All articles by Michael Freemantle – Page 2

  • Football hitting the back of the net
    Podcast

    Levulinic acid

    2018-11-09T14:47:00Z

    How one footballer's climate concerns led to the creation of a green chemistry company: the story of Mathieu Flamini, GFBiochemicals and levulinic acid.

  • Resin drips from the Mastic tree
    Podcast

    Caryophyllene

    2018-10-19T11:37:00Z

    A biologically active compound from the biblical balm of Gilead, said to ‘heal the sin-sick soul’ and mentioned at the marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle

  • A Bandari woman showing her hands with indigo traces after sewing a traditional burqa mask
    Podcast

    Indigo

    2018-09-28T10:00:00Z

    The rise and fall of the Indian indigo industry is just one part of this pigment's colourful history

  • Nurses from the House of Lords Red Cross Detachment wearing gas masks,
    Podcast

    Ethyl iodoacetate

    2018-08-30T17:05:00Z

    A tear gas used by the British army in the first world war, picked, in part, because of our access to seaweed

  • Sheep
    Podcast

    Lanolin

    2018-07-20T12:55:00Z

    How a waxy mixture from a sheep's fleece helped create a global fashion brand

  • A traditional kerosene lamp
    Podcast

    Kerosene

    2018-06-21T14:15:00Z

    Bat-borne bombs and a classic chemistry textbook, with Mike Freemantle

  • British World War 1 soldiers in a front line trench, 1915-18
    Podcast

    Calcium hypochlorite

    2018-05-10T11:00:00Z

    A component of 'trench atmosphere' and ‘the most powerful antiseptic known’, Mike Freemantle explores calcium hypochlorite and the birth of a chemical dynasty 

  • Blue lobster
    Podcast

    Astaxanthin

    2018-03-02T12:18:00Z

    Colourful crustaceans and the story of a ubiquitous biological pigment

  • Imperial topaz
    Podcast

    Topaz

    2018-01-26T11:05:00Z

    A tale of adventure on the high seas, and the treasured topaz spoils

  • Grenadine-based drinks
    Podcast

    Fructose

    2017-12-21T15:25:00Z

    Super-sweet and packed with preserving power, Mike Freemantle discovers that fructose can help keep things fresh long after the sell-by date

  • Swimming underwater in a pool
    Podcast

    Acesulfame potassium

    2017-11-30T15:54:00Z

    A sweet solution to monitoring contaminated water

  • Preparing a solution from the salt of sodium dichromate
    Podcast

    Sodium dichromate

    2017-10-06T12:55:00Z

    Discover the compound at the heart of a multi-million dollar legal case and an Oscar–winning role for Julia Roberts

  • Alizarin based pigment being squeezed from a metal tube
    Podcast

    Alizarin

    2017-09-07T17:21:00Z

    Mike Freemantle introduces a pigment used by William Morris that also gave the Redcoats their distinctive hue

  • Film x-ray of human foot and arthritis at first metatarsophalangeal Joint . 2 position ( front and side view )
    Podcast

    Indometacin

    2017-08-10T16:55:00Z

    A popular prescription pill that helps to keep gout and other arthritic conditions under control

  • Soldiers wearing WW1 gas masks. L-R: American, British. French, German. 1917-18.
    Podcast

    Diphenylchlorarsine

    2017-07-21T17:14:00Z

    One of the few technical mistakes the Germans made in the first world war

  • 0717CW - Last Retort - Index
    Opinion

    The Weizmann contribution

    2017-07-05T10:23:00Z

    How the future president of Israel kept Britain fighting in the first world war

  • Trees in autumn
    Podcast

    Anthocyanins

    2017-05-07T07:00:00Z

    The pigments responsible for the rich colours of autumn leaves

  • Orange and black striped caterpillars of the Cinnabar Moth, on wild yellow ragwort flowers
    Podcast

    Ragwort alkaloids

    2017-04-19T15:35:00Z

    Pyrrolizidine alkaloids from Ragworts and other plants are popular with pollinators but a potent poison to livestock, as Mike Freemantle discovers

  • Packet of mercurous chloride tablets, Kassel, Germany, 1914-1917
    Podcast

    Mercuric chloride

    2017-03-29T03:03:00Z

    Michael Freemantle traces the history of a highly toxic medicine: Mercuric chloride

  • Bandaged British World War 1 soldiers in a battlefield trench, 1915-1918.
    Podcast

    Mustine

    2017-03-08T17:30:00Z

    How chemical weapons inspired the birth of cancer chemotherapy