All articles by Philip Ball – Page 2
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OpinionWill 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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OpinionMoving beyond protein structure
Efforts to understand how intrinsically disordered regions interact have produced a variety of answers
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OpinionWhy 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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OpinionShape 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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ResearchCrystal 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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OpinionCan life exist outside of the habitable zone?
Speculation about conditions on Venus raises questions about our existing definitions
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OpinionHow van der Waals first linked liquids and gases
150 years ago, a doctoral thesis changed our understanding of matter
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OpinionThe long and short of telomere rejuvenation
Telomerase is unlikely to be a straightforward elixir of youth
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OpinionInterpreting 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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OpinionHuman genome editing in perspective
Ethical, cultural and safety considerations are high priorities for researchers
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OpinionNew 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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FeatureWhat 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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ResearchFluidic chemical systems can mimic the way the brain stores memories
Imitating the way that neurons communicate could lead to low-power neuromorphic computing
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OpinionProtein filaments allow ‘diary’ of cell events to be read
Expression recording islands show when and where cells responded
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OpinionExploring AlphaFold’s knowledge of energy landscapes
The algorithm needs a little help to find the global energy minimum
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OpinionQuantum computing has its limits
Error-prone qubits mean quantum systems do not yet surpass classical methods
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OpinionA promising breakthrough in liquid condensate compartmentalisation
Tears are RNA solvent droplets that could help engineer new functions into bacteria
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OpinionCracking codons
Understanding how chemistry links RNA triplets to the properties of amino acids
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OpinionJames Lovelock, a gentleman scientist
Philip Ball reflects on the legacy of the creator of the Gaia hypothesis, who has died aged 103
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OpinionPeriod of discovery
Chemical space contained sufficient information to formulate the periodic system 25 years before Mendeleev