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 […]

One of the principal advocates for establishing the American monetary system and one of its first printers of notes was the legendary scientist Benjamin Franklin, a statesman and a signatory to the US Declaration of Independence. Now, using both conventional and cutting-edge techniques, US scientists have gained new insights into his paper money and their […]

Portable x-ray fluorescence imaging has revealed hidden alterations in ancient Egyptian artworks.  By analysing elemental markers in pigments, researchers uncovered changes to an arm position, sceptre, necklace and headdress in paintings at the tomb chapels of Menna and Nakhtamun near the river Nile, which date back over 3000 years. Ancient Egyptian artists often used paints […]

US healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has launched a second lawsuit against researchers whose studies have connected talc-based powders and cancer, attacking the underlying science. Earlier this month, J&J’s subsidiary LTL Management, which was formed in 2021 to assume the company’s liabilities in talc litigation, sued two pathologists affiliated with Peninsula Pathology Associates in […]

In 1988 Nature’s editor John Maddox laid down the gauntlet to computational chemists when he said that ‘One of the continuing scandals in the physical sciences is that it remains impossible to predict the structure of even the simplest crystalline solids from a knowledge of their composition.’ In the ensuing decades, great strides have been […]

Less than a year after an explosion at an outreach event in Girona, Spain that injured 18, another accident in the same region has hurt four children after a demonstration went wrong. A surprisingly simple experiment – the bicarbonate and vinegar volcano – exploded and burnt some students, who were attending a summer school in […]

Researchers in Spain have devised a new parameter for comparing and understanding bonds. It describes the degree of interpenetration of the van der Waals crusts of two atoms, which they call the penetration index. It can replace previous distance measurements with simple calculations about crust overlap, and be applied to bonds ranging from strongly covalent […]

A new pathogen air quality monitor can detect Sars-CoV-2 virus in the air in real time. The researchers who developed the proof-of-concept device say that it is suited for surveillance of Sars-CoV-2 variants in indoor environments like hospitals and patient isolation rooms, and could be adapted for the detection of other respiratory pathogens of interest. […]

There is a need to build the evidence base relating to research integrity from all parts of the sector, the UK Committee on Research Integrity has said in its first annual statement. The organisation, which is responsible for promoting and driving research integrity in the UK, laid out its recommendations in line with the five […]

The addition of a simple sugar, β-cyclodextrin, can boost the performance of flow batteries. A team from the US Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), dissolved the starch derivative in the flow battery’s electrolyte, leading to a 60% improvement in the battery’s peak power, and boosted its capacity and longevity. Flow batteries show […]