Main Chemical Feed

Using AI for creative pursuits? Moderation is key

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 16:47:17 +0000

An experiment showed AI users had the most creative ideas when they used it in moderation – not too much and not too little. Columnist David Robson puts the finding to the test, and explores what we lose when we over-rely on AI

Supplement that binds to microplastics may remove them from our body

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 13:00:00 +0000

A supplement comprised of dead bacteria seems to remove microplastics, and prevent their absorption into cells, by attracting them to the bacteria's rough surfaces

Why a Ukrainian cruise missile is flying with hobby drone hardware

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 10:00:00 +0000

An open-source flight-control system found in consumer drones has been installed in Ukraine’s latest cruise missile, showing how cheap technology is making military hardware accessible to all

Why the upcoming eclipse is still vital in the age of solar probes

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 09:00:42 +0000

The sun’s corona in artificial colours that indicate the polarisation of the light, as measured by the Citizen CATE experiment

SwRI/Citizen CATE 2024/Ritesh Patel/Dan Seaton

Western Europe’s first total solar eclipse since 1999 will happen on 12 August and see eclipse chasers travel to eastern Greenland, western Iceland and northern Spain for totality, when the moon covers the sun’s disc and the usually hidden solar corona bursts into view. Solar and atmospheric scientists will be among them – and above them.

It is tempting to think total solar eclipses have been made obsolete for scientists by spacecraft. NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has flown through the sun’s corona, while the European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter and NASA’s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory study the sun from space. ESA’s Proba-3 mission can even create artificial eclipses in orbit. So why do scientists still need to chase the moon’s shadow across Earth?

The answer is simple: total eclipses offer cheap and accessible opportunities to study both the sun and Earth. “Research groups that have novel ideas can go to an eclipse and take observations without having to bid for tens of millions of pounds’ worth of grants from NASA or the European Space Agency – the barrier to entry is much lower,” says Ryan French, a solar physicist at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder, Colorado.

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Where, when and how to watch the 2026 solar eclipse

One example is the Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project, which will send teams from several US universities to Spain and Iceland to study atmospheric responses to the eclipse. Balloons released in Spain will reach an altitude of 27 to 37 kilometres, carrying 360-degree cameras, ozone instruments and radio experiments. Icelandic teams will launch balloons carrying radiosondes, devices that can monitor pressure, temperature, humidity and other atmospheric parameters. The idea is to measure the effects the eclipse has on the planetary boundary layer, the atmosphere’s lowest region where its behaviour is most heavily influenced by warm air rising from the ground.

NASA’s WB-57 high-altitude aircraft can measure polarised coronal light and will fly for the 2026 eclipse. Flying high avoids the problem of cloud cover obscuring the view, while also minimising atmospheric interference. “At high altitude, you can observe infrared light that you can’t observe from the ground,” says French.

During the 2024 total solar eclipse, Citizen CATE – an experiment funded by the US National Science Foundation and NASA – used telescopes spread along the path of totality to create a 1-hour timelapse of the corona. This will be repeated during the 2026 eclipse, ahead of a plan to produce a timelapse of the corona with the larger North African Telescope Eclipse experiment during the longer eclipse that will happen in August 2027. Totality in 2027 will last much longer because the new moon will be closer to Earth, and the path of totality is close to the equator, where Earth effectively bulges out towards the moon.

“Most of the scientific instruments at an eclipse are not just taking photographs, but collecting measurements of spectra,” says French. Spectroscopy can reveal the speed, temperature and density of plasma in the corona. “When you observe specific spectra, this can give you information on the speed of plasma moving in the sun, and can tell you about the temperature and the density of plasma sloshing around the sun,” he says.

Other eclipse scientists ask a fundamental question: what is the radius of the sun? Because the sun has no solid surface, its visible edge is difficult to define. Yet tiny differences can shift the predicted edge of the path of totality. The Besselian Elements Team, a group of researchers scattered across the world, records flash spectra at the path’s edge to refine eclipse maps and calculate the sun’s actual radius.

