Methane can be a byproduct of life — or it can be generated by geologic processes. One way or another, we now know that there is methane on Mars. Earth-bound spectrometers hooked to telescopes have shown the Martian summer triggered large releases of methane into the atmosphere from three different places on the planet.

Terahertz spectroscopy provides a peek at amino acids, proteins, and other biological molecules in motion. THz imaging is powerful, and these frequencies are strongly absorbed by water; imaging molecules in solution is problem. NIST researchers used micelles as tiny test-tubes, tiny volumes of water, and the molecules in question.

Sometimes a flat imaging plane is the wrong shape. All spherical lenses create spherical distortion. Photodetectors made of a flexible light-sensitive material — a thin foil of germanium bonded to a polymer — could provide a sensitive, curved imager that offsets distortion. It would also simplify digital cameras and cell phones.

It's a big universe with strange happenings. One of those things was caught by the Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2. The stunning colors represent a range of emissions coming from the nebula clouds: red represents nitrogen, green represents hydrogen, and blue represents oxygen. The nebula is 10,000 light-years away.

Melamine added to food seems to raise the protein content, and that might be positive. But it also damages the kidneys of those ingesting it. More accurate measurements of melamine in milk could provide added safety. Purdue University researchers have an analysis method to detect low melamine levels in milk in seconds.

Environmental labs have been testing for heavy metals and other toxic contaminants for years. Now the Arizona Laboratory for Emerging Contaminants is using chromatography and mass spectroscopy to find pollutants that include estrogen, Viagra, and other pharmaceuticals that leach into the water supply in Arizona.

A version of gas analysis and calibration software provides simultaneous multi-method analysis and improved user interface response. The software is used with diode array analyzers. Software controls spectrometer and sampling valves, collects and interprets detector data, and provides a user interface for changing parameters.

When length measurements must be precise, optical interferometers can help. These systems are better known for yielding relative measurements with high accuracy, but a clever trick lets them provide absolute measurements. A Laser Focus World article say optical interferometers can measure macroscopic distances to nanometer accuracies.

Editor-in-chief Rudy Baum of Chemical & Engineering News believes that funding science, particularly via the U.S. economic stimulus package, promotes the growth of new jobs. Not to mention that funding grad and post-grad fellowships is a bargain. He believes the proposed increases in spending on science, technology, and infrastructure are among the most valuable investments our nation could make. He says the funds should demonstrate a responsibility to society in conducting their research and training the next generation of scientists and engineers.

What happens when scientists resort to interpretive dance of their research results? The American Association for the Advancement of Science and the journal Science sponsored a dance contest, in which each entry was based on a peer-reviewed journal paper. The winners (whose 'Dance Your PhD' is found on YouTube) were paired with professional choreographers to produce THIS IS SCIENCE. Their world debut occurred at the recent AAAS meeting, featuring routines on Spatial Exploration of Food Processing, Dance of the Mouse Gene, and much more.

Will Anyone Pay for Science?

Science will be restored to its rightful place — or so it has been said. Will this be a year of doom-and-gloom for analytical scientists, or the birth of a new day of funding?