Melissae Fellet
Melissae Fellet is a freelance science writer based in Santa Cruz, US.
ResearchMass spec goes massive weighing huge virus particles
Nanomechanical system can weigh protein complexes and viruses more than 100MDa in mass
CareersClimbing the career ladder in southern Germany
There’s much on offer below Germany’s ‘white sausage equator’
ResearchConfined reaction speeds up water formation
Trapping hydrogen and oxygen on a catalytic surface lowers the activation energy of the reaction between them
ResearchExchange of rings shows off molecular machine's clever trick
Small ring passing through a larger one is a fundamentally new motion for a rotaxane
ResearchFire-starting battery dendrites go with the flow
Bursts of current flatten dendrites on a lithium metal anode for high power batteries
ResearchPromising high energy lithium battery ditches pure oxygen for air
Components work together to minimise side reactions in air, extending the battery’s cycle life
ResearchMechanochemistry first as reaction driven by pressure
A redox reaction triggered by squeezing a crystal results in the ejection of copper nanoparticles
ResearchEnzyme-free reaction cycles hint at primitive precursor to metabolism
Reactions between small carboxylates and a hydrogen peroxide catalyst resemble the modern citric acid cycle
ResearchCatalyst sets sights on C–H sites
New catalyst stereoselectively functionalises unactivated C–H bonds
ResearchCheap water splitting catalyst takes on precious peers
Hardy cobalt-based polyoxometalate can handle water splitting’s acidic conditions to compete with the best costly catalysts
ResearchPatchy particles with predictable patterns
Controllable, predictable method produces patchy particles on a large scale
ResearchDNA synthesis is just a click away
The technique could be an efficient and cost-effective method of gene synthesis
ResearchAutomated exploration of chemical space finds two new reactions
Synthetic chemists hit on undiscovered reactions by processing data from a high throughput screen of tens of thousands of potential products
ResearchElectronegativity of a single atom measured
Catalysts could be improved by mapping surface variations using new technique
ResearchChiral molecules could recognise each other’s spin
Charge polarisation could provide an answer to how nature can distinguish mirror image molecules
ResearchUnusual metathesis catalyst holds stereoselectivity promise
Molybdenum catalyst can make Z -trifluoromethyl-substituted olefins useful for pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals and materials
ResearchMiddle Eastern bitumen at Sutton Hoo rewrites trade history
The black lumps provide the first evidence for a bitumen trade network between the British Isles and the Middle East
ResearchNucleic acid instability challenges RNA world hypothesis
Early life may have contained both RNA and DNA, rather than just RNA
ResearchMolecular computer calculates Ebola diagnosis
A prototype device displays a fluorescent ‘E’ in the presence of DNA found in Ebola virus