SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY CONCENTRATES Science Laser light affects catalyst performance Laser light illuminating a catalytic reaction can enhance the production of certain final products over others, according to two scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory. Dr. Merle E. Umstead and Dr. Ming-Chang Lin used a carbon dioxide laser to irradiate formic acid vapor near a platinum wire catalyst heated to 250° C. The normal products of formic acid decomposition, they explain, are either carbon dioxide plus hydrogen or carbon monoxide plus water. With the laser light, the carbon dioxide-carbon monoxide ratio was boosted some 50%. Umstead and Lin suggest that laser-catalyst combinations someday may be used to produce new industrial chemicals or to improve isotope separation.
Blocking hayfever allergic reactions A modified antigen that interrupts immune response to grass pollen in people who are allergic to it has been developed by Dr. Arthur Malley of the Oregon Regional Primate Research Center and University of Oregon medical school. The compounds, being patented by Research Corp., consist of a mixture of antigenic determinants—the molecules on the grass pollen that alert the body's immune system to the "foreign-ness" of the pollen and trigger a response to eliminate it—for timothy, rye, and other grasses chemically modified by linkage to a peptide or protein. In tests with monkey mast cells and limited skin tests on humans the compounds block allergic response.
FDA approves first pneumonia vaccine FDA last week announced its approval of Merck, Sharp & Dohme's Pneumovax, the first vaccine against pneumococci pneumonia. The vaccine is expected to reach the market in early 1978. Pneumococci infect as many as 1 million persons in the U.S. annually, say Merck spokesmen, and even in the face of antibiotic therapy cause up to 66,000 deaths. Pneumovax is effective against 14 of the most common or most virulent strains, responsible for 80% of the cases. The vaccine is made by isolating and purifying the polysaccharide coats secreted by the bacteria as a protective shell. In their purified form, the molecules can cause no infection, but within three weeks after injection they stimulate the body to form antibodies against the living pneumococci. Merck researchers think these antibodies may last up to five years.
Two firms offer internships in toxicology One-year internships in toxicology are being offered by International Research & Development Corp., a contract toxicology laboratory in Mattawan, Mich., and by Hercules, Wilmington, Del. Applications will be available in early 1978. "University training in toxicology is too much like forensic medicine," says 14
C&EN Nov. 28, 1977
IRDC president Francis X. Wazeter. But at IRDC, he says, the interns will gain a broad exposure to the methods of product safety evaluation, a specialty that is currently at a premium. IRDC and Hercules are sponsoring the first two interns, and other companies are being invited to participate. The stipends will be $18,000 per year, and the applicants must have received their Ph.D.'s in a suitable science by June 1978. At the end of the internship, each participant will be free to accept employment of his or her choice.
Technology Japan plans uranium-from-sea extraction Some 1000 metric tons of uranium will be recovered from seawater yearly in Japan when a proposed plant is completed by 1991. The technique involves extraction of uranium using titanic acid, followed by ion exchange to obtain uranium oxide. The seawater will pass through specially constructed nets, impregnated with titanic acid, stretching 5 miles along a selected area of Japan's coast. According to Dr. Kosuke Yamamoto of Japan's Atomic Energy Research Division, the cost of uranium extracted from seawater likely will match that of mined uranium by the time the plant starts up. The technique is similar to that studied in detail about 15 years ago by the U.K. Atomic Energy Authority.
Badger designs methanol-to-gasoline unit Badger subsidiary of Raytheon has a contract from the Department of Energy to design a plant to convert methanol to high-octane gasoline. This design will be integrated with a coai-to-methanol facility Badger also is designing for DOE. The result will be a complex turning coal into gasoline. The design projects are expected to be in by early 1979.
Light aromatics sought from coal Cities Service's energy research laboratory in Cranbury, N.J., has begun pilot operations to investigate a new process making light aromatic liquids directly from coal. Funded by the Department of Energy, the process converts pulverized coal to methane gas and light aromatic liquids through the use of hydrogen at high pressures and temperatures. Reaction time is in the range of one half to two seconds.
U.S.-Saudi $100 million solar program The U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Saudi Arabian National Center for Science and Technology, and the Saudi Ministry of Finance have signed an agreement for a jointly funded $100 million research and development program in solar technologies. To be administered by Solar Energy Research Institute of Golden, Colo., the program will kick off with a first-year funding of about $500,000.
