All articles by Philip Ball
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OpinionThe fungal source of Titian’s rich reds
Laccaic acid, thought to be produced by lac insects, is produced by a symbiont similar to the zombie ant fungus
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OpinionBenzene’s 200-year legacy of transformation
As we celebrate the anniversary of benzene’s isolation, we must remember that scientific centenaries carry additional agendas
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OpinionHanding handedness to amino acids
A new theory proposes how chiral amplification could happen
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OpinionDimethyl sulfide signature may not indicate extraterrestrial life
But a microbial source of the signal from planet K2-18b would have interesting implications for evolution
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Research‘Ageing’ cellular blobs could be linked to neurodegenerative diseases
Over time biomolecular condensates’ redox activity drops and tangled aggregates linked to conditions like Alzheimer’s build-up
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OpinionTunnelling to the heart of cell communication
Nanotubes are being found in an increasing number of biological contexts, including the developing heart
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Research‘Hidden grammar’ explains proteins’ distribution into sub-cellular condensates
Proteins’ amino-acid sequences appear to guide their access to blob-like aggregates involved in many cell processes
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OpinionScientific institutions have a long history of anticipatory obedience
Societies should learn from this and speak up to support inclusion
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OpinionCelebrating 100 years of the Pauli exclusion principle
How a quantum view of electron states enabled us to understand the stability of matter
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OpinionThere are no life lessons to be learned in AI’s Chinese Room
There’s a lot more lab work to do before we understand the ‘language of life’
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OpinionWhat are the limits of life?
In search of design principles that would apply to living systems evolved anywhere in the universe
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OpinionA high-pressure insight into the structure of water
The hydrogen-bonded network in liquid water resists compression; density increases instead arise from molecules moving into voids
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OpinionA broader view of condensates
Exquisite insight into chromosome separation reveals the intricate relationships between molecular changes and large-scale cell processes
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OpinionEnormous enzymes expand the limits of molecular biology
Identifying the PKZILLAs, used by algae to make toxins, stretched the capabilities of current analytical methods – and the limits of our preconceptions
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OpinionTriggering a nuclear chain reaction
How Leo Szilard’s concept emerged from a rich interchange of ideas across disciplinary silos
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OpinionA common misunderstanding about wave-particle duality
Instead of treating quantum particles as shape-shifters, we should think in terms of probability distributions
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OpinionThe 1920s chemists who thought they’d achieved the alchemists’ dream
The now-forgotten transmutation controversy hung on apparent evidence of mercury transforming into gold
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OpinionHeated crystals jump to enantiomeric separation
Chiral asparagine monohydrate crystals can segregate by handedness – if you arrange them carefully first
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