Only carbon from the Group 14 elements forms stable double bonds with oxygen under normal conditions. When frozen, carbon dioxide is known as "dry-ice". A non-molecular single-bonded crystalline form of carbon dioxide (phase V) exists at high pressure.

Amorphous forms of silica (a-SiO₂) and germania (a-GeO₂) are known at ambient conditions but only recently has an amorphous, silica-like form of carbon dioxide, a-CO₂. This is labelled a-carbonia and made by compression of CO₂ at room temperature at pressures between 40 and 48 GPa (that's a staggering 400-500 thousand atmospheres).

WebElements now has the capability for authors on the site to embed easily interactive spectra using the JSpecView applet via bbcode using jspecview tags. This is achieved by writing:

[jspecview=600,400]pclanilIR.jdx[/jspecview]

The =600,400 bit gives the desired spectrum size while the file name to be displayed is included between the tags. The file is uploaded by authors who are assigned rights to upload attachments.

The user (you) needs Java 1.5 to be active on their computer. Here is an example.

The motivation for this came from CHMEMCONF Spring 2006 following initial results with Jmol, and in particular Robert Lancashire's paper. With Roberts's help, what I've done here is made a small extension to the software I'm using here (Drupal so that spectra in JCAMP-DX formatted can be embedded simply with a bbcode type string.

A compact and portable mid-IR reflectance spectrometer has been used to study surface materials on marble non-invasively, first in the lab and then on Italian works of art: the "Deposizione dalla Croce" by Benedetto Antelami in Parma Cathedral and "David" by Michelangelo in the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence. You can read the full story in science writer David Bradley's spectroscopynow news round-up here.

In the latest issue of the Reactive Reports chemistry webzine, science writer David Bradley interviews NMR expert Gary Martin about his experiences with this powerful analytical technique and his views on the future of the technology and novel applications.

Martin spent the first 14 years of his career at the University of Houston before moving to Burroughs Wellcome, Co., in 1989, and then to Upjohn in 1996, which, through a series of mergers and acquisitions, left him working for Pfizer a few years ago. He has spent much of his career focused on the identification of natural product structures and subsequently synthetic compounds originating in drug discovery, and more recently the identification of impurity and degradant structures of drug molecules. In the Spring, he takes up a new position at Schering-Plough's facility in Summit, New Jersey, where he will no doubt use his pioneering NMR techniques to the full once more.

NMR can track the movement of a platinum complex during its reaction with an organic compound as the metal atoms casually stroll around the reactant's carbon rings, according to Milko van der Boom of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel and colleagues. The direct observation of this "ring-walking" could have implications for understanding the catalysis of organic transformations by platinum and other metals. Read on in the latest issue of Resonants, the NMR news magazine written by science writer David Bradley.

Tracking molecular excitations is now possible using the novel technique of 2D electronic spectroscopy. The method now means scientists have a simple way to track light-induced changes and could sound a death knell for conventional spectroscopy. The method has a wide range of applications and has already revealed surprising results about the workings of photosynthesis. Read the full story and more in the spectroscopy webzine Spectral Lines from David Bradley and SpectroscopyNOW.com

Scientists crossed a new frontier in exo-planet research just last year when, using the Hubble Space Telescope, they detected sodium by its characteristic orange colour in the atmosphere of a large alien world orbiting the star HD 209458. Perhaps we are seeing ETs street lighting from a distance?

Beginning in 2006, a new telescope, Kepler (approved recently by NASA) will monitor about 100,000 nearby stars, searching for the slight dimming that occurs when an orbiting planet blocks some of the parent star's light. Because Kepler will be sensitive enough to detect planets as small as Earth, this celestial survey will give scientists an idea of how common Earth-like planets are - and identify candidates for further study.

This space telescope will use a technique called interferometry to dramatically reduce the obscuring glare from the planet's parent star, allowing scientists to see the planet itself, and so perhaps be able to analyse the atmospheres of those planets - required to detect signs of life.

For more information see this this ar