All articles by Philip Ball – Page 13
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OpinionA 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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OpinionQuantum leaps of faith
The path to quantum mechanics becomes smoother if you take a different route, says Philip Ball
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FeatureWhat does DNA do?
The more we learn about DNA, the less we seem to know, as Philip Ball discovers
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ResearchWater structure controversy laid to rest?
A solution to puzzling claims that water arranges itself in rings and chains, rather than the anticipated tetrahedral arrangement, may have been found
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Opinion
A (chemical) potential theory of life's origin
Philip Ball says we should look beyond the molecules that make us to find the spark of life
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Research
Why don't nanobubbles go pop?
New study claims that nanobubbles' stability is down to supersaturation of the liquid surrounding the bubble with gas
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Research
Controversial theory of smell given a boost
Molecular vibrations may be responsible for our ability to distinguish between different odours, new experiments show
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OpinionThe founding myths of chemistry
Chemists should learn from the past, says Philip Ball, but they may need a history lesson first
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OpinionMake or break: the laws of motion
Molecular machinery involves a delicate interplay of forces, but biology has found the balance, says Philip Ball
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FeatureUp in the air
Lithium–air batteries hold the promise of great enough power density to fuel cars – but has their progress stalled in recent years? Philip Ball finds out
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ResearchBright idea to probe bond order
An IBM team has used atomic force microscopy to reveal the lengths and orders of C–C bonds in buckyballs and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
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OpinionThe automatic chemist
Philip Ball considers the creation of a collective chemical brain, and what it might dream up