All articles by Philip Ball – Page 18
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Opinion
Talking nanotechnology with the public
Philip Ball discusses Europe's efforts to communicate innovations in nanotechnology to a wide audience
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News
Photosynthesis works by 'quantum computing'
The energy cascade within green sulfur bacteria reveals a quantum surprise
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Opinion
Controversial colloid chemistry
Philip Ball reflects on the long-running debate about how colloids stick together
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News
Water's surface is acidic
Although neutral in the middle, pure water's outer skin is as acidic as beer
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FeatureThe click concept
To some, 'click chemistry' is simply a relabelling of standard organic chemistry practices. Others follow its principles almost religiously
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Opinion
Battling bacteria with copper
Copper doorknobs could be the latest - and oldest - way to beat the bugs
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Opinion
The beauty of biomimicry
Understanding why nature's materials are so smart could be the first step to educating our own dumb polymers, argues Philip Ball
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Opinion
Life's proton shepherds
Philip Ball uncovers how life shepherds protons around the cell with breathtaking ingenuity
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Opinion
Alan Turing's leopard science
How did the leopard get its spots? Recent research supports an idea first suggested by legendary code-breaker Alan Turing, says Philip Ball
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News
Ice crystals trapped inside nanotubes
Computer simulations show huge variety of molecular patterns in caged water
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Opinion
Chemistry's clandestine current
Chemistry has always been the most secretive of sciences, argues Philip Ball
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Opinion
The mysteries of misfolding
In the first of his regular columns throwing diverse aspects of science into the melting pot, Philip Ball looks at an emerging problem with proteins
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Feature
Chancing upon chemical wonders
Serendipity has played a big part in many of chemistry's major discoveries, from electrically conducting polymers to mauve dye, as Philip Ball finds out.
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News
In the blink of an eye
There is much more to tears than salty water, report UK chemists. The liquid film that moistens our eyes has a coating similar to a cell membrane.
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Review
The last of the chemical magicians
The devil's doctor: Paracelsus and the world of Renaissance magic and science
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Feature
Putting the nano into nanotechnology
The discovery of a new form of elemental carbon 20 years ago changed thinking in chemistry. Philip Ball investigates whether the buckyball has lived up to the hype and what legacy it has left
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FeatureClaiming Einstein for chemistry
Physicists the world over are celebrating the 100 year anniversary of Einstein's theory of relativity, but Philip Ball argues that Einstein was essentially a chemist
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Feature
The beauty of chemistry
Can a chemistry experiment be beautiful? Philip Ball gives his opinion and invites us to see beauty in everything