Grind away

1632 Dutch oil painting by Adriaen van de Venne, entitled 'Rijcke-Armoede' (Rich Poverty), depicting an alchemist working with a pestle and mortar in his workshop. Behind him are his wife and two children.

Source: Gregory Tobias / Chemical heritage foundation / Science photo library

Time for mechanochemistry to grow up

How do you get your reactions going? Light? Heat? Electricity? Grinding? Remarkably, option four is cropping up more and more often…