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Antarctica viewed from above

Feature

Carbon in an ice world

Antarctica may seem pristine and almost devoid of life, but there’s plenty of chemistry going on. Victoria Atkinson explains what it can tell us about the climate and pollution across the globe

Cecilia Payne and spectral lines

Feature

The young female astronomer who worked out what the sun is made of

100 years ago, Cecilia Payne deduced that the sun is mainly made of hydrogen – but was encouraged to downplay her findings by her PhD supervisor. Mike Sutton takes up the story

Heat map

News

Chemistry ‘cold spots’ emerging across the UK, RSC warns

Some regions face a future with fewer chemists

Benzene and bunting in chalk on a blackboard

Opinion

Benzene at 200

Celebrating the molecule that changed the world

Kekule, Faraday and Mitscherlich in a party collage

Opinion

Benzene’s 200-year legacy of transformation

As we celebrate the anniversary of benzene’s isolation, we must remember that scientific centenaries carry additional agendas

Cracked soil

Chemistry ‘deserts’ threaten to push poorer undergraduates out

By

Course and departmental closures in the UK are creating ‘cold spots’, leaving students high and dry

Redcar

Cracking under pressure

By

Basic chemical plant closures highlight strain on European industry

Bacchus and Ariadne

The fungal source of Titian’s rich reds

By

Laccaic acid, thought to be produced by lac insects, is produced by a symbiont similar to the zombie ant fungus

Wizard with black cat and flask

In search of the alchemists of Prague

By

A city where chemistry lurks almost anywhere you look

Getting good at human tasks

By

’What do you mean you had to lock the NMR with an oscilloscope and shim the magnet by hand?’

Ponnadurai Ramasami: ‘You will learn more by going the more difficult way’

By

The trailblazing computational chemist on the joys of teaching, inaugurating a virtual conference, and the importance of doing things the hard way

Helping remote schools be in their element

By

The element sets now found in over half of Australian high schools

Letters: July 2025

By

Readers ponder polymorphs, period products, PFAS and more

Eyeliner bottles

Research

Unique Iron Age kohl from Iran differs from that of ancient Egypt

Eye makeup found to contain graphite and manganese but not organic ingredients

University of Hawaii

News

Researcher severely injured in 2016 Hawaii lab explosion receives £5 million settlement

Thea Ekins-Coward lost an arm in an experiment with unsafe apparatus

Opinion

The fungal source of Titian’s rich reds

Laccaic acid, thought to be produced by lac insects, is produced by a symbiont similar to the zombie ant fungus

News

Chemistry for the visually impaired that can be felt, heard and smelt

The Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, recently brought chemistry alive for students with sight loss

Opinion

In search of the alchemists of Prague

A city where chemistry lurks almost anywhere you look

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