Invisible under normal light but fluorescent under UV light, this ink can print out unique signatures that use ‘molecular encryption’ to authenticate anything they tag.
There is much excitement about graphene, a material only a single carbon-atom thick, but finding ways to do something with it that’s affordable have always been a challenge.
While stuck in a hotel room I got sucked into watching the 2002 Spider-Man movie. And it struck me that Peter Parker must have an enormously high-protein diet to generate all that spider silk he goes through…
From the enticing aroma of the turkey in the oven to the “whoosh’” of the flames as the brandy-soaked pudding comes alight, Christmas is a wonderful time for the senses. But have you ever considered the…
Mass spectrometry will identify those explosive molecules.
Marcia Cirillo/Flickr
You’ve probably had your hand luggage swabbed after walking through the metal detector at the airport. Whatever molecules were picked up by the swab have been separated using gas chromatography. So how…
You have gas chromatography and mass spectrometry to thank for keeping you safe from explosives in air travel.
Dustin Ground/Flickr
As the holidays draw near, many of us will hop on a plane to visit friends and family – or just get away from it all. Some will be subjected to a swab at the airport to test clothes and baggage for explosives…
There are two types of perfume in the world: the fast turnover celebrity perfumes, designed to hit the market and make profits before a star’s capital wanes; and the timeless classics, with their expensive…
The drama of Philae’s slow fall, bounce and unfortunate slide into hibernation was one of the most thrilling science stories of a generation. But what in its short 60 hours of life on Comet 67P did it…
Grind, temperature, time and coffee-to-water ratio – nail these for the best coffee.
Andy Ciordia/Flickr
Welcome to the second instalment in our series Chemistry of Coffee, where we unravel the delicious secrets of one of the most widely consumed drinks in the world. Here we look at how tweaking variables…
Winners of the Nobel Prize in chemistry: Eric Betzig, Stefan Hell and William Moerner.
Matt Staley, HHMI / Bernd Schuller, Max-Planck-Institut / K. Lowder
Robert Hooke was a pioneer of microscopy, when back in the 17th century he drew stunning images of insects, plant cells and fossils. Since then microscopes that use light to magnify things we can’t see…
If you stop and think about it for a moment, you will realise what an astonishing feat of precision engineering your colour printer is. It can take the primary colours – cyan, yellow, magenta and black…
Aerating wine does change its flavour.
Faisal Akram/Flickr
Do you inspect the appearance of a wine before swirling it around the glass (holding the stem, naturally)? Inhale deeply while describing the flamboyant nature of your Shiraz? Do you do that slurpy thing…
Professor Yonath gained inspiration from an unlikely source … hibernating bears.
EPA/Brais Lorenzo
Israeli crystallographer Ada Yonath shared the 2009 Nobel prize in Chemistry for her work the ribosome – a protein-building structure central to life found in all living cells. Professor Yonath determined…
Chilli might make it seem as though your face is on fire – so why is milk so soothing?
Andrés Nieto Porras
Whether it’s a few flakes on a pizza or the spiciest vindaloo known to humankind, most people can tolerate or even enjoy the tingling, burning sensation chilli can bring. So how does chilli deliver its…
Greener fertilisers are coming your way.
James T M Towill
Researchers have developed a method to produce ammonia simply from air and water. Not only is it more energy efficient than the century-old Haber-Bosch process currently in use all over the world, but…