Steve Down
- Research
Single catalyst for oxidation and reduction of water
A cobalt-based catalyst designed to produce hydrogen by electrosplitting water can be reversibly switched to produce oxygen.
- Research
Flu fighters are wired
Silicon nanowire detector can spot tiny amounts of the flu virus in exhaled breath in just minutes
- Research
Single particles take flight
X-ray laser irradiation and mass spectrometry combine to unlock the structure and composition of single airborne particles in their native environment
- News
Tuning into a radio solution to money forgers
Banknotes with an organic conducting polymer radiofrequency identification tag provide an extra level of security against counterfeiters
- News
The world's strongest fibres
A polymer fibre that combines carbon nanotubes and reduced graphene oxide is stronger than spider silk and Kevlar
- News
Asteroid ages united by new isotope standard
Hydrous asteroids are as much as 9 million years younger than thought
- News
Growing super long fibres in seaweed jackets
Aligned supramolecular nanofibres over one metre long have been made by encapsulating them in a hydrogel coating
- News
Cofactor control of catalysis enantioselectivity
Catalysts can turn from achiral to chiral using cofactors and can perform asymmetric reactions with high enantiomeric selectivity
- News
Smoothing out zeolite nanosheet synthesis
A new technique overcomes a major problem with the production of zeolite nanosheets
- Feature
Ions in the open air
Ionisation techniques that remove the need for sample preparation are taking mass spectrometry into new and exciting research areas, reports Steve Down
NewsSniffing out garlic in gilded artworks
The presence of garlic in early gilded artworks has been confirmed
- News
Eurozone researchers see through fake banknotes
Fake euro notes can be detected quickly and accurately with a spectroscopic technique.
- News
Boosting the paradoxical benefits of white wine
White wine enriched in polyphenols has the same protective effect against atherosclerosis as red wines.
- News
Perchlorate levels doubled in organic veg
Organically grown leafy vegetables produced in North America contain double the amount of perchlorate found in conventionally grown crops, report US researchers.
- News
Wax paintings analysed
The care and restoration of wax-based paintings could be easier following the arrival of a new gas chromatography method.
- News
Sensing pollutants with iodinated polymers
Molecularly imprinted polymers containing iodine have been used to trap polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from river water for optical sensing.
- News
21 September 2005: Stressed GM potatoes contain increased levels of toxic metabolites
Genetically modified potatoes can produce greater amounts of toxins after exposure to blights and viruses, say UK researchers.
- News
8 September 2005: Polymerised ionic liquids make stable GC stationary phases
The high-temperature performance of gas chromatography stationary phases made from ionic liquids has been improved by polymerisation, say US researchers.
- News
22 August 2005: Targeted nanoprobes for cancer detection and prognosis
Magnetic nanocrystals have been bound to cancer-targeting antibodies to create a highly sensitive probe for the detection of cancer in vivo.