UK without science minister as Horizon Europe uncertainty rumbles on

The UK is currently without a science minister following George Freeman’s resignation on 7 July. The situation adds to the uncertainty faced by the science community at a time when the country’s involvement in Europe’s major research programmes is in doubt. Freeman, who had served as science minister since September 2021, quit amid a flurry […]

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Renewable rocket fuel made by genetically engineered soil bacteria

Synthetic biologists have genetically tweaked soil bacteria to make compounds containing chains of three-membered rings that are so energy dense that they outmuscle advanced rocket fuel. Cyclopropanes boast the largest net heat of combustion per carbon among all cycloalkanes. This is because the three-membered ring forces the carbon–carbon bonds into a 60° angle, while angles […]

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Microdroplets tackle scale-up issues for enzyme-photocoupled catalysis

Performing enzyme-photocoupled catalysis in gas-sprayed microdroplets can boost the processes’ efficiency, new research shows. The method enjoys the selectivity of enzymes whilst harvesting solar energy to produce fine chemicals, yet dodges some of the issues that have stopped enzyme-photocoupled catalysis from being scaled-up. Enzyme-photocoupled (EPC) catalysis combines enzymes and photocatalysts to generate higher product yields […]

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European parliament labels nuclear and gas investments as ‘environmentally sustainable’ activities

The European parliament voted on Wednesday to include gas and nuclear investments in the EU’s list of ‘environmentally sustainable economic activities’. Critics of the decision argue that it threatens Europe’s climate ambitions and undermines efforts to prevent greenwashing. Earlier this year, the European commission proposed adding nuclear and gas investments to the EU taxonomy – […]

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MOF nurtures stem cells to differentiate into neuronal cells

Using a metal–organic framework (MOFs), designed to control the release of an essential growth factor, researchers have designed a new substrate for raising stem cells that could hold the key to creating a set it and forget it device to develop this promising biomedical therapy. Growing adult cell types from stem cells is the foundation […]

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Forgotten research leads to nickel catalyst that turns CO2 into longer hydrocarbons

An unexpected, simple catalyst might help in the quest to make hydrocarbons from carbon dioxide, rather than refining oil. The nickel-based system was developed by an international team of chemists from the National University of Singapore, ETH Zurich and the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia, Tarragona, Spain. Electrocatalysts made from abundant, non-toxic metals that […]

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Mathematician, astrologer, conjurer! 

It is almost impossible to imagine a modern university without a large mathematics department and a whole host of professors for an ever-increasing array of mathematical subdisciplines. Mathematics and its offshoots lie at the centre of modern society. Because popular history of science has a strong emphasis on the prominent mathematicians, starting with Euclid and […]

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Chemistry Nobel laureate Robert Curl dies at 88

Robert ‘Bob’ Curl, a physical chemist who was jointly awarded a Nobel prize in 1996, has died aged 88. Curl was a member of the team that discovered fullerenes in 1985. Curl, working alongside Harry Kroto, Richard Smalley and graduate students James Heath, Yuan Liu and Sean O’Brien, became the first to synthesise and identify […]

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Record-breaking rotaxane prepared on polymer bead

A formal 1014 rotaxane has been synthesised by decorating a polymer bead with paramagnetic complexes using click chemistry. Rotaxanes are an unusual type of molecular architecture in which a macrocycle is threaded and trapped on a dumbbell-shaped molecule to create an interlocked complex. The macrocycle unit can freely rotate around the central axle, enabling the […]

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