The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalised a ban that prohibits the use of chrysotile asbestos, which is still used and imported into the US. This action, taken under the Toxic Substances Control Act (Tsca), follows decades of unsuccessful attempts by lawmakers and health advocacy groups to ban asbestos in the US. ‘The science […]

Pharmaceutical service provider WuXi AppTec, genomics group BGI, and other Chinese biotech companies operating in the US are facing legislative efforts to limit their ability to work with US government agencies or companies that hold (or wish to hold) government contracts. Democrats and Republicans in Congress introduced legislation dubbed the Biosecure Act in January that […]

Similarly charged particles have been found to sometimes attract, rather than repel each other – something that contradicts textbook expectations and has important implications for chemistry and biology.1 The new results help to solve a puzzle that has bemused scientists for the best part of a century. ‘We are taught in high school that like […]

During the Middle ages Islamicate scholars analysed, studies, criticised and developed a wide range of academic disciples that they had adopted from their Greek, Persian, Chinese, and India predecessors before passing them back into Europe during the twelfth-century Scientific Renaissance. One of the disciples where their endeavours had the biggest impact was in the science […]

A review of plastic chemicals has painted a concerning picture of thousands of compounds that have little safety data and has recommended steps to protect human health from them. More than 4200 plastic chemicals are of particular concern because they are persistent, bioaccumulative, mobile and/or toxic. All the plastics in widespread use were recorded as […]

Chemists have reported a rare instance of a spontaneous, energetically unfavourable reaction powered by a chemical fuel. The team took inspiration from synthetic biology, using a ratchet mechanism to drive the transformation. For a chemical reaction to be spontaneous, it needs to release energy. This is why spontaneity, in this context, is typically reserved for […]

More than 4000 PhD students will be trained over the next nine years in 65 centres recently approved by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). The programme will cost over a billion pounds with funding provided by the research council, industry and universities. While total investment in Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs) has […]

A new lateral flow device could provide a quick and inexpensive way to detect levels of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water at home. The researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US, who developed the device, say that with the growing concerns surrounding PFAS, selective sensing is ‘imperative’ for monitoring levels in […]

Figures just out reveal that the US National Science Foundation (NSF) received 54 allegations of research misconduct in the 2022–23 financial year. Thirty-three were allegations of plagiarism while 21 were of falsification or fabrication. They closed 15 cases, 10 alleging plagiarism, one of falsification/fabrication and one that was a mixture of the two. Similar trends […]

The leaders of five organisations, including chemical bodies and environmental charities, have publicly urged the UK government to provide clarity over a chemicals strategy it committed to producing six years ago. There is still no sign of the strategy, raising concerns that the country will be hampered in its efforts to tackle pollution and improve […]