All Feature articles – Page 5
View all stories of the same content type.
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FeatureWhat is the moon made of?
Mike Sutton looks at what we’ve learned about the moon’s chemistry in the 50 years since Apollo 11
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The forgotten female crystallographer who discovered C–H⋯O bonds
Andy Extance tells the overlooked story of crystallographer June Sutor, whose C–H⋯O bonding hypothesis was unjustly suppressed
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Primo Levi and the other periodic table
Author and chemist Primo Levi was born 100 years ago this July. Philip Ball looks at his chemical and literary legacy – including his books The Periodic Table and If This Is a Man
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Taking a leaf out of plants’ books
Learning to mimic natural photosynthesis on an industrial scale might open the door to a fossil fuel-free future. Nina Notman investigates
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Victor Ninov and the element that never was
20 years on, Kit Chapman investigates how a scientific scandal unfolded
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Accessible science education
Nina Notman hears from some of the leading lights in the quest to make chemistry education accessible to all
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Changing the locks
Designer receptors help understand cellular signals and could treat epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease, but need new tools, finds Andy Extance
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The problem of particulate air pollution
Small particles in the air can find their way into the brains of growing children, with seriously unpleasant consequences. Anthony King reports
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Malaria no more?
Efforts to cure malaria have been going on for hundreds of years. Clare Sansom looks at some of the latest – and most innovative
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Superhydrophobic materials from nature
Chemists who want to make materials that repel water but do not contain fluorocarbons are taking their inspiration from nature, Rachel Brazil finds
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There’s something about boron
Boron’s chemistry is as much defined by what it isn’t – carbon, or a metal – as by what it is. Recent years have started to fix this misconception, as James Mitchell Crow reports
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The art of the periodic table
The venerable chart of elements has inspired and entertained in its first 150 years. Hayley Bennett looks at some of its weird, wacky – and wise – incarnations
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The battle to lose weight
Losing weight – and not putting it back on – is about much more than willpower. Nina Notman reports on the drugs trying to penetrate the complex metabolic web of hunger and satiety.
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Searching for biodegradable polymers
Plastics that break down in the environment could be the answer to our pollution worries, Aisling Irwin finds – but only if they are useful in the first place
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Perovskites beyond solar cells
From solar cells and LEDs to catalysts and quantum computing, James Mitchell Crow asks if there is anything perovskites can’t do
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Pass the antidote
From paracetamol to pesticides – not to mention nerve agents – there are many toxic compounds that doctors need to be able to counteract. Nina Notman investigates
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Can we live forever?
We are now living longer than ever before, but not always in perfect health. Anthony King talks to the researchers working to extend our healthspan
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Forcing reactions with plasmons
Traditional catalysts can lack both efficiency and selectivity. Tim Wogan explains how plasmons offer the potential to do chemistry with a lighter touch
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Ready for a Raman shift
Raman spectroscopy has been seen as a tool for physicists and chemists but Hayley Bennett finds it has the potential to cause a major shift in the way we do medicine
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What 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
