Normal alkanes C n H 2n+2 are extended linear chain molecules that form ordered lamellar structures and crystals. When the size of the chains reaches n > 120, such ultra-long alkanes manifest chain ...

Yet another tantalizing clue. The post NASA Running Out of Non-Life Explanations for What Its Rover Found on Mars appeared ...

In 2025, scientists reported the discovery of long-chain organic molecules called alkanes in the ancient mudstones of Mars. Now, in a new study, a team led by Alexander Pavlov of NASA's Goddard Space ...

This isn’t the famous sample reported last September, but another with different signs of past life we’re struggling to ...

Although many organisms respond to light, very few enzymes inside those organisms use light directly as an energy source for catalysis. Researchers now report a new light-driven enzyme: Christened ...

The discovery is based on previous Curiosity findings revealed since 2018 about basic organics found on Mars though the ...

Being the only sustainable source of organic carbon, biomass is playing an ever-increasingly important role in our energy landscape. The conversion of renewable lignocellulosic biomass into liquid ...

Carbon-hydrogen bond activation took a big step forward in 2000 when John F. Hartwig and coworkers reported an organometallic catalyst capable of directly converting normally unreactive alkanes into ...

The carbon-hydrogen bonds in alkanes -- particularly those at the ends of the molecules, where each carbon has three hydrogen atoms bound to it -- are very hard to 'crack' if you want to replace the ...