The power of mathematics
In this monograph, Marcus Chown provides historical perspective on the subject and offers insights into current thinking.
Charting the elements
In 2019, international celebrations marked the 150th anniversary of Mendeleev’s Periodic Table. Geoff Rayner-Canham is well placed to write this book; he is an inorganic chemist and lecturer with many publications to his credit. These include a textbook on inorganic chemistry, and he has also written extensively on the history of chemistry.
Carbon literacy
A ‘by chance’ conversation just over two years ago introduced BASF to the concept of Carbon Literacy training and set us on a journey of stakeholder engagement on climate change. We knew then that a problem exists (the climate crisis), that we as an organisation played our part in it and that we had a strategy aimed at overcoming it.
Laughing it off
A 2016 survey by the Pew Research Center found that nearly 25% of US adults said they shared inaccurate information on social media. Some observers suggest this is likely to be much larger due to what is called social desirability bias. Read the C&I Leader article.
Insulation inspiration
Plans to renovate up to 35m European buildings to improve their energy performance will be a key step towards making Europe climate neutral by 2050. Efficient insulation materials will be critical, Lou Reade reports. Read the full feature article in C&I Magazine.
Dopant detection
Ion mobility spectrometry has been harnessed to detect performance enhancing drugs in athletes’ urine samples and differentiate them from similar molecules that occur naturally in the body. The researchers, at Florida Institute of Technology, US, are also developing computational techniques to predict the structure, spectra and other characteristics of yet-to-be discovered illicit steroids.
Focus on PFAS
A major challenge for industry, regulators and environmental professionals is reacting appropriately to emerging contaminants. This is especially relevant for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a broad group of some several thousand synthetic fluorochemicals, which are the focus of dramatically increasing regulatory action.
Spider tunes
Scientists have translated the structure of a spider’s web into music by assigning different sound frequencies to the individual fibres. The work could have applications in the design of 3D printers as well as in cross-species communication and musical compositions. Read the full article in C&I Magazine.