All articles by James Urquhart
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ResearchEngineered microbe could clean up persistent oil pollution hotspots
Bacterium can break down five hydrocarbon pollutants into harmless compounds
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ResearchOne of the biggest questions in Mars science may have been answered by the Curiosity rover
Mystery of where all the carbon dioxide went that once made the red planet far more hospitable has puzzled scientists for years
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ResearchCould ‘woolly’ mice put mammoths on the path to de-extinction?
Scepticism that mice with mammoth gene edits could ever produce a viable animal in elephants
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ResearchMedieval bear’s teeth shed light on historic heavy metal pollution
1000 years ago, a bear died after falling down a cave shaft in Romania’s Carpathian mountains. Was lead poisoning to blame?
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ResearchAI inspired by AlphaFold can predict chromatin structures found in chromosomes
System could help unravel how genome folding influences genes
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ArticleCheap electrochemistry process can turn urine into powdered fertiliser
Straightforward process can precipitate valuable nitrogen compounds
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ResearchProtein cement is the trick to how ticks stick
New insight into bioadhesive proteins could aid development of future biomedical tissue sealants
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ResearchFluorspar to fluorine chemicals without going via hazardous hydrogen fluoride
Safer way to turn calcium fluoride mineral into valuable industrial materials
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ResearchMineral-extracting microorganism could solve early Earth’s nitrogen-fixing mystery
Ancient microorganisms could have extracted vital nitrogen compounds using molybdenum mined from rocks
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ResearchWater-splitting reaction reversal could extract lithium more sustainably and cheaply
Environmentally-friendly electrochemistry could cut extraction costs by 40%
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ResearchAI trained on photos of salt ‘stains’ can predict their chemical composition
Imaging could become a simple way to identify inorganic salt crystals on other planets
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ResearchGlassy gel superpolymer is sticky and can self-heal but is also hard yet stretchy
New class of polymer owes its properties to ionic liquid solvent
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ResearchRecycled construction waste could cut cement and steel’s carbon footprint
Cement can be regenerated during steel recycling in an electric arc furnace
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ResearchGenetic engineering feat coaxes yeast to produce valuable vaccine compound
Yeast could head off supply fears for vaccines ingredient by replacing soapbark tree as source of adjuvant
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ResearchPlaying with plastic toy building bricks creates microplastic and nanoplastic pollution
Effects of such microscopic plastic particle on health is unknown but scientists urge caution – and more research
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ResearchAI predicts vape flavours can break down into potentially harmful compounds when heated
Flavours may decompose into harmful carbonyls, alkenes and aromatics when heated
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ResearchLight-driven enzyme engineered and repurposed to catalyse unnatural reaction
Directed evolution used to create photoenzyme that can perform new-to-nature radical cyclisation
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ResearchCross-coupling technique cracks open alcohols for chemical synthesis
A new alcohol–alcohol cross coupling reaction could become a powerful new tool for synthetic chemists
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ResearchCanadian oil tar sands operations emit far more pollution than reported
Analysis of all types of organic pollution reveals emissions underreported by as much as 6300%
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ResearchPhotochemistry converts dry-cleaning solvent waste into useful chemicals
One-pot reaction offers way to upcycle industrial solvent waste