All Feature articles – Page 5
View all stories of the same content type.
-
FeatureWhat is an element?
Our understanding of what an element is has evolved over the years, but it’s still a tricky concept to nail down. Philip Ball investigates
-
Feature
The father of the periodic table
Mike Sutton looks at how Mendeleev’s patience revealed periodicity in the elements
-
Feature
Science in microgravity
How does gravity affect chemistry and biology? More than you might think – and you don’t have to visit space to find out, as Rachel Brazil discovers
-
Feature
Science, suffrage and misogyny
100 years after women could first vote in UK general elections, Rachel Brazil looks back at their fight for professional equality in chemistry
-
Feature
A taste of wine chemistry
Nina Notman talks to the wine detectives uncovering the flavour molecules in our favourite tipples
-
Feature
The marvellous Maillard reaction
Andy Extance looks at the culinary reaction cascade that goes beyond Christmas and Thanksgiving dinner and has worrying links to health
-
Feature
The great war clean-up
A century after the end of the first world war, the task of disposing of old chemical weapons continues. Michael Freemantle reports
-
Feature
Hahn, Meitner and the discovery of nuclear fission
80 years ago, Otto Hahn and Lise Meitner made a discovery that led to nuclear weapons – yet Meitner was never given the recognition she deserved
-
Feature
The atmospheric nitrogen question
Pollutants, key atmospheric components and vital fertilisers: nitrogen compounds are all of these, as Emma Davies finds out
-
Feature
How chemical evolution took the 2018 chemistry Nobel prize
Emma Stoye has the full story of how Frances Arnold, George Smith and Greg Winter put evolution to work in the lab
-
Feature
Are the Nobel prizes good for science?
Philip Ball looks at whether prizes and awards help or hinder scientific progress
-
Feature
The nuclear option
Using radioisotopes to image inside patients’ bodies – nuclear medicine – is under threat from ageing reactors. James Mitchell Crow discovers the new science trying to fix the problem
-
-
Feature
Medical mass spec
Mass spectrometry can be used for more than just small molecules, meaning it is a vital tool in drug discovery and hospitals, as Clare Sansom discovers
-
Feature
Reaching a milestone
The decade-long process to register all chemicals used in Europe has concluded. Nina Notman takes stock of progress and looks to the next steps for chemical legislation in the region
-
Feature
Ozone: the hole story
There is still a long road to recovery for the ozone layer, Emma Stoye finds
-
Feature
The quest to cure HIV
Although HIV–Aids can now be managed quite well with antiretroviral drugs, there is still no cure. Anthony King talks to the scientists trying to find one
-
Feature
From folklore to pharmacy
Although many drugs have in the past come from plants, Hayley Bennett discovers that it’s hard work getting them approved today
-
Feature
Derek Barton and shape-shifting molecules
It’s 100 years since Derek Barton was born. Mike Sutton looks at his work developing conformational analysis
-
Feature
Hydrogen: still the fuel of the future?
Is the dream of a hydrogen-fuelled future still a pipe dream, or is it in the pipeline? Angeli Mehta investigates
