All articles by Philip Ball – Page 11
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Research
Ice core to antifreeze protein’s inner workings
Highly unusual structure has an interior filled with a pentagonal ice network that halts the formation of ice crystals
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Research
X-rays set to reveal electrons’ dance
New technique could let scientists watch how electrons move within atoms and molecules in real time
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Feature
What is a bond?
There’s more to bonding than covalent, ionic and the lines we draw between atoms on paper. Philip Ball takes on the expanding list of chemical connections
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Opinion
Sense and sense ability
Philip Ball is surprised to discover just how sensitive we are about our feelings
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Opinion
We choose to go to the muon
Subatomic sorties have uncovered strange new species, says Philip Ball. Should we give these alien atoms a place at the table?
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Opinion
Novelty hits top the charts
There’s no formula for citation success, says Philip Ball, but high-impact tracts mix the classical with the unconventional
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Opinion
Chemistry's climate of scepticism
Philip Ball asks why chemistry seems to have more than its share of global warming’s opponents
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Opinion
Crystallography 101
Philip Ball reflects on a century of progress in the science of structure
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Research
Metallic properties predicted for astatine
New calculations suggest that element 85 is a metal and even perhaps a superconductor
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Feature
A matter of solvation
The processes underpinning how solvent and solutes molecules interact are fundamental, but still mysterious. Philip Ball investigates
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Opinion
DNA waves don't wash
Philip Ball asks why a spectacular claim seems to have been overlooked. Sometimes science doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to
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Research
Solvent traffic responsible for electron gridlock
Ultrafast spectroscopy reveals electrons must obey rules of the road when pulling out into oncoming water
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Opinion
A self-assembled periodic table
Philip Ball unpacks the instructions for a new periodic table
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Research
Protons wander freely in icy gas giant cores
Under intense pressures like those found on Uranus or Neptune ice may behave in very different ways, even giving rise to magnetic fields
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Opinion
The name's (quadruple) bond?
Philip Ball discusses the contentious issue of C2 bonding. Dare we draw four lines?
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Opinion
Quantum leaps of faith
The path to quantum mechanics becomes smoother if you take a different route, says Philip Ball