Latest

Hundreds and thousands on a yellow background

Feature

New separation methods aim to improve global rare earth supply

Rare earth elements are essential for modern technology, but their similar chemistry makes separation difficult and expensive. Now researchers are exploring new technologies to streamline processing and bring down costs.

RNA

Feature

How RNA reveals clues to life’s origins on Earth

The discovery of catalytic RNA transformed our understanding of life’s beginnings. Clare Sansom explores how the RNA world hypothesis bridges the gap between non-living chemistry and the first cells

Figure

Research

Was the ‘Baghdad battery’ really two cells?

A new study suggests it had an ‘outer’ cell that reacted with air to supply a higher voltage. But was it a battery at all?

Atomic clock

Research

Atomic physics gets its own ‘periodic table’ that covers highly charged ions

New table could help with the redefinition of the second and creation of the next generation of atomic clocks

Umaymah and Charlotte

Opinion

To PhD or not to PhD? That is the question

Undergraduate student Umaymah Ahmad finds out what it’s like to go into academic research 

Bird looking at binoculars

How bird photography made me a better chemist

By

Payal Joshi draws inspiration for organic mechanisms from graceful avian poses

Firefighter foam

Probing PFAS policies in the UK and EU

By

The UK has set out its approach to regulating fluorochemicals, and the EU has projected the savings from a proposed ban

Group Photo

The chemistry of mentorship

By

Making connections from the small scientific community of Costa Rica to a global network of peers

Mason Wakley

The summer I became a science journalist

By

Mason Wakley on being a science writer intern at the Royal Society of Chemistry

Is it cold in here?

By

Labs in Delhi, Aberdeen and Arizona will have different ideas of ‘room temperature’

Crispr therapies will change medicine but there will be challenges along the way

By

The first treatments making use of Crispr gene editing may suffer some early hiccups

Carbon border taxes may do more harm than good

By

Industry argues UK proposals are flawed and will not promote decarbonisation

To PhD or not to PhD? That is the question

By

Undergraduate student Umaymah Ahmad finds out what it’s like to go into academic research 

3D model of a ribosome, made of a purple and a green subunit, travelling along a multicolor strand of RNA, with a chain of circles as amino acids coming from the top of the ribosome

Podcast

AlphaGenome & the RNA world hypothesis

In this episode, we discuss Google DeepMind’s latest deep learning model AlphaGenome, dissect the origins of life from chemicals to complex lifeforms, and hear the latest headlines. 

Bird looking at binoculars

Opinion

How bird photography made me a better chemist

Payal Joshi draws inspiration for organic mechanisms from graceful avian poses

Business

Dow to cut 4500 jobs in productivity drive

Firm claims AI and automation will help revive growth during sustained industrial downturn

News

Collaborating with a Nobel laureate may actually hinder chances of winning a Nobel prize

Research suggest that those who work alongside laureates may not be seen as original thinkers

Business

India–EU trade deal will cut tariffs and enable economic migration

India has also set out framework for trade agreement with US

Sponsored