News

As you sit in front of your computer reading this, a myriad of thoughts are probably running through your mind. "Where is this story going?" "What am I going to have for lunch today?" "This blog is awesome!" But what you probably aren't thinking about is how you are actually able to read this. How often have you spared a thought about how the light from the screen is passing through the cornea and lens of your eye to trigger the light-sensitive photo-receptors in your retina and send the visual information to your brain?

While you consider that, also consider sending a message of congratulations to Robert J. Lefkowitz and Brian K. Kobilka for winning the Nobel Prize in Chemistry today. Their work over the past few decades has revealed the inner workings of G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCR), a family of cell receptors which includes the photo-receptors in your eyes, and receptors for adrenaline, taste and smell.

GPCRs are a crucial signal pathway for cells, allowing them to detect changes in their environment and react accordingly. For example, when your body releases adrenaline, the adrenaline molecule attaches to a GPCR on the outside of the cell wall. The receptor changes shape, allowing a G-protein inside the cell to bind to the receptor and activate. The activated protein breaks apart, which sets off a chain of reactions inside of the cell to change its metabolism.

The story of the discovery of GPCRs begins in the late 1960s, when Robert Lefkowitz was tasked with finding the mechanism that cells used to detect changes in their environment. By adding a radioactive isotope to adrenaline and noradrenaline, he was able to identify adrenergic receptors and observe how they worked.

Later, Lefkowitz recruited Brian Kobilka to identify the genes that code the adrenergic receptors. Kobilka’s findings showed that the adrenergic receptors were structurally similar to other receptors in the body that had completely different functions. They suddenly realized that those receptors comprised an entire family of receptors that function in the same way, but to different stimuli: the G-protein-coupled receptors.

The work done by Robert Lefkowitz and Brian Kobilka has answered a long standing question about how cells receive and process chemical signals. This knowledge is already being put to use to create drugs and therapies that manipulate cells more precisely, encouraging malfunctioning cells to work properly. Whether you spare a thought for them or not, the GPCRs in your body are always at work for you, regulating your body and letting you experience life.

The original press release announcing the winners of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry as well as additional information about their work can be found here.

In 1935, Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger came up with one of the most famous thought experiments in history, Schrödinger's cat. The premise of the experiment has a cat in a box, with a capsule of poison gas connected to a Geiger counter. If a radioactive atom decays and triggers the counter the capsule opens and the cat will die. Quantum mechanics, which govern radioactive decay, state that the atom is in a superposition state of both not yet decayed and having decayed. The cat, by extension, is both dead and alive in the box, a seemingly paradoxical outcome. Quantum superposition is so sensitive to interaction with the environment that any attempt at observation ends the superposition and the cat becomes either dead or alive.

Today, we are happy to offer our congratulations to Serge Haroche and David J. Wineland, who were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for independently devising ways to directly observe individual quantum particles in a superposition state without destroying them. Their methods have paved the way for other scientists to scientists to peak into the box and see the cat dead and alive. Thanks to their work, the bizarre world of quantum mechanics is no longer constrained within thought experiments.

While the methods used by Haroche and Wineland were developed independently, they do share many similarities. Serge Haroche trapped a single photon between a pair of superconducting mirror and fired specially prepared atoms, called Rydberg atoms, at it to measure the change that occurred to the atom due to the photon. David Wineland, on the other hand, trapped a single ion in group of electric fields and fired a laser at the ion to suppress the ion’s movement in the trap, allowing him to observe the ion’s superposition state.

The work of Haroche and Wineland has the potential to revolutionize the way we handle information by opening the door to practical quantum computing. The manipulation of quantum particles is already being used to create optical clocks that are over 100 times more accurate than the atomic clocks that are currently used as national time standards.

The original press release announcing the award as well additional information about the Nobel Laureates can be found here.

