Spider webs are a good barometer of the amount of microplastics in city air, according to a new study out of the University of Oldenburg in Germany. Although previous research has shown that pollutants like heavy metals and magnetic particles can become trapped in spider webs, nobody has examined these natural structures for microplastics until […]

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is unable to vouch for the safety of cannabidiol (CBD) in foods. This conclusion follows an expert panel report that flagged knowledge gaps on safety. CBD is obtained from Cannabis sativa plants or synthesised chemically. CBD is, along with tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, the most abundant cannabinoid in marijuana. The […]

Dutch chemical company Royal DSM will merge with Swiss flavours and fragrance group Firmenich, as DSM looks to complete a 20-year transition away from petrochemicals and materials. The transformed DSM brings a portfolio of biotechnology, human and animal health and nutrition to the partnership, whereas Firmenich’s strengths are in organic chemistry and process engineering with […]

A deadly blaze and several massive explosions have left 48 people dead and nearly 450 injured in Sitakund, near the port city of Chittagong, Bangladesh. The fire began on the evening of 4 June, and took 86 hours to douse with the army’s assistance. The explosions killed ten fire service personnel, with a further three […]

An unusual hydrogen–methane compound formed at extremely high pressure is the first to contain over 50% hydrogen by weight. Hydrogen and methane are the two most abundant molecules in the solar system besides water. Their interactions at high pressure are crucial to understanding how planets like Uranus and Neptune formed and evolved. Under ambient pressure, […]

Analysing oxidative stress compounds in fossilised bones has revealed that most dinosaurs, including giant sauropods and theropods like Tyrannosaurus rex, were warm-blooded like modern birds. But Stegosaurus, Triceratops and hadrosaurs likely reverted to reptile-like cold-bloodedness. All extinct dinosaurs were once thought of as reptile-like ectotherms, animals that operate on low metabolic rates and require environmental […]

The UK is on the brink of being frozen out of Europe’s largest research funding programme as a result of political disputes between the British government and the EU. The deadlock over the UK’s involvement in Horizon Europe is a serious concern for the country’s research community, with university leaders warning that the ‘window for […]

Fenceline monitoring data reveals that several US oil refineries are emitting benzene above levels that require corrective action, and could potentially be harmful to the health of local communities, according to the Washington, DC-based non-profit Environmental Integrity Project (EIP). In 2021, 118 of the 129 operational refineries in the US reported two-week average benzene concentrations […]

Scientists in France have synthesised a thulium complex (Tm(Cpttt)2) that can polymerise carbon monoxide to form multi-carbon oxygenated products. Whilst its bulky Cpttt ligands stabilise the compound against decomposition, the bent structure of the complex, coupled with the oxophilic nature of the thulium (ii) metal centre, encourages the coordination of small oxygen-containing molecules such as […]

Today the Renaissance Mathematicus officially became a teenager, although I think it’s been one since it first emerged into the digital world thirteen years ago, snotty-nosed, stroppy, belligerent, argumentative, anti-authority, whilst at the same time oscillating between bursting with energy and sloth like behaviour. Did I mention self-opinionated and convinced it knows better than everybody […]