Scientists in China have combined molecular dynamics with machine learning to carry out precise nanosecond-scale simulations of water ionisation,1 shedding light on a process that has been known for over a century but was tricky to understand because the events involved are so rare and hard to follow. ‘The extremely scarce probability of observing water […]

The mystery behind why the world’s first high explosive, fulminating gold, produces a purple smoke when it detonates has been solved, finally resolving a 400-year-old alchemical puzzle. Fulminating gold is not actually a chemical fulminate, a compound containing the ion CNO–, such as mercury(II) fulminate or silver fulminate. Instead, it is a mixture of a […]

Charging times for lithium-ion batteries have been a hurdle on the path to wider adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). Despite various efforts since lithium-ion batteries were developed in the 1980s most fast-charging solutions are either too expensive or damage the cells. University College London (UCL) spinout Gaussion claims its magnetic enhancement can unlock rapid charging […]

Researchers in the UK and US have obtained crystallographic evidence for global aromaticity and anti-aromaticity in reduced cyclophane hydrocarbons. When [24]paracyclophanetetraene, a hoop of four benzene rings bridged by carbon–carbon double bonds, is in the neutral state, each benzene ring has its own distinct localised π-system. However, when reduced to the di-anion form, electron flow […]

Facing a worsening labour shortage exacerbated by the pandemic Japan is taking action. This includes a pledge to make 400,000 places available to international students by 2033, increasing funding for an elite group of universities and making it easier for foreigners to live and work in Japan. The hope is that this will strengthen Japan’s […]

A growing number of academics are resigning advisory roles with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) after it suspended its first equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) advisory group following pressure from a government minister. The University and College Union has said that if UKRI does not reverse its decision by the weekend it will call on […]

An exotic nitrogen isotope featuring seven protons and just two neutrons may have been created by a research team from China and the US. The nitrogen-9 nucleus would be the first known example that decays by releasing five protons. Researchers are interested in nuclei with large imbalances in the number of protons and neutrons that […]

The consortium of national research agencies and funders dedicated to making scientific publishing open access, Coalition S, is seeking feedback on its new proposal that all scholarly outputs should be made immediately and openly available for researchers to adapt, reuse and build upon free of charge. Announced on 31 October, the draft plan aims to […]

A San Diego jury has ordered Bayer unit Monsanto to pay $332 million (£274 million) in damages to a non-Hodgkins lymphoma patient who claimed his cancer was caused by its glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup. That 31 October jury verdict came just a few days after a judge in Philadelphia ruled that the company should pay $175 […]

Robert Norman’s The Newe Attractive (1581) was the most scientific study of magnetism and the magnetic compass between Petrus Peregrinus’ Epistola de magnete from 1269 and William Gilbert’s De Magnete from 1600 and like the former featured strongly in the latter. The Newe Atractive 1592 edition Source As is all too often the case with comparatively minor Renaissance figures we […]