A photograph of Primo Levi; the tile of the chapters in his book, The Periodic Table, are written around him

Primo Levi and the other periodic table

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Author and chemist Primo Levi was born 100 years ago this July. Philip Ball looks at his chemical and literary legacy – including his books The Periodic Table and If This Is a Man

Latest news ▶

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Trump repeals and replaces Obama’s clean power plan to curb coal emissions

25 June 2019

Affordable Clean Energy Rule lets states determine how or whether to regulate pollution from coal-fired power plants

Donald Trump

Third of US science and environment advisory committees to be slashed

25 June 2019

President Trump’s latest order has science advocates worried

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Northwestern opens largest biomedical building of any US university

24 June 2019

Chemistry sits atop Northwestern University’s new 12-story interdisciplinary biomedical centre

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Ambitious Irish climate plan aims for zero-carbon economy by 2050

21 June 2019

Targets floated for one million electric cars and 70% renewable energy by 2030

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Just six sexual harassment complaints were received by four of the US’s top funding bodies – over four years

19 June 2019

Nasa, energy and agriculture departments and National Institutes of Health all received fewer than three complaints

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Image manipulation allegations hit Indian toxicology institute

18 June 2019

Investigation launched after images in as many as 130 papers questioned

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Switching UK’s gas network to hydrogen perfectly possible, report finds

14 June 2019

Repurposing the natural gas network would cut out country’s biggest source of carbon emissions

Latest research ▶

An image showing Professor Richard Zare holding the Mexican scorpion species Diplocentrus melici in his hand

Colourful antibiotics isolated from scorpion venom

25 June 2019

Isolated benzoquinone has excellent activity against TB along with low toxicity in mice

An image showing the structure of IBX-ditriflate

New hypervalent iodine compound is most powerful oxidant in series

24 June 2019

2-iodoxybenzoic acid ditriflate can oxidise stubborn hydrocarbons and obstinate polyfluoroalcohols

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Helicopter NMR prepares to detect Arctic oil spills

21 June 2019

ExxonMobil-funded project readies giant airborne coil for accidents as shipping lanes open up

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Laser centrifuge spins out chiral molecules in world first

20 June 2019

Experimental proof that molecule’s rotation can be controlled with light could lead to new ways to separate enantiomers

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Robotic fish powered by hydraulic blood and two heart pumps

19 June 2019

Soft robot mimics lionfish’s graceful movement with flow batteries and hydraulic fluids

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Physics behind freezing bubbles’ hypnotic ice crystal dance revealed

19 June 2019

Marangoni flow responsible for the often photographed but never studied snow globe effect in freezing soap bubbles

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Glucose-regulating nanogel keeps blood sugar in the sweet spot

19 June 2019

System prevents hyperglycemia in rats by acting like an artificial liver

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Build the best helicopter challenge

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How biologics have changed the rules for pharma

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Welcome to our Chemistry Detectives collection

  • Driving discovery through debate

  • Build the best helicopter challenge

  • How biologics have changed the rules for pharma

  • Why you should become a Qualified Person

  • How possible contaminants are investigated

  • The stability challenge

  • The elements of future energy

  • Design of experiments

  • Welcome to our Chemistry Detectives collection

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Driving discovery through debate

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Celebrating more than a century of the Faraday Discussions

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Iridium and the demise of the dinosaurs

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The discovery of radium – part two

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The discovery of radium – part one

The End of Phlogiston

The end of phlogiston and the discovery of oxygen

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The discovery of the noble gases

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The discovery of graphene

  • Iridium and the demise of the dinosaurs

  • The discovery of radium – part two

  • The discovery of radium – part one

  • The end of phlogiston and the discovery of oxygen

  • The discovery of the noble gases

  • The discovery of graphene

Features ▶

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Taking a leaf out of plants’ books

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Learning to mimic natural photosynthesis on an industrial scale might open the door to a fossil fuel-free future. Nina Notman investigates

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Victor Ninov and the element that never was

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20 years on, Kit Chapman investigates how a scientific scandal unfolded

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  • How to make analytical methods fit-for-purpose

  • Rapid volatile impurity analysis in pharmaceutical products using SIFT-MS

  • Synthia – retrosynthetic design software for practising chemists

  • Analyse your protein with best-in-class CE system, Maurice

  • Using a DoE mindset for successful experimentation

  • Mobile mass spectrometry – taking the laboratory to the field

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