Latest News and Application Notes

In 2011, LECO's Cornerstone® brand software took the analytical world by storm. Intuitive screens. Adjustable charts. Diagnostics built into the software, with real-time monitoring and animated system diagrams. Designed by scientists, for scientists, Cornerstone blended industry-leading technology with practical functionality. Eleven years later, it's time for a facelift.

Moisture levels in soil are important to know when growing plants. In addition to being a necessary component of photosynthesis, the moisture in soil acts as a carrier for a plant's essential nutrients, such as nitrogen and carbon. Knowing the moisture content of your soil enables you to properly balance the nutrient density and correct for moisture issues. Traditional manual drying methods have been lab-tried and -tested, but they can feel like relics of the past as today's lab is tasked to do more with less time.

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) has long been an invaluable tool in a chemist's belt. With its ability to tease apart the compounds in a sample, identifying even trace analytes, it is able to perform specific tests and pinpoint what, exactly, is in the material being analyzed. But what can you do when GC-MS isn't enough?

Many LECO analytical instrument rely on consumables like pure chemical and high purity gases to function. When supply chain issues affect these consumables, laboratory operations can quickly increase in cost or in worst case scenarios can even be shut down. One current issue that is plaguing the scientific community is the supply of helium.

Around the world and across the board, prices are rising. As we battle with the realities of post-COVID supply chain issues and international wars, companies struggle to keep their own costs low. One unscrupulous way to do this is to use lower-quality ingredients. The average customer may not be able to notice the difference between a genuine or artificial citrus essential oil, for example, but being able to determine the constituents of the oil is vital for determining its quality and safety, as most citrus essential oil uses involve direct contact with humans.

The very first alloys used by humans were meteoric irons, alloys of iron and nickel that fell to the earth in meteors. As smelting technologies were developed, humans began creating alloys such as bronze and brass, metals that were more flexible in their properties, depending on the proportions of their constituents. It wasn't until the 19th century that most metals were discovered, opening the doors for many more alloys such as aluminum alloys. At first seen as a novelty, aluminum alloys proved their worth when they were used in the Wright brothers' first airplane engine. Ever since, alloys have been vital to engineering advancements, but it wasn't until the advent of superalloys that very-high-temperature engineering technologies have become possible.

Alcohol is one of the oldest intentionally-crafted drinks in the world, with evidence of fermented drinks existing as early as 10,000 BC. It has remained an important cultural touchstone around the world, with most countries having some version of "going out for drinks" as a common social activity. While there are three main types of alcoholic beverages—wine, beer, and spirits—beer consistently remains the most popular alcoholic drink around the world and third most popular drink after water and tea. Recent Gallup polls find that 38% of Americans prefer beer to wine (30%) and spirits (29%).

In October, 2021, at ASMS, LECO announced its search for a new collaborator in GC-MS. As part of a pilot program, we were looking for someone whose lab was working on important or novel chemistry and could really benefit from the addition of a free Pegasus® BT GC-MS. At ASMS 2022, we announced our winner.

Does automated hardness testing software really provide that much of an advantage over manual methods? LECO's Cornerstone-based AMH55 system takes the human variance out of the process, making it fast, precise, and accurate, but just how much variance is actually involved? LECO decided to put it to the test, pitting seven humans of varying metallographic experience against the AMH55.

Since the 1800s, there have been two major methods of protein determination, the Kjeldahl and the Dumas methods. Both methods measure the nitrogen in a sample and use mathematics to convert that into the protein content. Though the Dumas method was older, the Kjeldahl method quickly took off in popularity due to its relative ease of performance. However, as new technologies developed, the Dumas method began gaining in popularity.