As the world looks to reduce its reliance on plastics derived from petrochemical sources, the potential of renewable bio-based alternatives is coming to the fore. Whether as direct replacements for existing materials or completely new ones, the coming years will undoubtedly see significant penetration of bio-based plastics in the market. Pretty much any type of […]

This is the sixth and final episode in a series of discussions of selected parts of Paul Strathern’s The Other Renaissance: From Copernicus to Shakespeare, (Atlantic Books, 2023). For more general details on both the author and his book see the first post in this series. The heading of today’s chapter is Brahe and Kepler, which immediately provokes […]

Following an eye-opening study published last year, journals published by Wiley have abandoned the ±0.4% accuracy standard for elemental analysis. First developed in the 18th century, elemental analysis quickly became the gold standard of compound characterisation, allowing early chemists to accurately determine the relative proportions of different elements present in a sample. Even today, with […]

If the UK is to become the ‘science superpower’ the government wants it to, then it must do more to support training and education in Stem and redesign the visa system to attract more international talent, according to a new report by the Campaign for Science and Engineering’s (CaSE). The shortage of Stem skills is […]

Click chemistry’s toolbox has a new technique: phosphorus fluoride exchange (PFEx). This reaction enables scientists to easily build oxygen and nitrogen-linked products from a central phosphorus hub. Inspired by nature’s penchant for phosphate connections, US-based chemists John Moses of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York and two-time Nobel laureate Barry Sharpless of the Scripps Research […]

By 2050, converting plastic waste into energy will result in more carbon dioxide emissions than burning fossil fuels, a study by researchers in South Korea has projected. Their findings show plastic waste-to-energy conversion should be a far larger concern with regards to global heating than it currently is. Plastic waste is increasing as the worldwide […]

The first stable compound with a beryllium–beryllium bond, diberyllocene, has been isolated by researchers at the University of Oxford. Due to the element’s toxicity, the chemistry of beryllium is one of the least understood of all the non-radioactive elements. The synthesis should help to answer some questions about the fundamental nature of beryllium–beryllium bonding – […]

Women are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) fields at US federal agencies and they quit those jobs at a disproportionately high rate, according to new analysis from researchers at the University of Georgia. This study is the first of its kind to systematically examine the number of women in Stem jobs in […]

Women are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) fields at US federal agencies and they quit those jobs at a disproportionately high rate, according to new analysis from researchers at the University of Georgia. This study is the first of its kind to systematically examine the number of women in Stem jobs in […]

Drones are changing the way industry and science operate. Small, manoeuvrable, unmanned aircraft allow access to difficult or dangerous-to-reach sites and equipment, so it isn’t surprising that the chemical industry, as well as fields like atmospheric chemistry and astrochemistry, are investing in them. But what is surprising is the sheer diversity of how they are […]