235th ACS National Meeting in New Orleans -- press briefing schedule

Live from New Orleans

See Instructions, below* for joining live briefings at at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/acs-live-from-new-orleans Digital files of all sessions will be available under “Press Room” at www.acs.org

Sunday, April 6

12:00 p.m.

Alligator blood may put the bite on antibiotic-resistant infections - Embargoed for April 6 at 7:00 p.m. CST

Despite their reputation for deadly attacks on humans and pets, alligators are wiggling their way toward a new role as potential lifesavers in medicine. Scientists report that proteins in gator blood may provide powerful new antibiotics to help fight infections associated with diabetic ulcers, severe burns, and “superbugs” that are resistant to conventional medication. See corresponding news release, abstract, and nontechnical summary for AGFD 32.

Kermit K. Murray, Ph.D., Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Louisiana State. Lancia N.F. Darville is a doctoral student in the Department of Chemistry at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, La.

2:30 p.m.

Expert foresees 10 more years of R&D to make solar energy competitive - Embargoed for April 7 at 4:15 p.m. Central Standard Time

Despite oil prices that hover around $100 a barrel, it may take at least 10 or more years of intensive research to reduce the cost of solar energy to levels competitive with petroleum, according to a leading expert on the topic. See corresponding news release, abstract, and nontechnical summary for PRES 063.

Harry Gray, Ph.D., is the Arnold O. Beckman Professor of Chemistry and Founding Director of the Beckman Institute at the California Institute of Technology.

Paul Alivisatos, Ph.D., of the University of California at Berkeley and co-editor of the ACS journal Nano Letters, will describe potential advantages of future solar cells using nanoscale materials, and address some of difficulties that need to be overcome.

3:30 p.m.

Isle of Stability - Embargoed for April 6 at 8:45 a.m. Central Standard Time

Those exploring the uncharted seas at the fringes of the Periodic Table of the Elements have landed on one long-sought island — the fabled Island of Stability, home of a new genre of superheavy chemical elements sought for more than three decades. Researchers now are eying other islands on the more-distant fringes of the periodic table. See corresponding news release, abstract, and nontechnical summary for NUCL 007.

Yuri Oganessian, Ph.D., is with the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia. Ken Moody, Ph.D., is a nuclear chemist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, CA.

4:00 p.m.

Meteorites delivered the “seeds” of Earth’s left-hand life - Embargoed for April 6 at 1:35 p.m. Central Standard Time

Desert heat, a little water and meteorite impacts may have been enough to cook up one of the first prerequisites for life: The dominance of “left-handed” amino acids, the building blocks of life on this planet. Ronald Breslow will describe how our amino acid signature came from outer space. See corresponding news release, abstract, and nontechnical summary for ORGN 001.