The crucible

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    Opinion

    The automatic chemist

    22 August 2012

    Philip Ball considers the creation of a collective chemical brain, and what it might dream up

  • Opinion

    Nullius in verba

    18 July 2012

    Philip Ball asks how much of the published literature you should believe. Not much, by some accounts

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    Opinion

    Imaging icons

    2 July 2012

    Philip Ball celebrates olympicene’s place in the pantheon of chemical imagery

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    Opinion

    A dose by any other name

    1 June 2012

    Philip Ball has sympathy for those nonplussed by nomenclature

  • Opinion

    Breaking the surface?

    1 May 2012

    Philip Ball is perplexed by the EPSRC’s decision to cut surface science funding

  • Opinion

    Sensory thinking

    1 April 2012

    Chemistry could benefit from getting more touchy-feely

  • Opinion

    Column: The crucible

    23 February 2012

    Philip Ball takes a critical look at the science behind an anti-ageing cream and discovers there's some truth in its sugar-coated claims

  • Opinion

    Column: The crucible

    27 January 2012

    To understand the chemical choreography of the cell, we must acknowledge the bustling biomolecular ballroom in which it takes place, says Philip Ball

  • Opinion

    Column: The crucible

    22 December 2011

    Philip Ball considers some research that's making a meal of science

  • Opinion

    Column: The crucible

    28 November 2011

    Philip Ball admires the artistry of contemporary science buildings and a few old masters too