By attempting to transform a substituted aldehyde into a substituted benzene, researchers have found a new and unexpected way to synthesise spiro[2,4]heptadienes. Computational studies, from the group of 2021 chemistry Nobel prize winner Ben List, calculated the reaction pathway to forming the substituted benzene. It was only when the experiment was undertaken in the lab […]

A protein fragment from the brain could be used to track progression of Alzheimer’s disease. The tell-tale fragment of tau protein was detectable in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with the disease, and researchers now hope to develop a blood test using it. Alzheimer’s is a disease of errant protein aggregates that include amyloid […]

A quick note for the weekend. The Vatican Observatory has posted a brief book review of a children’s book about Maria Sibylla Merian, The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian’s Art Changed Science by Joyce Sidman (HMH Books for Young Readers; Illustrated edition, 2018). Unfortunately, it contains two sentences that awoke the HISTSCI_HULK from his summer slumbers: […]

Authorised psychiatrists in Australia can now prescribe MDMA for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression. But as this sea change in treatment takes place, experts in the field have expressed concerns that strict licensing rules around psychedelic drugs has left the UK trailing behind other countries to the detriment of those who […]

A historic milestone has been passed. All the declared stockpiles of chemical weapons have been eliminated. The threat of industrial-scale chemical warfare that began during the first world war with chlorine, phosgene and sulfur mustard is over. When the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) was signed 30 years ago, the elimination of chemical weapons must have […]

US start-up Sóliome wants to produce a peptide-based sunscreen that can be entirely biodegraded by living organisms. Micah Nelp, Sóliome’s co-founder and chief executive, believes that the product could overcome some of the environmental and health-related problems of more traditional mineral and chemical sunscreens. Various different chemicals in sunscreen are used to absorb ultraviolet (UV) […]

When it comes to chemical regulation, data is key to decision making. An investigation by Swedish academics Axel Mie and Christina Rudén of Stockholm University, reported in the Guardian in June, suggested that several pesticide manufacturers withheld data from brain toxicity studies conducted in the 2000s from EU regulators (as it was not explicitly required at the […]

Many of the general histories of European science begin with the Ancient Greeks. They might give a brief nod to the earlier cultures from whom the Greeks borrowed such as the Egyptians and Babylonians, when dealing with astronomy or mathematics, but simply ignore other ancient civilisations such as India and Persia from whom they might […]

Academic staff who were female, Black or disabled were less likely to be submitted for assessment in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF), new analysis has found. The findings appear to reflect entrenched issues with inequality and underrepresentation in the higher education sector. The REF’s equality and diversity advisory panel looked at which staff were […]

A new type of fluorinated ammonium ligand stabilises the surface of lead halide perovskites. The work marks a key step in understanding how to increase the efficiency and durability of perovskite solar cells. One of the main causes of degradation to perovskite solar cells is ion mobility at surface defects. Such defects can also reduce […]