Biodegradable plastic bag that has not fully degraded

Clearing up the compostable plastic mess

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Rather than a potential triumph, the compostable plastics we use look increasingly like a tragedy. Andy Extance looks at the problems and seeks solutions

Implantable devices

Battery-free bioelectronic implants

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Spurred by advances in energy-harvesting materials, a new generation of advanced implantable biomedical devices is emerging that does away with the bulky battery. James Mitchell Crow reports

Tractor covering an asparagus field with mulching plastics

The problem of plastic in our soils

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Not just a marine issue, new research shows microplastics are also changing agricultural land. Bárbara Pinho finds out how and what we can do to prevent it affecting our food

Portraits of David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper surrounded by red and blue protein alpha-helices and beta-sheets

How AI protein structure prediction and design won the Nobel prize

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David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper won this year’s Nobel prize in chemistry. Jamie Durrani investigates the origins of a biochemistry revolution

Satellite

How satellite remote sensing is enhancing our understanding of Earth

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Instruments in space have studied the planet’s atmosphere and surface, and are now being joined by powerful new ones, finds Andy Extance

Atoms

Analysing a chemist’s wish-list

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Analytical techniques have come a long way, but what does the future hold? Rachel Brazil asks the experts what they’d like to see

Chemists in Ukraine

Ukraine scientists

Ukraine’s chemists persevere through a year of war

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One year into the full-scale Russian invasion, Ukrainian chemists face blackouts and missile strikes 

Ukraine portraits compilation

Living through the war in Ukraine

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Since the full-scale invasion began, Anastasia Klimash has been talking to chemists in Ukraine to find out how they are being affected

A picture of Mendeleev with his 1869 periodic table

The father of the periodic table

2019-01-02T09:26:00+00:00By

Mike Sutton looks at how Mendeleev’s patience revealed periodicity in the elements

An image showing a scrunched up piece of paper with the details of element 118 - Ninovium - Written down

Victor Ninov and the element that never was

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 20 years on, Kit Chapman investigates how a scientific scandal unfolded

Oak Ridge Laboratory

What it takes to make a new element

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Yuri Oganessian tells us how nihonium, moscovium, tennessine and oganesson were made

An artistic representation of the periodic table based on the shape of a shell

The art of the periodic table

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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

An image showing neutron stars colliding

How elements are made beyond the stars

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Tim Wogan looks at what recent astronomical discoveries have added to our understanding of stellar nucleosynthesis, and the mysteries that remain 

Old Russian periodic table

Ordering the elements

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From the law of octaves to the periodic table as we know it, Mike Sutton traces how chemists put their house in order

Hero illustration showing question marks with different forms of chemical elements as dots

What is an element?

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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

Hydrothermal vent

Hydrothermal vents and the origins of life

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Did life start on land or underwater?

Jupiter's tumultuous atmosphere

Life on other planets

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A series of missions to the moons of Jupiter and Saturn has revealed their potential to harbour life. Nina Notman looks to the skies

amino acids soup

Why are there 20 amino acids?

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Rachel Brazil tries to untangle the alphabet soup of life

Messy chemistry typography

The messy chemistry that led to life

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To understand how chemistry became biology, some chemists are eschewing simple reactions to study complex systems with many reactants and products. Rachel Brazil peers through the tangle

An image showing bubbles

How protocells bridge the gap from chemistry to biology

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Rachel Brazil talks to the scientists trying to recreate what the first cells were like, or to make their own versions

An image showing Asteroid Ida

Do asteroids hold the key to life on Earth?

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A series of missions are set to reveal the hidden secrets of the asteroids. Nina Notman explores the science of space rocks

breaking the mirror

The origin of homochirality

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Why do so many biological molecules exist in just one chirality – and how did it emerge? Rachel Brazil reflects on life’s strange asymmetry

Cucumber in tonic bubbles, close-up

The science of distilling gin

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Do you know your cold compound from your London dry? Nina Notman sorts through the botanicals to find the perfect cocktail

Wheat field

Is modern food lower in nutrients?

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Studies suggest that our fruit and vegetables are losing nutrients. Bárbara Pinho examines the evidence and looks at the implications of a ‘nutrient collapse’

Half-cooked turkey

The marvellous Maillard reaction

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Andy Extance looks at the culinary reaction cascade that goes beyond Christmas and Thanksgiving dinner and has worrying links to health

Tea - CW1216 - i stock 184948797

The chemistry in your cuppa

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Katrina Megget finds there’s more to tea than just a great brew – it’s also chemically complex

An image showing turmeric

Separating turmeric fact from fiction

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Thousands of papers have been published on curcumin’s healing potential, but its usefulness is not yet proven, finds Andy Extance

chocolate model of theobromine

Well-tempered chocolate

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Nina Notman discovers that controlling crystal structures and emulsions is the key to good chocolate

Wine sample preparation for testing

A taste of wine chemistry

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Nina Notman talks to the wine detectives uncovering the flavour molecules in our favourite tipples

A black and white image showing a baby lying on his back and feeding himself from a bottle held by his legs

The science of breast milk and baby formula

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Nina Notman reveals how breast milk research is inspiring a new generation of infant formulas and opening the door to therapeutic advances

An image showing cake and ingredients

The science of the perfect cake

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Nina Notman opens her lab notebook to find a recipe fit for a queen

An image showing hands placing spices into a pan of curry

The chemistry of a curry

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Can chemistry help Nina Notman make a better curry?