The eclipse may also offer a rare chance to test whether aurora can be detected during totality. NASA scientist Liz MacDonald, founder of citizen science project Aurorasaurus, will use all-sky cameras to search for faint auroral glow. It is a long shot, but Iceland lies beneath the auroral oval, a region surrounding the geomagnetic North Pole within which the aurora can regularly be seen. Even a non-detection could help constrain whether eclipse darkness can reveal aurora.

Total solar eclipses are brief, vulnerable to clouds and geographically specific, but they open a rare observing window onto the sun’s inner corona – and let scientists try bold ideas without first building a spacecraft.

STFC’s £160 million cost-cutting plan prompts concern over future access to key UK research facilities

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 08:30:00 +0000

Major facilities like the Diamond Light Source will remain open but may reduce user support and some services, while smaller national labs face significant cuts

Ancient Egyptian princesses buried with weapons may have been fighters

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 04:00:00 +0000

The dagger buried with Princess Ita

Sameh Abdel Mohsen

Ancient Egyptian princesses were probably trained in using bows and daggers and put themselves at risk of serious injury. Rediscovering mummies from about 3800 years ago has revealed that some of these women had enlarged bones in their arms and bowing of the bones in their palms, which suggests they were active users of the weapons they were often buried with.

“They carried their bows and daggers into the afterlife not just as ornaments, but as testaments to the active, resilient and powerful lives they led,” says Zeinab Hashesh at the University of Beni-Suef in Egypt.

Read more

Archaeologists are unearthing the most powerful women who ever lived

Weapons have been found buried with women from many cultures throughout history. But there has been much debate about whether this was symbolic or meant the women used them.

Now, Hashesh and her colleagues have studied six royal mummies – five female – found at the Dahshur complex of pyramids and tombs from Egypt’s Middle Kingdom between about 1850 and 1700 BC. The mummies, some of which were found with bows and arrows alongside them, were excavated in the 1890s, and were rediscovered in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo during a curation project in 2020.

The team has analysed the bones to learn about the lives of these royal individuals, four of whom are thought to be daughters of the pharaoh Amenemhat II.

A key finding was that Princess Ita – who had an elaborate gold and lapis lazuli dagger in her burial assemblage and was aged between 28 and 34 when she died – would have had very strong connections between the bones in her forearm and strong hand muscles. This implies the habitual gripping of weapons like daggers or maces, says Hashesh.

The arrows buried with Princess Noub-Hotep

Eman Shawky

Princesses Noub-Hotep (aged between 40 and 44) and Itaweret (aged 20 to 34) both showed enlargement of the radius bone in the forearm, which could be an adaptation to the repetitive stress of drawing a bow. The former princess, who was buried alongside arrows, also had bowing of the second right metacarpal bone in the palm and strengthened attachments of finger muscles. These hint at the sustained mechanical load required to hold a bow and are indicative of “archer’s grip”.

“I imagine the lives of princesses like Noub-Hotep and Ita were far from the sedentary, purely decorative existence we often associate with ancient royalty,” says Hashesh. “To develop the archer’s grip and the structural bowing of the hand bones observed in Noub-Hotep, they must have begun training in archery and martial arts from a young age.”

Michelle Langley at Griffith University in Australia says this study gives us real insight into these princesses’ lives. “Royal women were not simply sitting around a palace or following their menfolk around, but living active and skilled lives. They were trained in very practical martial and hunting arts, just as we imagine their fathers and brothers were,” she says.

Read more

Treasures from sunken Egyptian city of Canopus emerge from the sea

The bones also revealed that injuries were common. For example, Princess Itaweret survived broken ribs and foot fractures, which Hashesh says were probably caused by accidents or hard blows.

“This tells us that they were out in the world, perhaps engaged in high-impact activities where falls and blows were a real danger,” she says. When injured, their status gave them access to surgeons capable of setting bones so well that they healed without infection or misalignment, she says.

But Sonia Zakrzewski at the University of Southampton, UK, says that other activities could result in similar alterations to arm and hand bones, such as frequent juggling or using a scythe. “If we were to find a tennis player buried with a club, we cannot simply argue that this [similar] bony change was a result of clubbing people,” she says.

