The sweetener erythritol has been linked to a dramatically increased risk of cardiovascular problems. Erythritol is a four-carbon sugar alcohol naturally present in small amounts in fruits and vegetables, but at levels 1000 times higher in some processed foods such as pastries and ice creams. It is around two-thirds as sweet as sucrose and is […]

Drug contamination is a persistent problem, and one where it seems like the harder we look, the more we will find. In the last month, Chemistry World has reported on cases that run the gamut from deadly chemical contamination in cough syrups to bacterial contamination in eye drops and nitrosamine contamination resulting from degradation in […]

Researchers in Russia have put together the world’s largest dataset to date for training deep neural network models. The dataset contains around six million conformations of about one million drug-like molecules. From a computational point of view, one must know details such as conformation energies and the Hamiltonian matrix parameters to forecast the biological activity […]

A strategy for making innovative new sunscreens that can block UV radiation but whose molecules are too big to penetrate skin, coral or algae, has been developed by researchers in China. Animal tests have demonstrated that this polymeric UV filter is more effective than existing sunscreens at preventing sunburn in mice. In contrast, the more […]

The Japanese government is launching two new visa schemes targeting highly skilled foreign workers. The schemes will open in April and are designed to attract professionals including researchers and engineers, as well as graduates of highly ranked universities. According to local media reports, Japan’s Ministry of Justice cited the ‘global competition for talent’ as it […]

One of the most ubiquitous figures in the history of science in the first half of the seventeenth century was Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (1561–1626), jurist, and politician, who rose to become Lord High Chancellor of England. Portrait of Francis Bacon by Paul van Somer 1617 Source: Wikimedia Commons A prolific author of polemical […]

For the first time, researchers have reported the solid-state structure of pyridine-based chloronium ions. Previously reported to be intermediates in the oxidation of secondary alcohols, these nitrogen-ligated chloronium ions had proven challenging to isolate. Full screen in popup Synthetic route and solid-state structure of [bis(pyridine)Cl][BF4] Source: © Sebastian Riedel/FU Berlin Synthetic route and solid-state structure of […]

India has the potential to be a leading ‘science hub’ for the next generation of researchers, says Srivari Chandrasekhar, India’s secretary to the science and technology department, which oversees an annual budget of around INR70 billion (£700 million). He now wants scientists from African nations and other countries in the global south to start exploiting […]

The UK is considering building a large x-ray free electron laser (XFEL) facility on its own that would likely cost over a billion pounds. Scientists met on 30 January at the Royal Society in London to discuss what they want from such a facility, which would start operation in the 2030s if it got the […]

Engineered wood has been created that is capable of trapping carbon dioxide by incorporating a metal–organic framework (MOF). The resulting material, which exhibited greater strength than untreated wood, could make the construction industry more energy efficient and environmentally friendly by lowering emissions and costs, the researchers claim. ‘The manufacturing of structural materials such as metals […]