Be sure to visit us again tomorrow as we cover the winner(s) of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

In space, no one can hear you pee…

NASA's Water Recovery System

But you’ll be able to safely drink it down again after it’s gone through the International Space Station’s Water Recovery System. According to NASA, the Water Recovery System, carried to the ISS by the space shuttle Endeavour, can recycle up to 93% of the water fed into it and reduce overall water consumption aboard the space station by 65%. However, the Water Recovery System has been experiencing problems with calcium fouling, which led NASA to contact Saltworks Technologies of Vancouver, CA.

Saltworks was contracted by NASA to build and deliver a pilot device that would test water recovery systems and may potentially be used aboard the ISS itself. If successful, the system will be the latest of Saltworks’ unique water treatment solutions.

One such solution is the proprietary Thermo-Ionic process for desalination. This process can reduce energy costs by up to 80% in comparison to more traditional methods such as reverse osmosis. The Thermo-Ionic process uses diffusion across a series of ion bridges to manipulate salt out of a stream of water. External power is only necessary to run the low-pressure pump that keeps the system circulating. A low-energy, high efficiency solution like this would be perfect for an isolated station where astronauts need to conserve both water and electricity.

Since being founded by Ben Sparrow and Joshua Zoshi in 2008, Saltworks Technologies has made global headlines with their innovative approach to water treatment. They have answered the challenges of desalination and industrial waste water treatment with efficient, sustainable solutions that may yet revolutionize the way we use water. They have been using Sterlitech’s Bench Scale Test Equipment to test and develop new technologies.

Contributing Sources:

Bennett, Nelson. "Vancouver’s Saltworks Technologies Lands NASA Contract." Business In Vancouver. N.p., 2 Apr. 2012. Web. 13 Aug. 2012. <http://www.biv.com/article/20120402/BIV0112/120409992/-1/BIV/vancouver-8217-s-saltworks-technologies-lands-nasa-contract>.

Cohen, Yoni. "O Canada! Land of Water Innovation!"  Greentech Media. N.p., 06 Apr. 2010. Web. 06 Aug. 2012. <http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/oh-canada-land-of-water-innovation/>.

Mann, Malcolm. "Saltworks Awarded NASA Contract." Saltworks Technologies. N.p., 16 Mar. 2012. Web. 13 Aug. 2012 <http://www.saltworkstech.com/news_20120316>.

Siceloff, Steven. "Recycling Water Is Not Just for Earth Anymore." National Aeronautics and Space Administration. N.p., 17 Nov. 2008. Web. 13 Aug. 2012 <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/behindscenes/waterrecycler.html>.

Aquaporin A/S of Denmark, one of Sterlitech Corporation’s customers, has recently tested their Aquaporin Inside™ technology at the NASA Ames facility at Palo Alto, CA. Aquaporin and their new technology take their names from a type of protein found in the cell membranes of every living thing on the planet: aquaporins. Aquaporin (the company) hopes to use the selectivity of aquaporins (the protein) to create cost-effective and ecologically sustainable new membrane filters to revolutionize water purification and desalination.

Aquaporin Demonstrator Module

The secret to the promise of Aquaporin Inside™ technology is the selectivity of the aquaporins themselves. Embedded throughout any cell membrane, aquaporins are a gateway through which water can pass into and out of a cell but ions and solutes cannot. Aquaporins will even exclude naturally occurring hydronium and hydroxide ions in water.  If successful, Aquaporin’s new technology could set new standards in water purity.

As our planet’s population booms, the demand for safe, clean water will boom along with it. Aquaporin and their Aquaporin Inside™ technology has the potential to go a long way towards meeting that demand.

Contributing Sources:

“Membrane Product News.” Membrane Quarterly. January 2012: pg. 9
Jensen, Peter Holme, and Danielle Keller. "Membrane for Filtering of Water." US Patent & Trademark Office. Web. 18 July 2012.
"A Miracle that can Change the World." Aquaporin - Aquaporins. Web. 18 July 2012.

