All features – Page 10
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FeatureThe periodic patience of Dmitri Mendeleev
In our final comic of the International Year of the Periodic Table, Mendeleev puts his elemental cards on the table
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FeatureBorrowing scientific theories
Can re-purposed science help us understand more than the physical world? Rachel Brazil talks to the scientists trying to play swap
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FeatureSeparating turmeric fact from fiction
Thousands of papers have been published on curcumin’s healing potential, but its usefulness is not yet proven, finds Andy Extance
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FeatureA battery technology worth its salt
With lithium-containing batteries facing constraints on many of the metals they contain, Nina Notman looks at whether its group 1 neighbour sodium can supply the answer
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FeatureSingle-atom catalysis
Single atom and hierarchical nanopore catalysts are reducing the need for precious metals, and could clean up the energy and chemical industries, finds Andy Extance
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FeatureThe lithium pioneers
Katrina Krämer traces the full story of how lithium-ion batteries won the 2019 Nobel prize
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FeatureLithium: Good enough for batteries
The powerful revolution in your pocket – starring Yoshio Nishi, John Goodenough, Akira Yoshino…and Thomas Edison
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FeatureChromium: Lust for colour
Van Gogh’s yellow sunflowers owe a debt to Louis Vaquelin, the chemist who discovered the element chromium
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FeatureAtom-by-atom experiments at the edge of the periodic table
Only a few atoms of oganesson have ever been made – and they all vanished in less time than it took you to read this
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FeatureSewage sells: the hidden value of wastewater
An eye-opening visit to a waste water treatment works uncovers the surprising value in sewage. Hayley Bennett reports
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FeatureConcrete’s carbon problem
The world’s most common building material has a huge carbon footprint. Angeli Mehta talks to the scientists trying to reduce it
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FeatureStem cell hype
Many clinics around the world offer unproven treatments, while genuine therapies are slowly making their way through trials. Anthony King reports
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FeatureChlorine, nitrogen and the legacies of Fritz Haber
His ammonia process fed the world – but he also pioneered chemical weapons
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FeatureA persistent perfluorinated problem
PFASs were used in household and industrial products for decades before their harmful health effects and biopersistence came to light. Rebecca Trager investigates a messy situation
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FeatureHydrogen storage gets real
As production costs fall and demand is poised to rocket, James Mitchell Crow finds the hydrogen economy is finally ready for take-off – as long as we can find ways to store it
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FeatureChemical clocks for archaeological artefacts
Radiocarbon dating is a standard technique, but what if your artefacts are inorganic? Rachel Brazil finds out how to accurately age pottery and even metals
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FeaturePlutonium: The element factory
Glenn Seaborg’s lab at Berkeley discovered plutonium – an element with uses beyond the deadly one we know well
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FeatureFiring up an air pollution problem
Wild fires adversely affect air quality nearby and far beyond. Nina Notman investigates this escalating problem
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FeatureWhat is the moon made of?
Mike Sutton looks at what we’ve learned about the moon’s chemistry in the 50 years since Apollo 11