Miracle substances

Few words in a contractor s vocabulary carry more negative connotations than asbestos. According to the Asbestos Network, touted as a miracle substance, asbestos is the generic term for several naturally occurring mineral fibers mined primarily for use as fireproof insula-... 

Therefore, the nano-enthusiasm should be accompanied by extreme care to avoid repeating the stories of other miracle substances such as PCBs, DDT, and asbestos. Although it is impossible (and perhaps unnecessary) to stop expanding nanotechnology, a comprehensive risk assessment of nanomaterials must simultaneously be performed. This idea has become an official standpoint of the European Commission, expressed in two communications Towards a European strategy for nanotechnology [36] and Nanosciences and nanotechnologies an action plan for Europe 2005-2009 [37],... 

Enhancers and Inducers. A sweetness enhancer is defined as a compound that imparts no taste per se, but when combined with a sweetener in small quantities, increases sweetness intensity. A tme sweetness enhancer has yet to be found. However, a good sweetness inducer, miraculin [143403-94-5] or [125267-18-7] (124), is known. Miraculin is a glycoprotein found in the fmit (called Miracle Fmit) of a West African shmb, chardella dulcifica. By itself, miraculin imparts no sweetness. When activated in the mouth by acidic substances, however, a sucrose-like sweetness is perceived. Thus, sour lemon, lime, grapefmit, rhubarb, and strawberry taste sweet when combined with miraculin. The taste conversion effect can last an hour or longer. 

It may have been a minor miracle to have obtained any elemental analyses, let alone acceptable ones, on these materials, as they proved to be quite touchy substances. Garry Warnock, who first investigated the synthesis and properties of these materials, recorded the following observations in his laboratory notebook concerning Cs3[Nb(CO)5] ... 

Woehler s goal was alluring. Experiment after experiment gave negative results but he kept plodding away. Once, in Berzelius own laboratory in Stockholm, he had made some peculiar white crystalline substance which he could not identify. Four years passed. Then one afternoon the miracle happened. 

Some substances have the ability to modify our perception of taste qualities. Two such compounds are gymnemagenin, which is able to suppress the ability to taste sweetness, and the protein from miracle fruit, which changes the perception of sour to sweet. Both compounds are obtained from tropical plants. 

Aes, however, does not always denote copper, but sometimes gold or silver, as they exist in nature, without any mixture of other metal or stone-a pure, unmixed metal, out of which money was stamped sometimes, in the same way as from alloys artificially prepared. This substance was first found in Galilee, but in a small quantity. In our own day it is likewise seen, but rarely, and is only to be obtained by a miracle. (The German version says Properly it is called copper, some call it... 

Everyone is talking about this substance as the new miracle growth product of the nineties. It is reported to have packed on thirty pounds of lean tissue on one top an Olympia contender in less than nine months. Others have reported gains of thirty to forty pounds of lean tissue in a matter of months (39). 

The fruit of the African Miracle Berry bush (Synsepalum duldficum) has no flavor. But after it has been chewed, acidic foods taste sweet and not sour. A lemon tastes delicious, and a tomato is sweeter than an apple. The active substance appears to be a protein, and the mechanism has not been discovered. What are some possible mechanisms ... 

This miracle glue was introduced in 1959. It took about 10-15 years for the adhesive to enter the steep growth stage of its life cycle. The Consumer Product Safety Commission considered suspending its distribution to the consumer market because of the material s excellent adhesion to skin but the Commission finally decided that a warning label as required under the Hazardous Substances Act would be sufficient. Since 1975, consumption has jumped six-fold, and consumer applications have swelled from less than 20% of the total volume to over 40%. Other major outlets include electronics, toys and hobbies. Cyanoacrylates are now reaching maturity, and future growth will be more moderate (Table 10). 

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