A research team affiliated with UNIST has made a significant breakthrough in sustainable technology through the development of a method to c
A research team affiliated with UNIST has made a significant breakthrough in sustainable technology through the development of a method to convert carbon dioxide (CO₂) into methanol—a process that could play a vital role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and producing environmentally friendly fuels.
Led by Professor Jungki Ryu of the School of Energy and Chemical Engineering at UNIST, in collaboration with Professors Jongsoon Kim of Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) and Aloysius Son of Yonsei University, the team successfully developed a novel copper-based catalyst capable of transforming CO₂ into high-purity methanol. The research is published in Advanced Materials.
Northwestern University chemists have discovered a new way to turn natural gas into liquid fuel—and it's lightning in a bottle. By harnessing tiny bursts of plasma—or mini "lightning bolts"—in glass tubes submerged in water, the team has successfully converted methane directly into methanol in a single step.
Methanol is a versatile, high-demand industrial chemical used to make many products people use every day. It is also commonly used as an industrial solvent and is gaining attention as a cleaner-burning fuel for ships and industrial boilers.
The method bypasses the extreme heat and high pressures required for current industrial processes, which blast apart methane and rebuild it as methanol in a multistep process. While the current method is reliable, it's energy intensive and emits millions of tons of carbon dioxide per year globally.
So you know when you get drunk and feel like shit the next day? Have you ever wanted to be able to drink without getting a hangover? Well, I can't really help you there, but I can at least tell you why hair of the dog doesn't work.
Ethanol (CH3CH2OH): this is normal drinking alcohol. When you drink it, most of it gets dumped into your blood and into the liver. What does the liver do with it? It breaks it down into acetaldehyde (which is very toxic) and then breaks that down to acetate. The enzymes involved are Alcohol Dehydrogenase (in the cytosol) and Acetaldehyde Dehydrogenase (in the mitochondria). These both use NAD+ (which is needed for normal metabolism) to do their thing, which leaves us with NADH.
So why is drinking bad for you? Cause it inhibits gluconeogenesis, causes lactic acid build up, and damages your cells (yes, you can handle it and drinking in moderation is fine, but molecularly, it is bad).
Cell Damage: acetaldehyde damages pancreas, brain, liver, and GI tract. It also impairs memory and coordination (obviously, lol), and makes you tired (wow who could have guessed that??). Basically, this compound is the reason you feel like shit. Acetaldehyde is bad for you, but you have to make it to get rid of ethanol. Some people (especially those of Asian descent) don't have enough acetaldehyde dehydrogenase. This causes a build up, so they feel worse and get that nice red face when they drink.
Lactic Acid Build Up: okay so remember all that NADH we made to break down ethanol? It's making us have a bad NADH to NAD+ ratio. We really need that NAD+ to accept an electron and allow us to make ATP (energy). So how can we make more of that? We are going to convert pyruvate (made from breaking down glucose) to lactate. What does lactate cause? LACTIC ACIDOSIS! That is bad.
Inhibition of Gluconeogenesis: do you know what you do when you haven't eaten in a little while? You make glucose (gluconeogenesis). You can make glucose from all kinds of shit, isn't that cool? One of these things is called oxaloacetate. When you have no NAD+, you convert oxaloacetate to malate. You can't make glucose from that. The high NADH to NAD+ ratio also inhibits the gluconeogenesis dehydrogenases needed to make glucose. What I'm getting at here is hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) because you have no usable glucose and you can't make any.
So why is this bad? Well, because you don't have glucose, but your cells are still working (and getting damaged :() you need to give some energy to them to function. This comes in the form of ketone bodies. This is really only an issue for heavy drinkers, but over time and with increased frequency, drinking can lead to ketoacidosis.
But yeah, the reason you feel bad after drinking is mostly due to how toxic acetaldehyde is. That's what causes head ache, nausea, and memory problems (from all the damage it does to those cells). So no, drinking more won't get rid of a hangover, and hair of the dog does not work. Eating food helps though, so you can finally have some glucose to work with.
Now some more notes:
Fatty Liver: this is going to be more prevalent in heavy drinkers, but it happens because you convert DHAP to glycerol-3-phosphate. G3P can combine with fatty acids to make triglycerides, which can go live in the liver and cause hepatosteatosis (fatty liver). This is also bad.
Methanol (CH3OH): this is also called wood alcohol, and can most commonly be drunk via bootleg liquor. Your body uses the same enzymes to break it down, but this time it is making formaldehyde and fomic acid. Fomic acid causes ocular toxicity (aka going blind) and brain damage. So make sure you trust whoever you get your bootleg liquor from, okay?
Ethylene Glycol (OHCH2CH2OH): this is antifreeze. Same enzymes again, but you get glycoaldehyde. This then becomes oxalic acid and glyoxylic acid. These cause lactic acidosis and calcium oxalate formation, which crystalizes in the kidneys, causing renal failure.
Final note: your body can handle drinking, like 1-2 drinks per day. I'm not your mom, so do whatever you want, but at least now you know why you feel like shit as your friends hold your hair back so you can puke in the shitty bar toilet :)