We made a small design change to our product category pages today – A thumbnail of each SKU is now displayed at the category level (You can see an example of the upgraded look here). For many of our bench scale and laboratory equipment categories this will make it much easier and quicker to compare all of the different models and parts. While adding the SKU images may not mean as much for the membrane disc filter, syringe filter, and capsule filter categories since there isn’t a dramatic difference between a 0.1 and 0.2 micron Nylon membrane, it does still make for a cleaner looking display overall.

Do you like this new change? Have any other design fixes or upgrades you’d like us to make? Sound off in the comments!

We’re expanding our Laboratory Equipment section with the addition of the Scilogex line of products. This new gear can be found among the Mini Centrifuges, Vortex Mixers, Hotplates/Stirrers, and Shakers. We also made a new category to accommodate their collection of Overhead Stirrers.

The Scilogex products complement our existing lineup by providing a premium option to accomplish a variety of common lab functions. The new items incorporate features like digital displays to make these everyday tasks a snap. For instance, the new Orbital Shakers have an RS232 interface so they can be controlled through a PC, and Scilogex models of Mini Centrifuges include bio-safe rotors and cooling systems.

Take a look at the brochures provided on the different category pages for detailed information on each the new models!

Yesterday news broke that the possible revolutionary findings of the physics experiments that detected particles traveling faster than the speed of light may have been corrupted by two mechanical errors, one of them being a loose cable. Since proof of particles breaking the speed of light would contradict Einstein’s special theory of relativity, not to mention certain principles of quantum mechanics, the initial report in September was met with a great deal of skepticism from the scientific community, and even members of the team that released the data expressed doubts at the time. Since the announcement, the research team and physicists around the world have been reviewing the results to see if they could detect any flaws in the experiment.

The tests were performed by the OPERA collaboration, a research venture between CERN and the Gran Sasso National Laboratory in Italy. Initially they measured neutrinos traveling from one location to another 450 miles away and found that some arrived 60 nanoseconds earlier than should be possible under the limits of light speed, creating a stir in scientific community.

Now the same team that made the finding has uncovered two flaws in the experimental design which may have altered the results. The first issue is that the GPS tracking system they used may have been providing incorrect timestamps. The second, more attention-grabbing, problem is a faulty connection between the cable linking the GPS signal to the master clock. Oddly enough, the two concerns would actually have opposite effects on the neutrino time measurements, so the question of how fast neutrinos actually move is hardly settled. More neutrino tests will be performed this spring using CERN’s Large Hadron Collider.

While some may look at the likely debunked results with a degree of snark, we can also look at this story as a reminder of how important it is to review your work. Because these particular results were so unusual and had such potential impact on modern science, close scrutiny was guaranteed. But what about our typical, everyday research? While the flaws in the OPERA team’s experiment are hardly cringe-worthy, I’m sure we can all recall incidents in our personal and professional lives in which a drastic oversight was made in a project. If anything, this should be an encouragement – even world-class physicists make the same mistakes we do. Though one advantage for physicists is that they can always just shrug and point to the Uncertainty Principle.

Read more about the OPERA experiments and the faulty cable discovery here.

In the spirit of reflection we wanted to take a look at some of our favorite posts from 2011 that you may have missed, or may want to revisit for the sake of nostalgia. It’s been an amazing year for us, and we hope everyone out there has made the most of it as well! Here’s wishing you all a Happy New Year!

