All articles by Neil Withers
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OpinionThe clean beauty movement highlights wider challenges in balancing chemical risks and benefits
The ‘clean beauty’ movement exemplifies broader challenges in how we evaluate chemical safety, balancing risks against benefits while avoiding regrettable substitutions.
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OpinionChemistry's capital C
From refinery scale to a nanosecond existence, carbon is everywhere – in life as well as chemistry
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OpinionPolymorphs matter – especially when they might disappear
Disappearing polymorphs offer a fascinating example of the dark arts of crystallisation
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OpinionPeering into the future of material characterisation
Operando analysis offers real-time data on what happens to devices at the atomic level
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OpinionCan supercapacitors be the next energy superheroes?
Offering complementary properties to batteries, their time might be round the corner
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OpinionJulia Kornfield: ‘I’ve often followed an instinct about a person’
The polymer expert on power imbalances and following her instinct
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FeatureDo other chemistry prizes predict the Nobels?
We’ve looked at the numbers so you don’t have to
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OpinionThe classic sandwich
Ferrocene turned our understanding of structure and bonding on its head
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FeatureCharting the rise in antimicrobial resistance
We look at the data behind antibiotic drug discovery and development, bacterial resistance and the financial problems with the current business model
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OpinionThe heavy appeal of liquid metals
The shiny and dense fluids offer both ancient mystery and future promise
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OpinionReturning to the moon
It’s been a while, but space agencies are starting to plan their trips back to our satellite, with the goal of building semi-permanent bases
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OpinionNuclear wasted
Atomic energy has the potential to reduce our carbon footprint, but the problem of waste is devilishly complex
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OpinionThe incredible legacy of Tutankhamun
Three-thousand-year-old treasures can still enthral and inspire
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FeatureVisualising the Nobel nomination archive
Who nominated whom for the biggest prize in chemistry
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OpinionThe end of a long race?
The finishing line of the Covid-19 pandemic may be in sight, but we mustn’t stop running just yet
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OpinionBottling summer lightning
Our features editor reflects on how nature’s sound and light show affects the atmosphere, and the long track to harness fusion
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OpinionAn idea that clicked
Bioorthogonal reactions – doing chemistry inside living cells without blasting everything in sight – are no mean feat