A stable, selective and precious metal-free catalyst for the conversion of waste carbon dioxide into synthesis gas has been developed by researchers in the US and Canada.1 The work potentially provides a step towards the production of valuable industrial chemicals from captured carbon in future chemical refineries. Synthesis gas, or syngas – a mixture of […]

A Periodic Table of Food Initiative (PTFI) has been launched to advance nutritional understanding by uncovering the biomolecular composition of foods. The project is being spearheaded by the Rockefeller Foundation in New York and carried out through a global network of collaborators with support from organisations such as the American Heart Association and the Alliance of […]

On 1 May, the US Department of State announced that it had imposed new sanctions on the Russian Federation. These were in response to its ongoing war on Ukraine and use of chemical weapons in the country, including chloropicrin, a chemical belonging to Schedule 3 of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which was used as a […]

Allegations of the use of tear gas and riot control agents as weapons of war by Russian forces in Ukraine are ‘insufficiently substantiated’, according to the international chemical weapons watchdog. This follows an announcement from the US Department of State, on 1 May, that it was imposing new measures on Russia for its use of […]

Two new ways to control and optimise electrochemical reactions at electrified interfaces have been discovered. These insights could help to design new catalysts for battery technology and hydrogen production, crucial for the green transition. Electrolysis involves passing an electric current through a substance to induce chemical reactions, a particularly important process for green hydrogen production […]

Chinese virologist Zhang Yongzhen, who became internationally known after his team was the first to release the genome of the Sars-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19 in January 2020, appears to have resolved a sudden and very public clash with the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center (SPHCC) where he works. When the pandemic hit, Zhang – […]

In episode XIV of this series, we surveyed the final intellectual efforts within Europe to hold the knowledge accrued during antiquity upright for future generations in the work of such figures as Boethius (c. 480–524), Cassiodorus (c. 485–c. 585) and Isidore of Seville (c. 560–636). Efforts that were at least partially successful as that knowledge did […]

A series of highly detailed images of the structures found in the whirling flagellum that powers a bacterium’s movement has revealed new insights about how microbes get to where they want to be. Using cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) two different groups have uncovered the molecular architecture of, and interactions between, key components of the bacterial motor […]

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has signed off on a rule banning most uses of dichloromethane, also known as methylene chloride. The chemical is commonly used as a paint stripper and has been linked to dozens of deaths, as well as cancers and other serious health issues. The action, announced on 30 April under the […]

Steam cracking, the thermal process used by the chemical industry to transform hydrocarbons into useful smaller molecules such as ethylene and propylene, is very energy-intensive. The amount of energy required varies according to the feedstock and plant design, but is typically more than 30GJ per ton of ethylene produced. Burning natural gas to provide this […]