• Performance Improvement of Cross-flow Filtration for High Level Waste Treatment (Feb. 2011) - Tips on improving your filtration setup from the Department of Energy and Savannah River National Laboratory.
• Bean to Bar at Theo Chocolates (Mar. 2011) - Our own Kristina Shahbazian went on a tour of the only bean-to-bar, organic, fair trade chocolate factory in the USA, located right here in Seattle.
• Legionella Sampling Just Got a Whole Lot Sexier (Apr. 2011) - How the Centers for Disease Control utilized filtration sampling and social media Epidemiology to track an outbreak of legionella bacterium at Playboy mansion's infamous grotto.
• Deadliest Carch: Man-Made Pollution (Jun. 2011) - A collective of Scandinavian marine researchers created some new sampling techniques in order to perform analysis while out at sea.
• Silver Membrane Filters Play a Part in Antimatter Trapping (Jun. 2011) - A look at one of the more cutting-edge applications for our silver membrane filters - collecting antimatter in Physics research!
• Super Sand (Jul 2011) - Researchers are combining sand with a graphite oxide to create a super-efficient water filter.
• Wastewater Mistreatment (Aug. 2011) - The story of how one Canadian company's environmental mishaps led to fines and imprisonment.
• The T-SAR Approach to Study Nanofiltration Membranes (Sep. 2011) - German scientists are applying the T-SAR methodology to predict NF membrane performance.
• EPA to Create Standards for Natural Gas Wastewater (Oct. 2011) - Detailing new EPA standards being imposed on the water used in and resulting from hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking."
• NIH Issues $10,000 Challenge to Biomedical Engineering Students (Nov. 2011) - The National Institutes of Health created the DEBUT challenge to encourage students to develop new medical devices and technology.
• Crystalline Silica Exposure in Wisconsin (Dec. 2011) - The state of Wisconsin is considering tougher standards on the amount of carcinogenic dust it will subject its miners and industrial workers to.

A new report from Lux Research indicates that the worldwide market for membranes is expected to nearly double by 2020, from $1.5 billion to $2.8 billion (USD). One of the main reasons for this growth is advancements in membrane technology which will increase their utility. Improvements in fouling resistance and chemical tolerance open the door for membranes to be used in applications that they couldn’t perform before, such as industrial water treatment.

Another reason for optimism in the membrane industry is the continued market strength in the industries that purchase membranes. The food & beverage, pharmaceutical, desalination, environmental, and biotechnology sectors all commonly use membranes in their processes and are all expected to continue growing in the United States and around the world.

What do you think? Do you see yourself using membranes more often 10 years from now?

Also visit Filtration + Separation for more information on this report.

Today’s Laboratory Equipment newsletter features an interesting article on how Purdue researchers have created a water-disinfection system that uses ultraviolet radiation from the sun to remove pathogens. With 800 million people unable to access clean drinking water, the potential for water-cleaning system that can be powered by natural resources is tremendous. According to Water.org and the United Nations Human Development Report, every 20 seconds a child dies from a water-related disease.

This water treatment device uses a parabolic reflector to capture sunlight and focus it onto a UV-transparent pipe through which the water flows. In a brilliant development, the reflector is made out of a type of wood, paulownia, which is inexpensive and easy to find in regions around the equator where these systems are most needed. Since these people do not have significant funds or materials, for any solution to be effective it would have to be inexpensive and practical to construct.

In tests the UV treatment system has shown that it can incapacitate E. coli bacteria, but it has yet to show that it can neutralize other pathogens like those that cause cholera, typhoid and diarrhea. The engineers are looking into different reflective materials, such as metalized plastic, that could improve the effectiveness of the UV treatment method. The Purdue team has also been experimenting with a sand and gravel filtration system, which could possibly be used in conjunction with the sunlight treatment as a means of providing cheap drinking water. We’ve discussed sand filtration before, and the basic operation of this kind of filter is similar to filtration by other materials. Water flows slowly through layers of sand and gravel, allowing a bacterial film to build up on the surface of the filter which removes contaminants.

While industrial water treatment is obviously much faster and more effective on a larger scale, this filter made of natural materials could create enough drinking water for a family to live on. Aqua Clara International, a non-profit firm in Michigan, has been working with Purdue and Moi University in Kenya and so for they have installed almost 2,000 of these sand filtration systems in Kenya!

Read the announcement from the Purdue Newsroom