Life not as we know it
This now classic textbook has a wealth of attractive features: it is highly informative and meticulously researched and can be read profitably by professional scientists and lay audiences alike.
All the buzz about bees
Famously industrious and prodigious users of chemistry, bees and other social insects such as ants and termites have always fascinated human observers. All this buzz of seemingly organised activity – how can this level of dynamic complexity ever come about from animals with a brain the size of a pinhead?
Business digest
Read the latest business digest with the latest information on what's happening in the chemistry industry and a round-up of news from businesses including acquisitions and mergers.
Soft and stiff polymer
Researchers in the US have taken inspiration from nature to create materials that combine stiff and elastic parts. Their multimaterial was created from cis-cyclooctene, a commodity monomer, with stiff sections generated by shining light on them.
Rubisco resurrected
The enzyme Rubisco, ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase, is the enzyme that incorporates CO2 into plants during photosynthesis – capturing more than 400bn t CO2/year. Now, using computational and synthetic approaches, scientists have resurrected and studied 4bn-year-old Rubisco enzymes in the lab, a process they call ‘molecular palaeontology’.
Antibiotics in waterways
Levels of the antibiotic ciprofloxacin in aquatic environments in the UK pose a significant risk of encouraging antimicrobial resistance (AMR), according to new research. This was true for both untreated and treated wastewater released into waterways (Env. Int., 2022, 169, 107488).
Edible oil recall
Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS), a state-owned standards regulator, has ordered the recall of 10 brands of edible oil from the Kenyan market for failing an iron fortification test.
Carbon storage concern
The UK will need to step up offshore carbon storage capacity if it is to deliver its net zero emissions plans, according to the Royal Society.