Another Renaissance Mathematicus series comes to an end a little more than two years after it began with the questions Renaissance Science? Which Renaissance? and eight weeks later, is there any such thing as Renaissance science and if so, what is it? Having established that we were talking about the Humanist Renaissance, which began in Northern […]

The mystery of the ‘ouzo effect’ – where water added to the clear alcoholic spirit suddenly turns the entire drink milky white – has been explored in greater depth by chemists using a specialised electron microscope. The team behind the work hopes that it could lead to better emulsions in instances like paints, drugs and […]

The world’s four largest flavour and fragrance firms were raided on 7 March as part of an investigation by competition authorities from the UK, US, EU and Switzerland. Swiss firms Givaudan and Firmenich; Symrise of Germany; and International Flavors and Fragrances of the US – which together control about 60% of the market – are […]

China is shaking up its science and technology ministry, as part of continuing efforts to achieve greater technological independence. The moves follow tightening export controls by the US and other nations that target its capabilities in artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductors. The Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) had been a big beneficiary of a […]

The Eurasian woodcock’s white tail feathers reflect nearly a third more light than any other feather, research led by Imperial College London has found. Scolopax rusticola are primarily brown, but they do have patches of white feathers beneath their tails that are can be seen when their tail is raised and also during courtship display […]

More than a year after the US Department of Justice ended its controversial China Initiative, amid growing criticism that it was tantamount to racially profiling researchers and detrimental to the nation’s scientific enterprise, cases of inappropriate links between academics in the country and the Chinese government are still coming to light. Established by the Trump […]

We know the world has a problem with plastic – 370 million tonnes of it were produced in 2020 alone. This problem is complex as these versatile materials are a vital part of modern society. Recycling will be one of the main solutions to growing mountains of waste plastic. But there is another facet to […]

Capturing carbon dioxide from seawater to address climate change could be cheaper and more energy efficient than existing systems that capture it from air. Chemical and mechanical engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have used an electrochemical system to take advantage of the fact that oceans and other surface waters act as large […]

Research, development and innovation (RDI) in the UK is ‘under threat’ because successive governments have underinvested, according to an independent review. It makes a range of recommendations, which, if adopted together, provide a blueprint for government to make the UK a genuine science superpower. The government needs to increase investment, reduce policy volatility, and improve […]

Every part of government will be brought together ‘to cement the UK’s place as a global science and technology superpower’ by 2030, according to the strategy from the newly minted Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). The Science and Technology Framework contains 10 key points outlining how this will be achieved, and over £370 […]