The Hammett equation, a chemical theory that is over 80 years old, is being expanded upon and improved with the help of machine learning. The equation, which can help to explain the electron-donating or withdrawing nature of aromatic substituents via calculation of Hammett constants, has been analysed computationally by a team of Brazilian researchers who […]

Ever since a train carrying tonnes of industrial chemicals derailed in the Ohio town of East Palestine on 3 February and began leaking its contents, questions have been raised about the health effects of the disaster. In the aftermath of the incident, officials from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that air and water […]

The embattled US Chemical Safety Board (CSB), the small independent federal agency charged with investigating serious industrial chemical accidents, continues to court controversy. Most recently, it has come to light that former chairwoman Katherine Lemos – who resigned from the CSB last year, reportedly citing ‘eroded confidence’ in the board’s ability to focus on its […]

UK government rules that prevented Dan Kaszeta, a chemical weapons expert, from speaking at an international conference organised by the Ministry of Defence have been suspended following a legal challenge. Under the rules, speakers could be blacklisted if they had criticised the government on social media over the past five years. Kaszeta, an associate fellow […]

A new high-throughput technique can analyse the folding stabilities of nearly one million protein sequences at a time. The unprecedented method – which is fast, accurate and scalable – promises to help understand how amino acid sequences fold into three dimensional conformations, while providing the data needed to improve machine learning models. The propensity for […]

Electrocatalysis can be used to functionalise C(sp3)–H bonds along a polymer chain, new research shows. The functionalised polymers can then be modified using click chemistry and upcycled into a new material. The problems created by single-use plastics are well known, with the visible growth of the Great Pacific garbage patch bringing fresh concern about waste […]

An unusual mathematical model has recreated the intricate crystal growth patterns of chemical gardens, finally explaining how these beautiful, lifelike structures form. These intriguing formations of inorganic crystals have fascinated scientists for hundreds of years and the chemical reactions which create these precipitates are well-understood. ‘When you drop a metal salt crystal into a solution […]

A team at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in the US has reported the first synthesis and characterisation of a molecular radium compound by single crystal x-ray diffraction. The findings reveal the element’s coordination chemistry and could help develop new radium-based treatments for cancer. The work, which has yet to be peer reviewed, builds on […]

A word previously well known to mathematicians but probably not to the general public, algorithm had begun to seep into the general awareness during the early years of the computer age. As the computer age mutated into the information age, algorithm became one of the buzz words, echoing around the world and seeming to transmute […]

The EU slapped gene sequencing company Illumina with a record €432 million (£372 million) fine in July for going ahead with its acquisition of cancer detection firm Grail before competition authorities had cleared the deal. The penalty reflected the European commission’s frustration with Illumina’s decision to proceed with its $8 billion acquisition in August 2021, […]