chemistry

Artificial leaves: Bionic photosynthesis as good as the real thing

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Converting sunlight into liquid fuel through artificial photosynthesis would be a huge environmental victory – and the latest prototypes look surprisingly effective Technology 2 March 2022 By Katharine Sanderson Graham Carter Our insatiable appetite for energy has got us into a mess, with the burning of fossil fuels releasing greenhouse gases that are heating the … Read more

The rise of the molecular machines set to make new wonder materials

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Machines made of atoms are being used to sew together new materials molecule by molecule, which could open the floodgates to all manner of innovation Technology 2 March 2022 By Katharine Sanderson   Graham Carter Simple molecular machines have existed for about two decades. Early examples include molecular wheels that could move along an axle, … Read more

Marie Maynard Daly | First African-American woman to gain a PhD in chemistry

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Marie Maynard Daly became the first African American woman to gain a doctorate in chemistry in the United States, in 1947. Later, as a biochemist, she helped to discover the link between high cholesterol and clogged arteries, essential for our understanding of heart disease. Daly was born in Queens, New York, on 16 April 1921, … Read more

Chemistry robots: Labs can benefit by letting humans and machines collaborate

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A new system helps labs determine the most efficient way to produce target molecules by utilising the strengths of humans and robots Technology 24 January 2022 By Matthew Sparkes Scientists working with a robot in a lab Shutterstock/Party people studio Chemists have devised a new system to help robots and humans collaborate more efficiently in … Read more

Marie Paulze Lavoisier | French chemist and noblewoman

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Marie Paulze was only 13 when she married the wealthy French lawyer Antoine Lavoisier, and she immediately started learning English so that she could act as the scientific go-between for his true passion in life – chemistry. Soon she was presiding over one of Paris’s most influential salons, hosting visitors such as Benjamin Franklin and James Watt. Relying … Read more

There’s a Cancer Treatment That Gives People ‘Night Vision’. Here’s How

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Among all the different types of cancer treatment, photodynamic therapy – where light is used to destroy malignant cells – might have one of the strangest side effects: Patients are often better able to see in the dark.   Last year, researchers finally figured out why this happens: Rhodopsin, a light-sensitive protein in the retinas in our eyes, interacts with … Read more

DeepMind AI: Machine learning tool helps study strange electrons in chemical reactions

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Strange so-called fractional electrons are crucial to many chemical reactions, but traditional methods cannot model them – a problem that DeepMind has used machine learning to fix Physics 9 December 2021 By Leah Crane An artistic representation of molecules interacting DeepMind Machine-learning tools have taken us closer to understanding electrons and how they behave in … Read more