The wonderful wizards of wood
Clever chemistry can turn humble timber into a sustainable material with many uses, Kit Chapman finds
Read storyThe robots revolutionising chemistry
Researchers working with automated systems are pushing the boundaries of what chemists can achieve in the lab, reports James Mitchell Crow
Read storyThe diamond synthesisers
Nina Notman takes a whistle-stop tour of the synthetic diamond industry and learns about some of the applications its lab-grown diamonds are being used for
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Unwrapping ancient Egyptian chemistry
From mummification to metallurgy, Rachel Brazil looks at the impressive chemistry used by this ancient civilisation
How click conquered chemistry
Katrina Krämer tells the story of how click and bioorthogonal chemistry came to win the 2022 Nobel prize
Can we clean Covid from the air around us?
Nina Notman talks to the experts about what is needed to remove pollutants and even infectious diseases from the air inside our homes, schools and offices
The plant trade’s scientific secrets
Growers are using advanced techniques to mass-produce the next trendy houseplant. But Katrina Krämer finds that collectors’ demand for new varieties has also opened the door to deception and fraud
A lightning burst of chemistry
Trying to understand the chemistry that occurs around immensely powerful but short-lived lightning bolts is a feat in itself. James Mitchell Crow looks for a flash of inspiration
Using genetics to personalise prescriptions
We’ve known for a long time that different people respond to certain drugs to very different extents, but now cheap DNA testing could make these disparities a thing of the past, as Ian Le Guillou reports
The bioorthogonal revolution
A set of reactions operating silently inside live cells or whole animals are lighting up chemical biology and inspiring new medicines, James Mitchell Crow finds
The human health observatory in our sewers
From tracking disease outbreaks to monitoring drug use, there’s a lot to be learned from the things we flush down the toilet, Katrina Krämer finds
Methane – the other greenhouse gas
Bárbara Pinho looks at the problem of methane emissions and how scientists are trying to prevent them
The toxic tide of ship breaking
Kit Chapman explores the chemical cost of the most dangerous industry in the world
Better skiing through chemistry
While elite sports have been improved by materials science, for disabled athletes the developments can be life-changing. Aisha Al-Janabi reports
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The labs pointing to a greener future for Africa
Tackling climate is not just a job for scientists in more developed countries. Munyaradzi Makoni talks to researchers in Kenya and South Africa to find out more
How organocatalysis won the Nobel prize
Jamie Durrani tells the story of how two young upstarts, Ben List and David MacMillan, created a whole new field of catalysis
What’s wrong with research culture?
A knotty mess of problems affects people doing academic research in the UK. Rachel Brazil tries to untie the tangle
Experimenting in a pandemic
Chemistry teachers have faced extraordinary challenges in preparing and running practicals in the past 18 months. Clare Sansom investigates how they have fared
The search for the grand unification of aromaticity
Researchers have been trying to find a full definition of aromaticity for almost two centuries, and yet keep discovering new types
The rise of ferrofluids
Magnetic liquids are taking off, Hayley Bennett reports, but not as their inventor once imagined