Category: News
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Molecules to Music: Music as a Medium of Structure Representation in Chemistry
WRITTEN BY SINCLAIR WILLIAMS ILLUSTRATED BY CASSANDRA CHANG & CHARLOTTE CHANG What if molecules could be represented not only through their chemical structure on a page or screen, but could be heard as a musical composition, where the properties of chemistry intertwine with the melodies of music? Traditionally, chemical structure has been depicted through line…
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Harnessing Chatbots as Chemistry Research Assistants
WRITTEN BY NEIL LIU ILLUSTRATED BY MANAL VISHNOI Grappling with large amounts of experimental data can be burdensome for researchers. For decades, researchers have been developing new algorithms and training artificial intelligence (AI) models to shoulder such laborious tasks. With the breakthrough in large language models, including ChatGPT, a new revolution in chemistry research might…
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Two Tragic Chemists
BY ERSHUANG LU Imagine being a chemist who manipulates the fundamental molecules of the world to create towering structures of iron and bronze, or biological marvels that can stimulate a dead man’s heartbeat. Imagine inventing a machine that shakes the foundations of agriculture. Imagine publishing it to the world, receiving accolades upon accolades for single-handedly…
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Through a New Lens: A New Method for Removing Microplastics from Salt and Freshwater
BY TALIA DAGHIGHIAN The issue of plastic pollution has become a prevalent one, so much so that it’s predicted that by 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by weight. Though larger plastic particles break down into smaller particles over time, small nanoparticles and microparticles – particles in the nanometer and…
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DEA Withdraws Rule to Ban Five Psychedelics
BY MICHAEL BORCHARD On July 22, 2022, the US Drug Enforcement Administration withdrew a proposed rule from January 14th to place five psychedelic drugs of the tryptamine class – 4-OH-DiPT, 5-MeO-AMT, 5-MeO-MiPT, 5-MeO-DET, and DiPT – in schedule I. This designation is the most restrictive a psychoactive chemical can have. The uncharacteristic withdrawal came in…
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Sunscreen Recall due to Benzene Contamination
BY ALEXIA JAIME At UC San Diego, there are countless activities that students and faculty love to partake in, including surfing, biking, supporting our amazing sports teams, and more. All of these activities have one thing in common: the sun! Sunscreen is a must-have for all these activities because there’s nothing worse than coming home…
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V-SYNTHES: A New Digital Tool for Drug Development
BY MICHAEL BORCHARD Problems in Novel Drug Development Drug development is an extremely costly and time consuming process. It is estimated that on average, bringing a new treatment from concept to market costs $2.6 billion dollars and takes over 12 years,1 with only 12% of products making it through clinical trials.2 This makes it clear…