Journal Reference:

Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology DOI: 10.3389/fearc.2026.1844402

Restoring ability to remove zombie cells may keep us sharp as we age

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 18:00:00 +0000

Transmission electron micrograph of human neutrophils, immune cells that can turn rogue with age

ROSSANA MELO/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

As we age, our body loses its ability to clear out zombie-like cells that have stopped dividing, instead dripping out poison and turning other cells rogue. Restoring the ability to remove these “senescent” cells prevented signs of cognitive decline and frailty in older mice, with hints that the same outcomes could occur in people.

“What’s attractive about this study is that it is not trying to kill [senescent] cells directly,” says Derek Gilroy at University College London, who wasn’t involved in the research. “It is repairing the body’s own waste-disposal system that should have removed them in the first place.”

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Is stem cell therapy about to transform medicine and reverse ageing?

To better understand why this system goes awry, Katrin Andreasson at Stanford University, California, and her colleagues compared mice aged 6 to 8 months (roughly equivalent to people in their 20s) with mice aged 23 to 25 months (equivalent to people in their late 60s or 70s). They found that the older mice had more of these senescent cells in their organs, including the liver and spleen, as well as in their bone marrow.

Specifically, the senescent cells were neutrophils, immune cells that are normally the body’s first line of defence against infection. These would normally be cleared away by macrophages residing in tissue, which remove damaged cells and debris, but this ability declines with age.

Andreasson and her colleagues traced this decline to prostaglandin E2, a signalling molecule that increases with age. They found that higher prostaglandin E2 activity overstimulates a receptor called EP2 on tissue-resident macrophages, which leaves them less able to remove senescent cells.

Next, the team tested whether blocking this overstimulation could improve signs of ageing by genetically modifying the EP2 gene from tissue-resident macrophages in older mice. These animals went on to clear more senescent neutrophils and showed signs of healthier ageing, including lower levels of inflammation, reduced muscle loss, less visceral fat and better mobility, compared with unmodified mice of the same age. They also performed almost as well as young mice in memory tests. “We were very surprised at the magnitude of the effect,” says Andreasson.

The researchers also tested an experimental drug that blocks EP2. When given orally to older mice for two months, this caused similar age-related improvements to those experienced by the genetically modified mice.

A negative attitude towards ageing is making you age faster

We know that a person’s outlook can have a huge effect on their health, and it’s no different when it comes to ageing. Columnist Graham Lawton looks at new evidence of just how powerful our attitude is – and how to use it to age better

“This is a very promising study, but we need to be careful,” says Gilroy. “EP2 is part of a normal signalling system, and blocking it throughout the body could have unwanted effects.” The mice experienced no known side effects, but Gilroy says it may be safer to target EP2 in ageing macrophages specifically.

Finally, the team found similar patterns in human tissue, with liver samples from older people showing higher EP2 activity and more senescent neutrophils. “The human data are supportive, but still correlative,” says Gilroy. “We haven’t yet shown that blocking EP2 can restore neutrophil clearance in aged human tissue.”

The researchers are now planning to study whether this process affects the onset of conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Journal Reference:

Science DOI: 10.1126/science.aei9816

Neurostimulation restores feeling in paralysed hand for months after

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 17:02:29 +0000

Keith Thomas has paralysis, but can now move and feel his hands again thanks to a brain implant

MATTHEW LIBASSI/Feinstein Institutes for Medical research

A man who became paralysed after a diving accident six years ago regained the ability to move and feel pressure in his hands thanks to brain stimulation. Now, researchers have revealed he maintained this ability for months after the stimulation was turned off. This suggests the intervention has caused a rerouting of his neuronal connections through neuroplasticity.

“We turned everything off completely, for many months, and yet he’s maintained these gains,” says Chad Bouton at Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research in New York. “That’s unheard of.”

Read more

‘Fusogenic’ neurosurgery let paralysed pigs walk again – are we next?

Keith Thomas, 48, was paralysed from the chest down in July 2020. He had no sensation or control over his limbs and had significant muscle wasting, says Bouton.

In 2023, Bouton and his colleagues performed a double neural bypass surgery on Thomas, placing five electrodes into his brain in regions associated with arm movements and feeling. They then connected computer cables to these electrodes, so artificial intelligence could interpret his movement intentions. That information was then wired into electronic splints that stimulated his arms, hands and fingers to carry out his intended movements, enabling him to pick up coffee cups and scratch his face.

