All Feature articles
View all stories of the same content type.
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FeatureEditing the structure of molecules
Nina Notman meets the chemists expanding the toolbox of reactions capable of adding, deleting and switching single atoms in rings at the heart of organic molecules
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How do plants sense stress?
How does an organism without a brain or a nervous system sense when it’s under attack? Hayley Bennett presents the plant world’s strange yet sophisticated system for responding to wounding
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The long future of nuclear waste
Although enthusiasm for atomic energy has waxed and waned over the decades, Bárbara Pinho finds the question of waste has yet to be solved
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Changing the game in protein structure prediction
Have AlphaFold and other machine learning techniques essentially solved the formerly fiendish problem, or is there still more to be done? Clare Sansom reports
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The wonderful wizards of wood
Clever chemistry can turn humble timber into a sustainable material with many uses, Kit Chapman finds
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Mission to Uranus
With no spacecraft visiting the ice giants for over 30 years, Anthony King speaks to the planetary scientists planning a return visit
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The robots revolutionising chemistry
Researchers working with automated systems are pushing the boundaries of what chemists can achieve in the lab, reports James Mitchell Crow
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How to automate your lab
Whether it’s robots, automation or software hacks, Nessa Carson finds ways for everyone to improve how they work in the lab
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What does AI mean for chemistry?
Phil Ball looks at whether letting machines do our thinking for us will change our understanding of chemistry itself
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Omega-3s and brain health
Modern diets can leave us short on essential fatty acids. Barbara Pinho looks into how this is affecting our health and our brains in particular
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The smell of history
Nina Notman sniffs out chemistry’s role in uncovering, documenting and recreating the scents of the past
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Are everyday chemicals contributing to global obesity?
Research in animal models suggests the simple ‘energy in, energy out’ model doesn’t tell the whole story. Anthony King talks to researchers worried about obesogens
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Fashion to dye for
Can colouring clothing be environmentally sustainable? Victoria Atkinson looks at how dyes have come full circle from their natural origins
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The 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
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Celebrating Louis Pasteur’s bicentenary
Mike Sutton reflects on the dramatic discoveries of Louis Pasteur, born 200 years ago
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The brain chemicals that control what we enjoy
Researchers are trying to understand how orexins influence our appetites, and whether we can use them to treat addiction and obesity, explains Andy Extance
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When will molecular electronics make the connection?
Computer chips based on single molecules may remain a work in progress, finds James Mitchell Crow but the technologies developed along the way are being used by chemists to explore their reactions
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How click conquered chemistry
Katrina Krämer tells the story of how click and bioorthogonal chemistry came to win the 2022 Nobel prize
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Tiny delivery systems for cancer drugs
Encapsulating anticancer agents in nanoparticles can make them gentler on the rest of the body. Clare Sansom reports
