As FTIR instrumentation has become more compact and reliable, it has experienced a type of commoditization. That does not mean that innovation has ceased.

This is the first time TEM has been used for 3D dynamic imaging of so-called soft materials

Scientists are reporting an advance in smartphone-based imaging that could help physicians in far-flung and resource-limited locations monitor how well treatments for infections are working by detecting, for the first time, individual viruses. Their study on the light-weight device, which converts the phone into a powerful mini-microscope, appears in the journal ACS Nano.

At just a molecule thick, it’s a new record: The world’s thinnest sheet of glass, a serendipitous discovery by scientists at Cornell and Germany’s University of Ulm, is recorded for posterity in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Contributing editor Tanuja Koppal, PhD, talks to Sunia Trauger, PhD, director of the Small Molecule Mass Spectrometry facility at Harvard University, about the recent trends in mass spectrometry. Advances in instrumentation, automation, and remote access seem to be leading the way to improved detection, faster results, and more diverse applications. While challenges in sample prep and data analysis remain issues, access to emerging informatics tools and experience handling and analyzing samples seem to mitigate some of the problems.

Problem: Detecting impurities in any chemical reaction has always been important to the chemist and it is becoming increasingly important to detect those present at low levels, (e.g. 0.5%).