To recreate the sense of feeling, the team embedded force sensors into 3D printed wearable devices for Thomas’ hands and fingers, which sent feedback via electrical stimulations into the brain’s sensory areas.

After conducting a series of experiments – which even involved Thomas feeling objects through another person’s hand – Bouton says the team planned to stop the stimulation for about a month, to test for any lingering effects. “Then we had a fire in the building, and it actually forced us to stop stimulation for even longer than we’d planned, for about three months.”

Thomas has even been able to move and feel sensations through another person’s hand

MATTHEW LIBASSI/Feinstein Institutes for Medical research

The unexpected interruption led to surprising findings: Thomas continued to maintain strength, feeling and function in his hands. “He’s now also controlling individual fingers with even more accuracy, so that’s big,” says Bouton.

In a video interview with New Scientist, Thomas raised his elbows nearly to shoulder level and described feeling “tingling” in his wrist in response to pressure, even when he’s “unplugged from the computer”. “When I first felt it, it was amazing,” he says. “I’m used to it now.”

Sergey Stavisky at the University of California, Davis, says the work suggests that this approach promotes lasting recovery of the nervous system. “The goal is to help the nervous system partially heal so the person can move their own body better,” he says.

“If these improvements persist even when the system is turned off, then the device is doing more than temporarily restoring function,” says Daniel Lu at UCLA. “It may be helping the nervous system reorganise itself through neuroplasticity.”

This describes the brain’s ability to rewire itself by forming new neural connections, such as after an injury or even in response to a new hobby. “After an injury such as spinal cord injury, those same mechanisms may help restore function by strengthening spared pathways or recruiting alternative circuits, allowing neural signals to travel through networks that were previously too weak to support meaningful movement,” says Lu.

Read more

Brain implant lets man with paralysis fly a virtual drone by thought

The researchers have observed stronger neural responses in Thomas’ sensory cortex since the intervention.

But this is just a single case report, so it’s unclear how well this approach would work on other people with paralysis from different types of injuries. Charles Greenspon at the University of Chicago, says he has spent years working on stimulation to restore touch in people with spinal cord injuries and continues to find that some respond better than others, and some not at all. “And we have no idea why,” he says. “So, the question is: can you replicate it? This is a really ambitious study, but we need to see them replicating their results in more participants before we believe the hype.”

As to Thomas’ future, “at this point now we know nothing’s impossible, or anything’s possible”, says Boulton. “I think it’s possible he will continue to to improve,” he adds.

Journal Reference:

Nature Medicine DOI: 10.1038/s41591-026-04498-0

We’ve found a rocky, temperate planet’s atmosphere for the first time

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 17:00:00 +0000

Astronomers have only previously found atmospheres around exoplanets that are very large or incredibly hot – but now they have found one adorning a world that may well be right for life

Next-generation Alzheimer’s drug reduces risk of serious brain bleeds

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 15:27:15 +0000

A new kind of antibody drug that more efficiently enters the brain could slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease with a much lower risk of dangerous side effects than existing therapies

How to become an open science champion

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 13:30:00 +0000

Five tips for your journey from adopter to leader

Stealth drone spins so fast that it disappears

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 10:57:53 +0000

A drone that spins 25 times a second attempts can avoid being spotted by becoming nothing more than a vague blur – though the creators admit that it can still be easily heard

Thermo Fisher antibody data manipulation is a breach of trust, say researchers

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 08:29:00 +0000

Science sleuths say the problem is impacting research progress and Thermo’s response falls short

‘Science felt like a level playing field’: in situ with Anthony Cheetham

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 07:30:00 +0000

The materials chemist on being a scientific contrarian, his love of cricket, and what AI might mean for materials science

New York state sues chemical companies over PFAS pollution

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 12:48:00 +0000

Lawsuit alleges 3M, Chemours, DuPont and others knowingly sold polluting products, and seeks damages and cleanup cost payments

How the UK’s defence laboratory keeps the world safe from the threat of chemical weapons

