Calls are growing for a global science-policy platform to oversee chemicals and waste, equivalent to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). But there are concerns over how long it is taking for the UN to act on the proposal. In response, the Swiss government will table a resolution to establish a body at UNEA5.2, […]

For the first time, chemists have used mechanical force to access unconventional trajectories on a reaction’s potential energy surface, making products that differ from the ones predicted by statistical thermodynamics. The researchers hope the technique can be exploited to discover new reaction schemes as well as to design probes of reaction dynamics. Mechanical force can […]

Chemical patterns proposed in 1952 by the British mathematician Alan Turing have been discovered at the atomic scale. Appearing as stripes in a single atomic layer of bismuth adsorbed on crystalline niobium selenide, the patterns are only 2nm (around five atoms) wide – much smaller than all other Turing patterns. The study shows ‘that on […]

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has approved the first overall testing strategy to predict skin allergic reactions without using animals. The strategy was developed in a decade-long collaboration between German chemicals company BASF, and Swiss flavour and fragrance specialist Givaudan. According to Givaudan’s head of in vitro molecular screening, Andreas Natch, it […]

Scientists in the US have produced an economically viable, sustainable fire retardant by combining a waste product from water treatment plants with a viscoelastic hydrogel. Wildfires are a serious problem in the US, threatening homes, lives and health with increasing prevalence. The US Forest Service aerially deploys thousands of cubic metres of fire retardant every […]

A transparent layer of graphene, just a few atoms thick, can prevent pigments in paintings from fading by protecting them from ultraviolet light, moisture and air pollutants. Colour fading is a major problem for painted artworks. Vincent van Gogh’s famous Sunflowers paintings, for example, contain photosensitive lead pigments. Originally bright yellow, they have turned greenish-brown […]

In the previous episode we saw how the Renaissance rediscovery of Vitruvius’ De architectura influenced the development of architecture during the Renaissance and dissolved the boundary between the intellectual theoreticians and the practical artisans. However, as stated there Vitruvius was not just an architect, but was also an engineer and his Book X deals quite extensively with […]

Officials at the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have ‘improperly altered’ safety assessments of new and existing chemicals for years and are continuing to do so, four scientists at the agency claim in a complaint filed by the non-profit environmental protection organisation Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (Peer). The EPA employees disclosed ‘disturbing evidence of […]

A robotic trout not only swims silently through water at similar speeds to its natural counterpart, it can harvest enough energy to power sensors too. The work by researchers in the US could enable robots to infiltrate schools of fish to study them, monitor marine pollution or even operate as naval spies. Swimming robots are […]

Chemists at the Indian Institute of Science have produced bubbles that contain either six or eight electrons. The bubbles are nanometre-sized cavities, which are formed by injecting electrons into liquid helium. Cooling helium-4 causes it to behave like a superfluid, something with zero viscosity. Eventually, the injected electrons come to a standstill and open a […]