald Henderson, MD.

The amazing team-up yielded to amazing results and Dr Zhdanov, and Dr Henderson’s efforts paid off when smallpox was essentially rendered extinct through the distribution of information globally and by making the vaccine immediately available to the public.

#2 — Gertrude Elion

The first half of the 20th Century was not a great time for women everywhere. With misogynism still a staple even in civilized society, women have found it difficult to break ground without being side-lined by their male counterparts.

Gertrude Elion was one of the many women who were consistently ignored and doubted by a male-driven society. Despite graduating with honours, she was turned down for scholarships because of her gender. Even after obtaining her Master's Degree in Chemistry, she was constantly turned down any opportunity to work in laboratories and had to accept a less than prestigious job checking frozen fruit for rot and mould.

Her break came when World War II broke out, and the scientific world needed more people in labs and facilities. Landing a job with Dr George Hitchings, she was able to collaborate with him and publish over 200 papers and research.

Even more, Elion and Dr Hitchings were able to pioneer a new and revolutionary way of developing drugs called “rational drug design” that eliminated the risk of putting a person’s life on the line to find out if a drug works properly. By studying the behaviour of pathogens through biochemistry, the pair was able to use the information to create drugs to specifically target a certain kind of disease.

Also employing this technique, Elion was able to invent a variety of drugs that included the first treatment for Leukemia, anti-malarial vaccines, and immune-suppressive agents that are used for delicate organ transplants. Adding to her inventions were antibiotics used to treat meningitis, septicemia, and treatments for urinary and respiratory tract infections.

To top it all off, Elion was first to develop a treatment for viral Herpes that we know as Zovirax.
The world, quite possibly, would still be battling diseases if it weren’t for her scientific research and countless contributions. 

#1 — Rudolf Roessler

During the Second World War, Britain was scrambling to find a way to decode German messages before the next Nazi bombardment over London. When Alan Turing invented the Enigma machine, the tide of the war turned in favour of the British, and they were able to prevent a full-scale Nazi invasion of the already crumbled city.

While that was all well and good for the world, most historical accounts have discounted the Soviet efforts to prevent Nazi incursion spreading eastward. While they may not have their own Enigma device to crack encrypted messages from the enemy, the USSR had a man named Rudolf “Lucy” Roessler working on their side who proved to be much more effective and efficient than England’s Enigma machine.

Roessler was an anti-Fascist German publisher who kept in constant contact with the high ranking rebellious members of the German General Staff while living in Lucerne.

While working on his code-breaking machine, Roessler also communicated with the members a covert radio espionage group called the “Red Orchestra” from the USSR. Through a round-the-clock and tireless work, Roessler was successful in transmitting decoded communique from the Germans to the Kremlin within six hours of interception.

One of Roessler’s greatest victories was his discovery of an offensive against the Kursk Salient called Operation Zitadelle.  After delivering the decoded messages to the Kremlin, Roessler was able to bring victory to the Soviet Union that made the German offensive in the east crashing hard into a brick wall.

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Sources:
http://whatculture.com/science/8-people-you-didnt-know-saved-your-life
http://www.cracked.com/article_18519_6-people-youve-never-heard-who-probably-saved-your-life.html
http://www.craveonline.com/mandatory/1041404-10-people-youve-never-heard-of-who-changed-history#/slide/1