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 12:29:00 +0000

DSTL has been supporting investigations into the use of chemical weapons for over 25 years - here’s how it does its job

UK’s defence research site unveils new NMR lab to protect against evolving chemical and biological threats

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 12:20:00 +0000

The new lab at Porton Down, Salisbury, will allow scientists to ‘crack on’ analysing a range of samples

Chemical treatment slashes emissions of making hydrogen from plastic waste

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 08:30:00 +0000

Process can produce hydrogen from polyethylene and polypropylene more cleanly than from natural gas

Relativity rewrites the textbook take on triple bonds, experiments on carbon–bismuth ion prove

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 13:58:00 +0000

These aren’t your Dad’s triple bonds

Is industry getting more or less safe?

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 10:05:00 +0000

US figures suggest an increase in incidents involving serious injuries and fatalities in recent years

The 2027 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 22 research/teaching positions and 1 teaching position

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 10:00:00 +0000

The 2027 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List has 22 research/teaching positions and one teaching position.

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.

On July 15, 2025, the 2026 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 28 research/teaching positions and three teaching positions. On July 16, 2024, the 2025 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 35 research/teaching positions and 4 teaching positions.

Want to talk anonymously? Have an update on the status of a job search? Here is the first open thread.

Don't forget to click on "load more" below the comment box for the full thread.

Are you having problems accessing the Google Sheet because of a Google Documents error? Email me at chemjobber@gmail.com and I will send you an Excel download of the latest sheet.

Job posting: Instructor, Department of Chemistry, Louisiana State University, Baton Rogue, LA

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 09:50:00 +0000

From the inbox:

Job Description: The purpose of this instructor position will be to develop and teach undergraduate chemistry lecture and laboratory courses for LSU Online and LSU Campus, and to provide service in support for Department of Chemistry as needed. The primary teaching responsibility is General and Organic Chemistry.
Job Duties

80% Develop and teach undergraduate chemistry lecture and laboratory courses for LSU Online and LSU Campus.
10% Oversee graduate teaching assistants; Contribute to departmental service.
10% Additional duties as deemed necessary by the Director of Undergraduate Laboratories, Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies, or the Department Chair to fit the changing needs of a growing department.

Minimum Qualifications: Master's degree in chemistry or related field
Preferred Qualifications: Ph.D. in organic chemistry or related field

Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested.

Gold hydrogen bonds found to be as strong as other similar textbook interactions

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 08:30:00 +0000

C–H···Au bonds in gold acetonitrile complexes are comparable to conventional hydrogen bonds formed by O–H and N–H groups

First sugar detected in the interstellar medium

Mon, 13 Jul 2026 15:03:00 +0000

Erythrulose – a chiral four-carbon sugar – may have formed from simpler molecules on interstellar dust grains, computational studies suggest

Extremophiles are rewriting the rules of life on Earth

Mon, 13 Jul 2026 09:21:00 +0000

Creatures that survive extreme conditions like mind-boggling temperatures and toxicity challenge how we define life. Bárbara Pinho finds out how it will impact how we search for life beyond Earth?

Rethinking ‘dynamic catalysis’ optimisation: chemists may have been doing it the wrong way for years

Fri, 10 Jul 2026 08:21:00 +0000

Researchers should focus on reaction progression rather than time for promising catalytic system

Regulators push Amgen to withdraw drug due to data manipulation

Thu, 09 Jul 2026 14:01:00 +0000

Questions raised over safety and efficacy of Tavneos (avacopan)

How a binational PhD opens two doors to a future research career

Thu, 09 Jul 2026 13:30:00 +0000

Top tips from Suvarna Sujilkumar, who is currently pursuing a Binational PhD at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Thiruvananthapuram, India and Julius Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU), Germany

Aston University unveils new £6 million membrane research facility

Thu, 09 Jul 2026 09:47:00 +0000

The facility will investigate membranes for applications such as water purification and drug development

Elusive crystal structure of borylnitrenes finally captured

Wed, 08 Jul 2026 14:19:00 +0000

In situ crystallography reveals a snapshot of a boron-bound nitrene

An update on the Strait of Hormuz & potential explosives at an Antarctic base

Wed, 08 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Will temporarily reopening the Strait of Hormuz ease rising costs of resources? Plus, why are (possibly) explosive chemicals begin found at a historical Antarctic base?

