History and archaeology – Page 6
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Research
Pompeii’s paintings imperilled by precipitates
Volcanic ash protected the city’s frescos for centuries, now it might hasten their decline
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Research
‘Forgotten’ Egyptian blue pigment found in Raphael fresco
Scientists speculate that knowledge of making the ‘first synthetic pigment’ wasn’t quite as lost as some have supposed
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Opinion
Fortin’s barometer and balance
Defining a new system of measurement required a master instrument maker
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News
Recalibration is the biggest shake-up in the carbon dating world for seven years
Overhaul will improve accuracy and push back how far samples can be dated by 5000 years
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Opinion
Marguerite Perey and the last element in nature
Kit Chapman tells the story of the chemist who discovered francium, but was almost denied the credit
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Podcast
Tannic acid
Tannic acid in green acorns can kill wild animals and livestock, but you can prevent poisoning with pannage pigs
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Opinion
Ghanaian biochemistry TV star Marian Addy
Marian Addy was the first female science professor in Ghana, who studied herbal medicine – and was a TV star
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Podcast
2AP (2-acetyl-1-pyrroline)
Frances Addison on the aromatic compound found in both buttered popcorn and the bearcat’s scent glands, and responsible for the distinctive smell of both
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Podcast
Dexamethasone
News that this cheap, ubiquitous steroid drug may reduce deaths in Covid-19 cases has been greeted with cautious optimism
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Opinion
Ancient antidotes
Favourites of emperors and royalty, theriacs were the universal cures of their day
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Research
Keep The Scream dry to preserve its pigments, chemical analysis suggests
Moisture – not light – hastens the degradation of yellow cadmium colours in Edvard Munch’s 1910 painting