All features – Page 2
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FeatureWhen a bond gets too extreme
Chemical bonds are part of the way chemists rationalise the behaviour of atoms in the conditions of the world around them. Tim Wogan looks at how they are affected when those conditions change
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FeatureThe perchlorate Martian mystery
Rachel Brazil looks at how the compounds might have formed on our neighbouring planet and whether they could be useful for future exploration
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FeatureThe archaeologists saving Africa’s ironworking heritage
The fires of traditional African iron smelters burned out a century ago and now the researchers dedicated to uncovering their stories are disappearing from the continent too, writes Hayley Bennett
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FeatureBattling long Covid with drugs
The challenge of finding drugs for a poorly understood disease with many symptoms is clear. Clare Sansom looks at the work going on to help the people suffering in its shadow
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FeatureMedical uses for silk
Nina Notman speaks to the researchers exploring medical applications for silkworm silk
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FeatureThe quantum dot story
Julia Robinson explains how quantum dots went from a theoretical prediction to everyday reality and earned Alexei Ekimov, Louis Brus and Moungi Bawendi the 2023 Nobel prize in chemistry
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FeatureDo other chemistry prizes predict the Nobels?
We’ve looked at the numbers so you don’t have to
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FeatureFifty years since the ferrocene furore
Only two of the discoverers of the sandwich compounds that revolutionised organometallic chemistry received the Nobel prize, leaving one very big name feeling left out. Mike Sutton traces the controversy
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FeatureUsing DNA evidence to picture suspects
Forensic DNA phenotyping predicts people’s appearance and reveals their ancestry, finds Andy Extance, but has some significant challenges to overcome
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FeatureFighting algal blooms with chemistry
These harmful events are the result of a complex interplay of factors, but Bárbara Pinho talks to the researchers finding out how they form and how we can stop them
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FeatureThe drug developers fighting the antibiotic resistance problem
Andy Extance talks to the researchers innovating across different drug classes in the hunt to develop new treatments
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FeatureWho will pay for new antibiotics?
Governments around the world are starting to consider alternative funding models and incentives for antibiotics. Katrina Megget asks if it is enough
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FeatureCharting the rise in antimicrobial resistance
We look at the data behind antibiotic drug discovery and development, bacterial resistance and the financial problems with the current business model
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FeatureThe hunt for natural hydrogen reserves
For a long time, nobody thought there could be large quantities of the gas underground. Anna Demming talks to the people proving otherwise
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FeatureHow to prepare for a lab catastrophe
Nina Notman looks at steps scientists can take to better protect the content of their labs from floods, fires and other disasters
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FeatureThe liquid metals giving catalysis a new phase
They’re not like solid metals or like other liquids, but scientists are starting to understand and exploit them. James Mitchell Crow reports
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FeatureThe science behind a ‘runner’s high’
Exercise addicts need to stop talking about getting their endorphin hit, writes Hayley Bennett, and start looking at endocannabinoids
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FeatureAre hair relaxers damaging to health?
Different chemistries have been designed to turn curly hair straight, but in all cases questions remain about their safety, finds Rachel Brazil
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FeatureFixing nitrogen fixing
Green ammonia promises a more sustainable future. Jamie Durrani talks to the researchers aiming to revolutionise the production of crucial fertiliser
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FeatureMaking replacement organs
From iron lungs to smartphone-controlled insulin pumps, Clare Sansom looks at the efforts to create artificial organs