Chat GPT

The promise and pitfalls of generative AI for research

2023-03-17T11:12:00+00:00

As ChatGPT co-authorship on research paper climbs, there are new concerns about the impact such AI tools could have on science

Jeremy Hunt and the budget

Budget announcement short on big plans for UK science and technology

2023-03-17T09:54:00+00:00

Pledges made on tax credits, tech hubs and quantum computing fail to impress

Drinking water

US finally set for nationwide regulation of PFAS in drinking water

2023-03-16T15:29:00+00:00

EPA proposes standards for six PFAS compounds, and four will have limits based on cumulative effects

Joe Biden talking about the budget

Biden’s latest budget gets a mixed reaction from the science community

2023-03-15T16:05:00+00:00

White House has proposed 2% funding increase for basic research and the NIH, but NSF and others would fare very well

Woman sniffing perfume stick

Fragrance firms face coordinated cartel probe

2023-03-14T16:13:00+00:00

Givaudan, Firmenich, Symrise and IFF raided by competition authorities

The Great Hall of the People in Beijing

Science ministry reorganisation symbolic of China’s drive for technological autonomy

2023-03-14T14:36:00+00:00

Move driven by restrictions introduced by western nations

Paul Nurse

Long-awaited Nurse review of UK science delivers blueprint for a science superpower

2023-03-10T09:30:00+00:00

But will the government listen?

UK science

Science superpower strategy welcomed but concerns over UK association to Horizon persist

2023-03-09T15:37:00+00:00

£370 million of new funding available for ‘exciting’ technologies announced

Rainbow

AI identifies molecules from their featureless visible spectrum

2023-03-16T09:30:00+00:00

Forget about trying to interpret peaks and let machine learning identify organic compounds from their entirely smooth visible spectrum

A D-RNA structure reflacted as an L-RNA structure in a mirror

Study challenges assumptions over how l-oligonucleotides behave in living systems

2023-03-15T14:52:00+00:00

L-oligonucleotides are potentially cytotoxic but some could have unexpected therapeutic benefits

Ouzo

Chemists put the colour-changing ‘ouzo effect’ under the microscope

2023-03-15T09:30:00+00:00

Greater understanding of the anise-flavoured spirit’s cloudy mix could lead to better emulsions

In depth

  • US researcher entanglements continue post-China Initiative as worries over IP theft linger

  • UK begins exploration of whether to build its own billion-pound-plus XFEL

  • Assembling the UN’s new panel on chemical waste

  • One year on from massive eruption in South Pacific, the atmosphere is still feeling the effects

  • Crispr moves into the clinic

  • Simpler by design

  • A decade on Crispr is already poised to deliver on its promise

  • Watch this space