An illustrations showing a boat harvesting weeds

The labs pointing to a greener future for Africa

By Munyaradzi Makoni

Tackling climate is not just a job for scientists in more developed countries. Munyaradzi Makoni talks to researchers in Kenya and South Africa to find out more

Digital artwork showing red, blue and yellow p orbitals as large blobs with an atomic nucleus shown as small transparent sphere in the centre

Textbook electronegativity model fails when it comes to carbon–halogen bond strengths

By Kira Welter

Computational analysis finds that it’s size, not electronegativity differences, determining bond strength within periodic table groups

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Picturing the future

By

If we don’t embrace the vision of a sustainable future, who will bear the climate costs?

News

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Researchers spent an estimated 130 million hours peer-reviewing papers in 2020

2021-12-02T08:47:00+00:00

Monetary value of refereeing adds up to $1.5 billion in US alone

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Nasa makes plans to return to Venus to probe the hellish chemistry of its atmosphere

2021-12-01T14:30:00+00:00

Probe set to launch in 2029 may be able to establish whether life ever existed there and answer the phosphine question 

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World comes together to back Unesco’s vision of open science

2021-12-01T08:27:00+00:00

Free access to Covid-19 data has shown that the dream of open science can be achieved, director-general says

An image showing human radius from a tomb at Las Mayores with cinnabar stains on the surface

Prehistoric Iberians poisoned by cinnabar almost 5000 years ago

2021-11-30T14:39:00+00:00

Analyses of mercury levels in bones reveal ancient artists suffered for their craft

A photograph showing Johannes van't Hoff

Van ’t Hoff’s Amsterdam lab becomes historic chemical landmark

2021-11-30T14:30:00+00:00

Now a café and exhibition space, the building once contained the first chemistry Nobel prize winner’s research space

Research

An imge showing paracrystalline diamond

The diamond family welcomes its newest member – paracrystalline diamond

2021-12-06T14:30:00+00:00

Amorphous diamond with pockets of natural diamond makes theoretical paracrystals a reality

A digital artwork of human sperm

Engineered antibody that snags sperm could be an effective non-hormonal contraceptive

2021-12-03T09:30:00+00:00

Approach could offer new method of contraception for women

An image showing machine learning

Unsupervised machine-learning tool could accelerate catalyst discovery

2021-12-02T14:48:00+00:00

The approach was able to identify phosphine ligands that may form dinuclear palladium(I) complexes using only five experimental data points

An image showing E coli

Prokaryotes programmed to produce paracetamol avoid pervasive petrochemicals

2021-12-02T09:41:00+00:00

Genetically modified E. coli serve as green factories for painkillers

An image showing the molecular electrostatic potential

First inspection of σ-hole reveals its peculiar shape

2021-11-30T15:27:00+00:00

Atomic force microscopy snaps first experimental images of halogen bond’s charge distribution

Voice of the Royal Society of Chemistry

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How polluting is plastic?

Voice of

Recycling Webinar image index

Is chemical recycling of plastics the future?

Voice of

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Nature and mental wellbeing – Building a better chemistry culture

Voice of

An illustration showing different uses for plastics, alongside plastics being recycled

Should we design biodegradable plastics?

Voice of

  • How polluting is plastic?

  • Is chemical recycling of plastics the future?

  • Nature and mental wellbeing – Building a better chemistry culture

  • Should we design biodegradable plastics?

Significant figures

Celebrating science's forgotten heroes

A framed portrait of James LuValle

James LuValle, a chemist who broke the colour barrier

A framed portrait of Evelyn Hickmans

The lifesaving work of Evelyn Hickmans

An framed portrait of Clara Immewahr

Clara Immerwahr – out of her husband’s shadow

An illustrated portrait of Kathleen Culhane Lathbury

Kathleen Culhane Lathbury – an industrial pioneer

An image showing a framed portrait of Mabel FitzGerald

Mabel FitzGerald and the mystery of oxygen sensing

A framed portrait of Polly Porter

Polly Porter, crystallography pioneer

An illustrated portrait of Mary Sherman Morgan

Mary Sherman Morgan: The best kept secret in the space race

A framed portrati of Julia Lermontova

Julia Lermontova: an early pioneer

An illustrated portrait of Margarita Salas

Margarita Salas: the marquesa of molecular biology

A framed portrait of Sylvia Stoesser

Sylvia Stoesser – the first female chemist at Dow

  • James LuValle, a chemist who broke the colour barrier

  • The lifesaving work of Evelyn Hickmans

  • Clara Immerwahr – out of her husband’s shadow

  • Kathleen Culhane Lathbury – an industrial pioneer

  • Mabel FitzGerald and the mystery of oxygen sensing

  • Polly Porter, crystallography pioneer

  • Mary Sherman Morgan: The best kept secret in the space race

  • Julia Lermontova: an early pioneer

  • Margarita Salas: the marquesa of molecular biology

  • Sylvia Stoesser – the first female chemist at Dow

More...

Features

An image showing a cell transplantation device and fluorescent cells

Keeping cell therapy under wraps

By

Materials to safely encapsulate transplanted cells for could enable a revolution in the treatment of diabetes and a wide range of other diseases. James Mitchell Crow reports

A black and white image showing a baby lying on his back and feeding himself from a bottle held by his legs

The science of breast milk and baby formula

By

Nina Notman reveals how breast milk research is inspiring a new generation of infant formulas and opening the door to therapeutic advances

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How ammonia could decarbonise shipping

By

Andy Extance discovers why the compound best known as a fertiliser is a surprising candidate to power enormous container ships

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The RSC’s climate challenge

By

The Royal Society of Chemistry aims to use Cop26 as a springboard to a more sustainable future. Rachel Brazil reports 

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Efficient modelling of polymers for industrial applications using molecular dynamics

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  • Smarter experimentation for engineers and scientists

  • Efficient modelling of polymers for industrial applications using molecular dynamics