The periodic table of the elements on a T-shirt.
Damon Hart Davis
The periodic table is one of the classic images of science that is found in labs as well as on t-shirts, mugs, even set to music. But what exactly is the periodic table?
Chemistry has been getting greener since the ‘80s.
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It was not until the 1980s that the environment became a priority for the chemical industry, and it was the industry’s bid to clean up that gave birth to ‘green chemistry’.
Molecular machines are ready to join forces and take on real-world work.
Chenfeng Ke
Research on molecular machines won last year’s Nobel Prize in chemistry. Now scientists have figured out a way to get these tiny molecules to join forces and collaborate on real work on a macro scale.
Where’d I leave my bunsen burner?
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If it weren’t for chemistry, that pile of wrinkled shirts would take even longer to sort out.
Pink water.
Magic Momentz/Flickr
An expert in water science explains the mysterious chemistry behind water treatment.
The busier the pool, the worse it is.
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Nitrogen trichloride makes swimming pools smell and is a good indicator of plenty of pee.
Labs around the world make explosives all the time.
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An explosive was recently made by accident in a UK lab, but many labs across the world make them for interest and application.
Why can’t we see the spaces?
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The reason you feel things as solid is all to do with electrons.
Fragrance is intimately linked with our memories and feelings.
J. Sibiga Photography/Flickr
Surely only a weirdo wouldn’t enjoy the smell of flowers and pine forests? But as Kate Grenville writes in her latest book, fragrance causes untold misery to many of us.
Cooking veg for 10,000 years.
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The proof is in the pottery.
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A new study analyses the chemistry of a Stradivarius, but there’s little evidence these violins actually sound any better.
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Plan to develop long-lasting supercapacitors would provide a faster, safer alternative to lithium batteries.
It’s the chemistry that makes it taste so great.
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The same chemical reaction is behind the frothing of milk in your cappuccino and the whipping of egg whites in sweet meringue.
A perilous pong.
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Here’s your chance to take part in a global science experiment.
University of York/Lorne Campbell (Guzelian )
Wetland disappearance is destroying organic historical evidence that’s been preserved for thousands of years.
Stoddard with two recent students.
EPA
Five decades of highly productive and groundbreaking research doesn’t mean there’s no time for a touch of football.
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Programmable materials that can change shape could have all manner of potential uses.
Stoddart - one of three scientists to get THAT phone call.
EPA
The smallest motors ever made could one day have a huge impact on our lives.
All things must die. But when?
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Anyone for a 2,512-day-old burger?
Joe Giddens / PA Wire/Press Association Images
New plastic banknotes pose a challenge to forensic scientists that clever chemistry can solve.