All Explainer articles
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NewsExplainer: what is ricin?
The poison found in castor beans so deadly a single molecule can kill a cell
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NewsExplainer: Why athletes are taking sodium bicarbonate supplements
Why runners are taking pills containing a common kitchen ingredient
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BusinessExplainer: Why drug shortages happen and how can we reduce them?
Record-high numbers of drugs are in short supply, from chemotherapy and antibiotics to hormone replacements
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BusinessExplainer: How is the US pharmaceutical patent system being misused?
What are ‘evergreening’ and ‘thicketing’ and what is being done to reform the system and aid competition?
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NewsExplainer: how chemistry powers heat pumps
Seen as an answer to low-carbon heating we look at how they work and what their future holds
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NewsExplainer: what is tear gas?
Accusations of the use of tear gas as a weapon of war in Ukraine have put these agents in the spotlight once more
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ResearchHow HIV drugs have changed over the decades
From one big pill that only prolonged lives a few months, through the 20 pills a day years to modern combination therapies, treating HIV is a science success story
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NewsExplainer: nitazenes and xylazine – a cause for concern
Why is the use of these highly potent synthetic drugs rising dramatically?
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NewsExplainer: is the discovery of benzene in benzoyl peroxide acne products a cause for concern?
Lab testing claims that the carcinogen benzene forms at potentially dangerous levels but there are doubts about the research
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NewsExplainer: A new antibiotic class has been discovered – how excited should we get?
With 10 million people a year forecast to die a year as a result of antimicrobial resistance by 2050 many new antibiotics are urgently needed
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ResearchExplainer: What are water microdroplets and why are chemists talking about them?
Researchers are struggling to agree on the underlying reasons for accelerated rates and altered reaction mechanisms in water microdroplets. Here’s what we do know and where open questions lie…
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NewsExplainer: why have quantum dots won the 2023 Nobel prize?
Tiny particles that ‘added colour to nanotechnology’ have uses in TV screens, synthetic chemistry and medical devices
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NewsExplainer: has life been discovered on an exoplanet?
Potential detection of dimethyl sulfide on K2-18 b has excited the scientific community but it’s still much too early to reach any conclusions
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NewsExplainer: what threat does the Kakhovka dam breach pose to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant?
There are fears that destruction of the dam will lead to cooling of the plant failing
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NewsExplainer: who is Charles Lieber and why does his case matter for US research?
Three years after his arrest the former head of Harvard’s chemistry department has been sentenced for concealing links to a Chinese university
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NewsExplainer: what is green chemistry and why does it matter?
25 years after the field’s 12 principles were first laid down, green chemistry has moved into the mainstream
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BusinessExplainer: what Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse means for chemistry companies
US and UK-based lender found a niche supporting start-ups - its loss will make it harder for growing companies to access finance
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NewsBhopal disaster explainer: will court ruling end victims’ search for compensation?
39 years ago one of the world’s worst chemical disasters killed thousands in India
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NewsExplainer: why are curly arrows used in organic chemistry?
How organic chemists became arrow pushers and what quantum chemists have to say about this
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NewsExplainer: e-scooter battery fires
In India and across the world, several tragic incidents have prompted scrutiny of small battery vehicles