Lactam insight
Wiley’s new Handbook of Pyrrolidone and Caprolactam Based Materials –available as a six-volume print set and online edition – details the broad human benefits of the materials, many of which are from the chemist’s viewpoint.
Boning up on bones
Here the author, orthopaedic surgeon Roy Meals, offers a very readable overview of the various roles played by bones both currently and in the past.
Make-up – the essentials
This book, aimed at the non-specialist, aims to explain ‘the real science behind the cosmetics we use’, and in the scene-setting introductory chapter it explains the meaning of organic and inorganic in a scientific sense.
Antibiotic apocalypse
Almost ten years ago, the world was warned of an impending apocalypse of a post-antibiotic era. Yet as the latest WHO report points out, the threat is far from averted. Katrina Megget reports
Cyber breaches
Polling employers and employees around UK business during Q3 2021, data security company SecureAge discovered 48% of businesses experienced a cyber breach during the Covid-19 pandemic and another 8% ‘were not sure’. In addition, 16% of employees said they had personally had to deal with a cybersecurity incident.
Greener corrosion protection
Corrosion costs the oil and gas industry tens of billions of dollars each year. Existing solutions are effective but can be toxic to the environment. However, a range of green options are in development, reports Jasmin Fox-Skelly
Bioinsecticide boost
Morocco has extended the phytosanitary registration for Pirecris, a bioinsecticide produced by Spanish firm Seipasa, to include its application in the control of thrips and aphids on berries, mint, aromatic plants, rapeseed and spinach. Morocco, which imports up to 95% of its pesticide requirements, had previously approved the use of Pirecris only for the aphids and whitefly in selected horticultural crops.
Better steam cooking
An innovative steam cooking technique can help reduce energy consumption in food manufacturing, claim UK researchers.
TiO2 ban
A committee of EU members has backed the European Commission’s proposal to ban the use of the common food additive titanium dioxide, paving the way for a potential ban in 2022. The European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) deemed it to be unsafe in May 2021.