One-electron bonds may be more common than chemists thought

Wed, 08 Jul 2026 08:46:00 +0000

Researchers identify one-electron behaviour in systems traditionally described as covalent, ionic and dative bonding

Deadly ammonium nitrate explosion in China

Tue, 07 Jul 2026 15:05:00 +0000

Two dead after truck carrying explosive chemical collided with another vehicle

From baseball to chemistry, and back again

Tue, 07 Jul 2026 13:37:00 +0000

With a lifelong passion for baseball and love of science, Jake Bruml began his career in biotech but transitioned to direct scouting for the Boston Red Sox

‘A materials breakthrough’: membranes to separate crude oil could slash energy costs

Tue, 07 Jul 2026 13:30:00 +0000

Separating crude oil into useful fractions take 1% of the world’s energy. These researchers have a plan to tackle this

The 2027 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 15 research/teaching positions

Tue, 07 Jul 2026 13:00:00 +0000

The 2027 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List has 15 research/teaching positions.

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.

On July 8, 2025, the 2026 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 19 research/teaching positions and three teaching positions. On July 9, 2024, the 2025 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 24 research/teaching positions and two teaching positions.

Want to talk anonymously? Have an update on the status of a job search? Here is the first open thread.

Don't forget to click on "load more" below the comment box for the full thread.

Are you having problems accessing the Google Sheet because of a Google Documents error? Email me at chemjobber@gmail.com and I will send you an Excel download of the latest sheet.

Chemistry delivers £60.5 billion to the UK economy and makes local economies more resilient, says RSC report

Tue, 07 Jul 2026 10:15:00 +0000

Report reveals how chemical sciences contribute to key sectors and industries, and warns that university closures, rising energy costs and geopolitical instability threaten future growth

Job posting: Instructor, Louisiana State University, Baton Rogue, LA

Tue, 07 Jul 2026 09:50:00 +0000

From the inbox:

Job Description: The purpose of this instructor position will be to develop and teach undergraduate chemistry lecture and laboratory courses for LSU Online and LSU Campus, and to provide service in support for Department of Chemistry as needed. The primary teaching responsibility is General and Organic Chemistry.
Job Duties

80% Develop and teach undergraduate chemistry lecture and laboratory courses for LSU Online and LSU Campus.
10% Oversee graduate teaching assistants; Contribute to departmental service.
10% Additional duties as deemed necessary by the Director of Undergraduate Laboratories, Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies, or the Department Chair to fit the changing needs of a growing department.

Minimum Qualifications: Master's degree in chemistry or related field
Preferred Qualifications: Ph.D. in organic chemistry or related field

Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested.

Remediating PFAS pollution in Europe could cost €100 billion a year

Mon, 06 Jul 2026 12:48:00 +0000

Analysis highlights the enormous financial burden of remediating long- and short-chain PFAS contamination

How a chance discovery overturned one of photochemistry’s oldest dogmas

Mon, 06 Jul 2026 08:46:00 +0000

The first hints of what’s behind the seemingly illogical mismatch between photochemical reactivity and absorptivity could finally end a team’s 10-year struggle to get their results taken seriously

Should the EU stop exports of pesticides it has banned?

Fri, 03 Jul 2026 12:34:00 +0000

Agrochemicals including paraquat remain legal elsewhere, prompting questions over regulatory responsibility

The art of not letting the lab burn down

Fri, 03 Jul 2026 08:42:00 +0000

Behind every experiment is a technician quietly preventing catastrophe

Protein wrappers designed by AI solve membrane proteins’ solubility problem

Fri, 03 Jul 2026 08:12:00 +0000

Protein sheaths encapsulate membrane proteins while preserving their structure and function making them easier to study

UK government’s new charter aims to better support women in research

Thu, 02 Jul 2026 14:32:00 +0000

‘Now is the time for research institutions to step up and level the playing field for women,’ notes one government official

Could AI undermine our (belief in the truth of) scientific theories?

