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Hundreds and thousands on a yellow background

Feature

New separation methods aim to improve global rare earth supply

Rare earth elements are essential for modern technology, but their similar chemistry makes separation difficult and expensive. Now researchers are exploring new technologies to streamline processing and bring down costs.

RNA

Feature

How RNA reveals clues to life’s origins on Earth

The discovery of catalytic RNA transformed our understanding of life’s beginnings. Clare Sansom explores how the RNA world hypothesis bridges the gap between non-living chemistry and the first cells

Figure

Research

Was the ‘Baghdad battery’ really two cells?

A new study suggests it had an ‘outer’ cell that reacted with air to supply a higher voltage. But was it a battery at all?

Atomic clock

Research

Atomic physics gets its own ‘periodic table’ that covers highly charged ions

New table could help with the redefinition of the second and creation of the next generation of atomic clocks

Umaymah and Charlotte

Opinion

To PhD or not to PhD? That is the question

Undergraduate student Umaymah Ahmad finds out what it’s like to go into academic research 

A box of wegovy (semiglutide) injections and a tub of wegovy tablets.

Slimming down competition over weight-loss drugs

By

Legal battle between Novo Nordisk and US compounding pharmacy Hims & Hers has fizzled after regulator intervention

Sperm whale

When we ate whales for breakfast

By

A reminder that technological developments aren’t sufficient to solve environmental problems

Melicolone K

(+)-Melicolone K

By

Sequential C–H activations open up the opportunity for an unusual transformation

Two people in a laboratory

The chemist anthropologist

By

What new species remain to be discovered in the lab?

Why everyone wants to ramp up rare earths production

By

Rare earth elements have become instruments of geopolitical power

How bird photography made me a better chemist

By

Payal Joshi draws inspiration for organic mechanisms from graceful avian poses

Probing PFAS policies in the UK and EU

By

The UK has set out its approach to regulating fluorochemicals, and the EU has projected the savings from a proposed ban

The chemistry of mentorship

By

Making connections from the small scientific community of Costa Rica to a global network of peers

Sperm whale

Opinion

When we ate whales for breakfast

A reminder that technological developments aren’t sufficient to solve environmental problems

Two people in a laboratory

Opinion

The chemist anthropologist

What new species remain to be discovered in the lab?

Podcast

AlphaGenome & the RNA world hypothesis

In this episode, we discuss Google DeepMind’s latest deep learning model AlphaGenome, dissect the origins of life from chemicals to complex lifeforms, and hear the latest headlines. 

Opinion

How bird photography made me a better chemist

Payal Joshi draws inspiration for organic mechanisms from graceful avian poses

Business

Dow to cut 4500 jobs in productivity drive

Firm claims AI and automation will help revive growth during sustained industrial downturn

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