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PodcastBook club – Uncle Tungsten by Oliver Sacks
We celebrate 20 years of a popular chemistry classic – written by neurologist
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Podcast
Cinnamaldehyde
How did a tree bark from Sri Lanka become one of the essential flavours of the festive season?
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Podcast
Azidoazide azide
A compound so explosively unstable that nobody has been able to measure how sensitive it is without it, well, exploding
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Podcast
Ionic liquids
Liquid salts, ionic melts, fused salts, or ionic glasses – call them what you like, these much-hyped solvents show great promise
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Podcast
Chlorhexidine
An antimicrobial compound that kills bacteria and viruses quickly – found in some of the most colourful antiseptic solutions
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Podcast
Asparagusic Acid
Does asparagus give you foul-smelling urine? Helen Arney investigates asparagusic acid, and the lavatorial genetic lottery that controls whether or not you can smell its distinctive aroma
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Podcast
Book club – Written in Bone
From the horrific to the absurd, forensic anthropologist Sue Black’s new book is a true pageturner
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Podcast
Glycyrrhizic acid
A sweet treat with a deadly trick for Halloween – glycyrrhizic acid is found in black liquorice and sweeter than sucrose, but can cause heart problems and even prove fatal if consumed in excess
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Podcast
Sofosbuvir
The hepatitis C drug that made waves when first launched – quicker to work and with fewer side effects than existing drugs, but it came with a hefty price tag
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Podcast
Book club – The End of Everything
It’s the end times for our universe with five scenarios that of how it might meet its ultimate demise
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Podcast
Bedaquiline
The first TB drug approved in 40 years gave hope to sufferers of drug resistant tuberculosis and ushered in a new class of antibiotics
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Podcast
Oxybenzone
This summer’s extreme weather prompts Katrina Krämer to investigate the history of sunblock and the ingredient blamed by some for bleaching coral reefs
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Podcast
Book club – United We Are Unstoppable
60 young climate activitsts from 41 countries tell their stories of fighting for a sustainable future
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Podcast
Book club – Half Lives by Lucy Jane Santos
From radioactive spa treatments to liquid sunshine, this book traces a forgotten part of chemistry history
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Podcast
Favipiravir
Originally developed to treat flu and marketed in Japan as Avigan, promising Covid-19 trial results have seen countries stockpiling this medication by the millions
