All articles by Philip Ball
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Opinion
Heated crystals jump to enantiomeric separation
Chiral asparagine monohydrate crystals can segregate by handedness – if you arrange them carefully first
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Feature
Small molecules that switch up cell development could transform medicine
Turning mature somatic cells back into flexible stem cells using small molecules could revolutionise medicine, especially for regeneration and cancer. Philip Ball reports
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Opinion
An unprecedented supramolecular structure brings new complexities to life
The transcription factor FOXP3’s interactions with DNA present more evidence of the importance of disorder
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Opinion
Atmospheres conducive to life
Researchers propose a new biosignature that could hint at habitable exoplanets
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Research
Molecular movie captures DNA repair from start to finish
Study spans pico- to microsecond timescales to uncover enzymatic process
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Opinion
Searching for new physics using ultracold molecules
‘Clock transitions’ could make it possible to discover if a flaw in the Standard Model exists – without the need for high-energy particle colliders
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Opinion
Will the assembly theory imbroglio do anything for evolution?
A claim to have explained selection has caused a stir, and it’s worth asking why, says Philip Ball
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Opinion
Moving beyond protein structure
Efforts to understand how intrinsically disordered regions interact have produced a variety of answers
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Opinion
Why Roman concrete is still stronger than RAAC (and other modern concretes)
Researchers are searching for ways to replicate the self-healing properties of the ancient material
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Opinion
Shape is not enough to distinguish life from abiotic systems
No morphological differences between living and non-living systems are yet known
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Research
Crystal structure prediction tool a ‘significant and thought-provoking advance’
Algorithm needs just the chemical formula to find the ground state of a crystalline compound
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Opinion
Can life exist outside of the habitable zone?
Speculation about conditions on Venus raises questions about our existing definitions
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Opinion
How van der Waals first linked liquids and gases
150 years ago, a doctoral thesis changed our understanding of matter
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Opinion
The long and short of telomere rejuvenation
Telomerase is unlikely to be a straightforward elixir of youth
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Opinion
Interpreting the impact of AI large language models on chemistry
LLMs may outperform Alphafold, but currently struggle to identify simple chemical structures
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Opinion
Human genome editing in perspective
Ethical, cultural and safety considerations are high priorities for researchers
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Opinion
New phase of amorphous ice formed by ball milling
Medium-density amorphous ice has a structure and density similar to liquid water
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Feature
What does AI mean for chemistry?
Phil Ball looks at whether letting machines do our thinking for us will change our understanding of chemistry itself
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Research
Fluidic chemical systems can mimic the way the brain stores memories
Imitating the way that neurons communicate could lead to low-power neuromorphic computing