Thu, 02 Jul 2026 13:30:00 +0000

Artificial intelligence models that make predictions based solely on data present problems for philosophers

US Supreme Court ruling supports Bayer’s defence in Roundup lawsuits

Thu, 02 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Decision affects thousands of pending lawsuits related to glyphosate herbicides

Trump administration stands by controversial OMB proposal despite growing resistance

Thu, 02 Jul 2026 09:48:00 +0000

White House denies requests to extend public comment deadline on its plan to give political appointees control over science funding

Rewriting genetic medicine

Thu, 02 Jul 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Scribe Therapeutics will soon begin clinical trials for its epigenetic treatment to tackle ‘bad’ cholesterol

Letters: July 2026

Wed, 01 Jul 2026 14:30:00 +0000

Readers discuss stamp collection, half drops and more

Watching unpaired electrons at work

Wed, 01 Jul 2026 13:23:00 +0000

From building the Centre for Pulse EPR at Imperial to probing electron transfer in real time, Maxie Rößler is pushing an overlooked technique into the spotlight

Main Chemical Feed

Using AI for creative pursuits? Moderation is key

Supplement that binds to microplastics may remove them from our body

Why a Ukrainian cruise missile is flying with hobby drone hardware

Why the upcoming eclipse is still vital in the age of solar probes

Sign up to Lost in Space-Time

Discovery Tours: Eclipses

STFC’s £160 million cost-cutting plan prompts concern over future access to key UK research facilities

Ancient Egyptian princesses buried with weapons may have been fighters

Restoring ability to remove zombie cells may keep us sharp as we age

Sign up to Health Check

Neurostimulation restores feeling in paralysed hand for months after

Sign up to Health Check

We’ve found a rocky, temperate planet’s atmosphere for the first time

Next-generation Alzheimer’s drug reduces risk of serious brain bleeds

How to become an open science champion

Stealth drone spins so fast that it disappears

Thermo Fisher antibody data manipulation is a breach of trust, say researchers

‘Science felt like a level playing field’: in situ with Anthony Cheetham

New York state sues chemical companies over PFAS pollution

How the UK’s defence laboratory keeps the world safe from the threat of chemical weapons

UK’s defence research site unveils new NMR lab to protect against evolving chemical and biological threats

Chemical treatment slashes emissions of making hydrogen from plastic waste

Relativity rewrites the textbook take on triple bonds, experiments on carbon–bismuth ion prove

Is industry getting more or less safe?

The 2027 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 22 research/teaching positions and 1 teaching position

Job posting: Instructor, Department of Chemistry, Louisiana State University, Baton Rogue, LA

Gold hydrogen bonds found to be as strong as other similar textbook interactions

First sugar detected in the interstellar medium

Extremophiles are rewriting the rules of life on Earth

Rethinking ‘dynamic catalysis’ optimisation: chemists may have been doing it the wrong way for years

Regulators push Amgen to withdraw drug due to data manipulation

How a binational PhD opens two doors to a future research career

Aston University unveils new £6 million membrane research facility

Elusive crystal structure of borylnitrenes finally captured

An update on the Strait of Hormuz & potential explosives at an Antarctic base

One-electron bonds may be more common than chemists thought

Deadly ammonium nitrate explosion in China

From baseball to chemistry, and back again

‘A materials breakthrough’: membranes to separate crude oil could slash energy costs

The 2027 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 15 research/teaching positions

Chemistry delivers £60.5 billion to the UK economy and makes local economies more resilient, says RSC report

Job posting: Instructor, Louisiana State University, Baton Rogue, LA

Remediating PFAS pollution in Europe could cost €100 billion a year

How a chance discovery overturned one of photochemistry’s oldest dogmas

Should the EU stop exports of pesticides it has banned?

The art of not letting the lab burn down

Protein wrappers designed by AI solve membrane proteins’ solubility problem

UK government’s new charter aims to better support women in research

Could AI undermine our (belief in the truth of) scientific theories?

US Supreme Court ruling supports Bayer’s defence in Roundup lawsuits

Trump administration stands by controversial OMB proposal despite growing resistance

Rewriting genetic medicine

Letters: July 2026

Watching unpaired electrons at work