Views and opinions from leading scientists

Konstantin Novoselov: ‘I don't really know where my Nobel medal is’

2023-03-24T09:31:00+00:00By Katrina Krämer

The Nobel Prize-winning physicist on the importance of enthusiasm and moving on from graphene

What can we learn from East Palestine?

2023-03-23T14:30:00+00:00By Chemjobber

How chemists should learn to deal with spills in the lab and in the plant

Holding the keys to a powerful future

2023-03-23T13:56:00+00:00By Phillip Broadwith

Competition to build battery supply chains means supercharging support to attract investment

Nuclear wasted

2023-03-22T09:28:00+00:00By Neil Withers

Atomic energy has the potential to reduce our carbon footprint, but the problem of waste is devilishly complex

A new regulatory paradigm for increased robustness in chemical testing

2023-03-16T14:51:00+00:00By Hannah Littler, Jackie Taylor, Fatima Nasser

Non-animal methods could revolutionise how we assess toxicity

Human genome editing in perspective

2023-03-14T09:35:00+00:00By Philip Ball

Ethical, cultural and safety considerations are high priorities for researchers

Phil Ball

PHIL BALL is an award-winning journalist, author and broadcaster who explores the history and philosophy of chemistry

Human genome editing in perspective

Ethical, cultural and safety considerations are high priorities for researchers

New phase of amorphous ice formed by ball milling

Medium-density amorphous ice has a structure and density similar to liquid water

Protein filaments allow ‘diary’ of cell events to be read

Expression recording islands show when and where cells responded

From the St Valentine’s Day Massacre to modern ballistics analysis

Computational methods are making firearm evidence more statistically sound

Mass spectrometry to catch Christmas tree thieves and timber traffickers

Forensic chemistry can help uncover pine pilfering and fiendish fir felling

Pumpkin spiked

The unpleasant surprise in very yellow pies

Turning negative results into positives

Publishing unsuccessful experiments is more important than ever as we try to train machines in chemistry

The psychology of our future with AI

It’s time to accept that digitalisation is changing laboratory work, and embrace the opportunity

Setting drug development speed records

The pandemic treatment sprint was spectacular, but hard to match under less unusual circumstances

Transforming lab coats into Cloaks for Sydney WorldPride

Celebrating LGBTQIA+ scientists through fashion and photography

Citizen science project investigates what happens to biodegradable plastics in compost heaps

Testing the biodegradability of plastic through citizen science

Space for more science

Astrophysics and Aboriginal astronomy on TikTok

Sauerbrey’s crystal microbalance

A creative balance between fields

Malus’s rays

Getting polarisation right despite theorising molecules of light

Wurtz’s ball tube

Turning fractional distillation into a whole new ball game

What can we learn from East Palestine?

How chemists should learn to deal with spills in the lab and in the plant

What to expect when your customer’s quality auditor visits

Checking a chemical plant is meeting standards

The power of oxygen

Running oxidations on lab scale and plant scale – with the help of bleach

Last retort

Escaping from predatory publishers
By Bishwajit Paul
An over-reliance on publishing has left scientists prey to unscrupulous practices
The gift of dyslexia
By Abigail McConnell
With the right support, dyslexic thinkers can thrive and bring new perspectives to science
Looking back at three generations of PhD research
By Victoria Atkinson
Sharing experiences with Dad and Grandpa

Organic matter

What can we learn from East Palestine?
By Chemjobber
How chemists should learn to deal with spills in the lab and in the plant
(–)-Quinine
By BRSM
Stop counting steps and move on to some one-pot reactions
Curating data into pictures has nuances that are easy to overlook
By Nessa Carson
But there are ways to balance the benefits of holistic data without causing information overload

Interviews

Chemists in Ukraine revisited: Liudmyla Solianyk

Regular blackouts and missile strikes are part of life in Bucha district

Chemists in Ukraine revisited: Olha Konshyna

Reagents freeze and power cuts dictate working hours in Kyiv

Chemists in Ukraine revisited: Grygoriy Dmytriv

Planning for the European Crystallographic Meeting in Lviv in 2025 is in full swing

From the editors

Holding the keys to a powerful future
By Phillip Broadwith
Competition to build battery supply chains means supercharging support to attract investment
Nuclear wasted
By Neil Withers
Atomic energy has the potential to reduce our carbon footprint, but the problem of waste is devilishly complex
Rooting out drug contamination
By Phillip Broadwith
Cooperation is key to preventing another tragedy
N-heterocyclic carbenes are more than passive spectators
By Jennifer Newton
The practical importance of N-heterocyclic carbenes continues to grow
A year of war in Ukraine
By Philip Robinson
The full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine is now one year old. For Ukraine, the anniversary has been a moment to reaffirm support among its allies and keep the world’s attention on Kyiv as the conflict moves increasingly by increments with no end in sight. For the Kremlin, the moment has been used to justify continuing the war, as a special operation that was supposed to last weeks now runs into its second year. For those who have lived through the war, it’s a reminder of just how much has changed and how much has been lost.
More guidance makes job and university applications fairer
By Emma Pewsey
A question-based format helps candidates prioritise what to tell recruiters