All Explainer articles
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NewsExplainer: why have metal–organic frameworks won the Nobel prize in chemistry?
Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar Yaghi scooped the Nobel prize for their work on MOFs – here’s everything you need to know
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ResearchHow does Clarivate pick its potential Nobel prize winners?
Chemistry World talks to the head of research analysis at the Institute for Science Information on how they decide which researchers are producing Nobel-worthy research
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NewsWhy has the EU banned a key chemical in gel nail products?
Trimethylbenzoyl diphenylphosphine oxide is a photo-initiator used to harden nail polish under UV light
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NewsExplainer: The chemistry of permastink and how to prevent it
How to avoid throwing out smelly polyester sportswear
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NewsExplainer: Why is the UK banning disposable vapes?
Prior to the ban, almost seventy million single-use e-cigarettes were being discarded each year in the UK – containing enough lithium for a thousand electric vehicle batteries
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NewsWhy does asparagus make my urine smell?
The chemistry of the organosulfur compounds that result in a fragrant toilet
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NewsWhy are public health experts calling for new warnings on sugar-free slushies?
Reports of children falling ill have led to calls for public health advice to be updated
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NewsWhat on earth is going on with research funding in the US?
Untangling what the Trump administration’s directives and executive orders mean for federally funded science
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NewsExplainer: what is ricin?
The poison found in castor beans so deadly a single molecule can kill a cell
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NewsExplainer: Why athletes are taking sodium bicarbonate supplements
Why runners are taking pills containing a common kitchen ingredient
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BusinessExplainer: Why drug shortages happen and how can we reduce them?
Record-high numbers of drugs are in short supply, from chemotherapy and antibiotics to hormone replacements
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BusinessExplainer: How is the US pharmaceutical patent system being misused?
What are ‘evergreening’ and ‘thicketing’ and what is being done to reform the system and aid competition?
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NewsExplainer: how chemistry powers heat pumps
Seen as an answer to low-carbon heating we look at how they work and what their future holds
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NewsExplainer: what is tear gas?
Accusations of the use of tear gas as a weapon of war in Ukraine have put these agents in the spotlight once more
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ResearchHow HIV drugs have changed over the decades
From one big pill that only prolonged lives a few months, through the 20 pills a day years to modern combination therapies, treating HIV is a science success story
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NewsExplainer: nitazenes and xylazine – a cause for concern
Why is the use of these highly potent synthetic drugs rising dramatically?
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NewsExplainer: is the discovery of benzene in benzoyl peroxide acne products a cause for concern?
Lab testing claims that the carcinogen benzene forms at potentially dangerous levels but there are doubts about the research
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NewsExplainer: A new antibiotic class has been discovered – how excited should we get?
With 10 million people a year forecast to die a year as a result of antimicrobial resistance by 2050 many new antibiotics are urgently needed
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ResearchExplainer: What are water microdroplets and why are chemists talking about them?
Researchers are struggling to agree on the underlying reasons for accelerated rates and altered reaction mechanisms in water microdroplets. Here’s what we do know and where open questions lie…
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NewsExplainer: why have quantum dots won the 2023 Nobel prize?
Tiny particles that ‘added colour to nanotechnology’ have uses in TV screens, synthetic chemistry and medical devices