Research
Polymer membrane separates hydrocarbons, offering alternative to distillation
Microporous membrane enables energy efficient chemical separations
Nanocomplex becomes a master of shape-shifting to target tumour cells
There is unexpected chemistry going on in lithium deposits
UK government announces 10-year budgets for R&D
Campaign launched to get Lego periodic table playset out there
Blown up brain cells’ connections and chemistry traced at incredible molecular resolution
In depth
Green light for UK carbon capture projects – but will they deliver?
The country is already behind on targets to capture carbon dioxide and is playing catch up
Why does asparagus make my urine smell?
The chemistry of the organosulfur compounds that result in a fragrant toilet
Why are public health experts calling for new warnings on sugar-free slushies?
Reports of children falling ill have led to calls for public health advice to be updated
What on earth is going on with research funding in the US?
Untangling what the Trump administration’s directives and executive orders mean for federally funded science
Explainer: what is ricin?
The poison found in castor beans so deadly a single molecule can kill a cell
AI predicts transition states with exceptional precision
Model can complete tasks in under a second that take conventional methods hours
Robot ramps up accuracy of AI salt stain identifier
Database with three times as many images as before boosts accuracy of technique to almost 99%
AI inspired by AlphaFold can predict chromatin structures found in chromosomes
System could help unravel how genome folding influences genes
Publishers need to provide guidelines on use of AI in research, says Wiley
Feedback from almost 5000 researchers helped inform publishing giant’s report
‘Chemistry will no longer be an exclusive club’: how AI is changing Omar Yaghi’s work
UC Berkeley’s reticular chemistry pioneer tells us about his new institute using AI to tackle climate change
AI can tell Scottish and American whiskies apart
Machine-learning method identifies prominent aromas
GPT-based AI tool predicts inorganic crystal structures
CrystaLLM uses GPT to arrange atoms, turning text-based data into numerical tokens
Worldwide
Explosion and fire at Chinese chemical plant kills five
Six others missing and 19 injured at Shandong Youdao Chemical
Egypt set to join Horizon Europe
Egypt will be the second African nation to fully associate to the EU’s flagship research programme
Working towards an Australian First Nations periodic table
Zahra Khan finds out how a team of scholars is working with the Gadigal to develop a chart that celebrates Indigenous knowledge of the chemical elements
French chemist receives two-year research ban for repeated integrity breaches
Exclusion for nanomedicine researcher at CNRS will start in 2026
A year on from the announcement of the dichloromethane ban, US research labs brace for change
ERC increases funding offer to support scientists moving to Europe
Universities and academic groups join forces to fend off Trump’s attacks
Materials scientist’s death at 47 from brain haemorrhage highlights long hours culture in China
ERC increases funding offer to support scientists moving to Europe
Move is part of global efforts to attract researchers dismayed by the funding chaos in the US
Clarivate to exclude retracted content when calculating impact factor
Move will ‘pre-emptively guard’ against distortions to journal metric
UK government announces 10-year budgets for R&D
Policy details to be announced at next spending review
Trade deals stave off Trump’s tariffs temporarily
Initial agreements with China and UK have paused trade war, but uncertainty reigns
ERC increases funding offer to support scientists moving to Europe
Move is part of global efforts to attract researchers dismayed by the funding chaos in the US
Universities and academic groups join forces to fend off Trump’s attacks
US approves natural food dyes while pushing to phase out synthetic colours
Trump’s ‘skinny budget’ has plans to cut science and research to the bone
Trump-appointed US science agency director resigns
Out of the suburbs: the rise of urban labs
‘Exodus will require action’: chemistry laureates warn young researchers will desert US
The hole in the UK chemical industry
UK funding agency to support controversial climate cooling research
Critics warn against shifting focus from emissions reduction towards ‘speculative’ cooling technologies
Under legal pressure American Chemical Society ends diversity programme
The society is replacing its 30-year-old Scholars Program for minorities with a larger one that does not consider race
Analysis reveals ethnic minority applicants’ grant success rates still lower
Engineering and physical sciences’ review panels in UK more likely to award white researchers
American Chemical Society diversity programme comes under attack
Lawsuit argues that ACS’ Scholars Program discriminates against white and Asian applicants
New year honours recognise chemists’ services to inclusion and diversity
Services to biogeochemistry, science in government, and science and technology also rewarded in annual list
Nobel prize winners far more likely to come from wealthy families highlighting inequality in the sciences
Women stay in science far longer than thought, study of OECD countries suggests
Indian scheme to provide 300 research grants for women
Next president of the Royal Society of Chemistry will be Robert Mokaya
Gender equality report highlights progress and challenges for women in research