.... http://www.spectroscopyNOW.com/coi/cda/landing.cda?type=Feature&chId=2 http://www.spectroscopyNOW.com/coi/cma/download.cma?imageType=RssLogo&contentType=Feature&siteId=1&chId=2 http://www.spectroscopynow.com/ http://www.spectroscopyNOW.com/coi/cda/detail.cda?chId=2&id=26705&type=Feature&page=1 NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has looked deep into near-infrared of the distant universe to detect the feeble afterglow of a star that exploded more than 9 billion years ago. The research offers the first glimpse of constraints to help us explain dark energy. http://www.spectroscopyNOW.com/coi/cda/detail.cda?chId=2&id=26614&type=Feature&page=1 Fourier transform infrared, attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy combined with partial least squares regression accurately predicted 72-h glucose and xylose conversions and yields from cellulase-mediated hydrolysis of alkali-pretreated lignocellulose. http://www.spectroscopyNOW.com/coi/cda/detail.cda?chId=2&id=26597&type=Feature&page=1 Titan, the planet Saturn's largest and perhaps its most intriguing moon, has weather patterns that are akin to those found on earth but rather than being underpinned by a water cycle, it is methane that circulates across the orb. A new study published in Nature corroborates infrared mapping to reveal methane lakes in the moon's polar regions, "dry" low latitudes with fluvial features, and occasional rainstorms, as well as tropospheric clouds found so far mainly in mid-southern latitudes and the polar regions. http://www.spectroscopyNOW.com/coi/cda/detail.cda?chId=2&id=26462&type=Feature&page=1 Complementary near-infrared and Raman mapping techniques have been used to study the distribution of drug particles suspended in polymeric films designed to enhance dissolution rates of poorly soluble drugs and to aid the content uniformity of drugs administered in low doses. http://www.spectroscopyNOW.com/coi/cda/detail.cda?chId=2&id=26435&type=Feature&page=1 Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy on an optofluidic chip has been developed as a quality monitoring test for single malt Scotch whisky. http://www.spectroscopyNOW.com/coi/cda/detail.cda?chId=2&id=26319&type=Feature&page=1 Astronomers have used far-infrared instrumentation to show for the first time a cloud of water vapour swirling around a burgeoning solar system. The vapour is cold enough to form comets, which could eventually deliver oceans to the distant system's parched newly forming planets. http://www.spectroscopyNOW.com/coi/cda/detail.cda?chId=2&id=26333&type=Feature&page=1 Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy supported by multivariate statistical analysis ws used to characterize and discriminate between immature and mature or ripe coffee beans. http://www.spectroscopyNOW.com/coi/cda/detail.cda?chId=2&id=26228&type=Feature&page=1 The potential of a genetic algorithm for spectral feature selection and interpretation of near-IR spectra in soil science studies was examined for predicting C and N from char and forest-floor material and compared with a partial least squares method. http://www.spectroscopyNOW.com/coi/cda/detail.cda?chId=2&id=26205&type=Feature&page=1 Researchers in Europe have developed a hydrogen storage material based on porous magnesium borohydride that can safely adsorb large quantities of the gas via both a physical and a chemical mechanism. They used X-ray diffraction, infra-red and Raman spectroscopy to investigate this material. http://www.spectroscopyNOW.com/coi/cda/detail.cda?chId=2&id=26066&type=Feature&page=1 Neurobehavioral correlates of phonological neighborhood density in skilled readers of English have been explored using near infrared spectroscopy, showing that words with many neighbors elicited significantly greater changes in blood oxygenation in the left than in the right hemisphere of the brain. http://www.spectroscopyNOW.com/coi/cda/detail.cda?chId=2&id=26053&type=Feature&page=1 US astronomers have used infrared techniques to reveal that the dwarf planet, nicknamed Snow White, is an icy world half covered in water ice that once spewed from slush volcanoes. Their data also hints that the planet has an atmosphere of methane, that is gradually evaporating into space. http://www.spectroscopyNOW.com/coi/cda/detail.cda?chId=2&id=25971&type=Feature&page=1 A high-resolution cryogenic FTIR study of the variation of unit cell volume of ethylene-octene copolymers found that both the comonomer content and thermal history have great influence on the crystal lattice structure of ethylene polymers. http://www.spectroscopyNOW.com/coi/cda/detail.cda?chId=2&id=25953&type=Feature&page=1 Researchers in China have developed a new process for making zeolite catalysts with wide open pores. Their controllable synthesis leads to materials active in the conversion of methanol to propylene with a high, 98%, conversion rate. http://www.spectroscopyNOW.com/coi/cda/detail.cda?chId=2&id=25805&type=Feature&page=1 Wireless functional near-infrared spectroscopy was performed over secondary motor areas during performance of motor imagery and motor execution in 11 healthy subjects, who either executed or imagined two drawing tasks differing in shape and frequency. http://www.spectroscopyNOW.com/coi/cda/detail.cda?chId=2&id=25787&type=Feature&page=1 Researchers have discovered that the parathyroid glands - four small organs each the size of a grain of rice located at the back of the throat - glow with a natural fluorescence in the near infrared. The finding has led to the development of an optical detector for highlighting the glands during endocrine surgery to avoid damage to these essential organs. http://www.spectroscopyNOW.com/coi/cda/detail.cda?chId=2&id=25618&type=Feature&page=1 The application of visible/near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy to chert sourcing attains a cost-efficient, fast, non-destructive, and accurate means of identifying material type and geologic/geographic origin, exemplified by a case study from the Dover Quarry sites, Tennessee. http://www.spectroscopyNOW.com/coi/cda/detail.cda?chId=2&id=25579&type=Feature&page=1 Viable nucleus pulposus (NP) implant materials for repairing damaged intervertebral discs, comprising novel hydrogels, have been developed and studied using the techniques of Fourier-tranform infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. http://www.spectroscopyNOW.com/coi/cda/detail.cda?chId=2&id=25400&type=Feature&page=1 The temperature dependences of the wavelength shift and integrated molar absorptivity of the infrared bands of the C<sub>60</sub> and C<sub>70</sub> fullerenes were determined and extrapolated to derive the values at absolute zero temperature. http://www.spectroscopyNOW.com/coi/cda/detail.cda?chId=2&id=25359&type=Feature&page=1 It is perhaps no real surprise to any chemist who has unblocked a drain clogged with white lardy deposits, but new FTIR spectroscopic evidence confirms that degraded fat, oil and grease (FOG) reacts with calcium compounds in the murky water of drains to form hardened deposits that are, to all intents and purposes, composed of soap, leading to blockages and overflows. http://www.spectroscopyNOW.com/coi/cda/detail.cda?chId=2&id=25244&type=Feature&page=1 Rapid prediction of the fat content of cheeses and the seasonal origin (winter or summer) of milk was achieved using near-infrared spectroscopy without previous destruction or treatment of samples.