To Commemorate 2012 London Olympics, Smallest Five Ringed Structure Olympicene Produced and Imaged

Olympicene
Credit: IBM Research - Zurich, University of Warwick, Royal Society of Chemistry

Olympicene is a five ringed molecule that was synthesized to resemble the five olympic rings and commemorate the 2012 London Olympics.

Although Olympiadane was already named for resembling the five interlocking Olympic rings, the creators of Olympicene synthesized the molecule from Benzo[CD]pyrene which already looks like the Olympic rings. They find Benzo[CD]pyrene looking more like the rings and that Olympiadane is more complex to synthesize.

Olympicene has the chemical formula C19H12 and has an average mass of 240.298599 Daltons (1 Da= 1g/mol). It's monoisotopic mass is 240.093903 Da.

Stunning image of smallest possible 5 rings

Scientists have created and imaged the smallest possible five-ringed structure – about 100,000 times thinner than a human hair – and you'll probably recognise its shape.

A collaboration between the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), the University of Warwick and IBM Research – Zurich has allowed the scientists to bring a single molecule to life in a picture, using a combination of clever synthetic chemistry and state-of-the-art imaging techniques.

The scientists decided to make and visualise olympicene whose five-ringed structure was entered on ChemSpider, the RSC's free online chemical database of over 26 million records two years ago.

Athletes With Asthma May Be Using Wrong Medication Due To Misdiagnosis

Asthma is a breathing disorder that causes air passages of the lungs to swell and narrow. These air passages are called bronchioles. During an asthma attack, the muscles surrounding the airways become tight and the lining of the air passages swells. This reduces the amount of air that can pass by.

Bronchioles are the first airways by which air passes through the nose or mouth to the air sacs of the lungs. With asthma, these bronchioles swell and become narrow which results in wheezing, shortness of breath, tightening of the chest, and coughing.

Asthma can be caused by chemicals in the air or food, exercise, weather, stress, medicine, and allergens. These are called triggers.

There is no cure for asthma but the disorder can be managed and controlled. Inhaled corticosteroids help keep the airways from swelling which help prevent asthma symptoms. There are also long-acting beta-agonist inhalers which prevent the symptoms but these must be used together with another inhaled steroid drug.

Avoiding asthma triggers is also important in maintaining control and preventing attacks. Cigarette smoking and second hand smoke (passive smoke) in regard to people with asthma causes problems in effectiveness of management medications such as steroid/corticosteroid therapies.

Many athletes with asthma may be using the wrong treatment

Many athletes with asthma may not be using the best treatment for their condition and could be putting their long term health at risk, according to a roundup by journalist Sophie Arie published by the BMJ today.

The article will feature on the BMJ's new Olympics portal, an online resource to keep doctors up to date with sports medicine content from across the BMJ Group. The portal will be open until the end of the Olympic and Para-Olympic games.

Asthma is strikingly common in elite athletes and has gradually risen at almost every Olympics since the 1970s. In 2004 almost 21% of Team GB had asthma compared with 8% of the British population.