All articles by Philip Ball – Page 6
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ArticlePhilip Ball: The Elements Song
Philip Ball updates The Elements Song for the International Year of the Periodic Table
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FeatureWhat is an element?
Our understanding of what an element is has evolved over the years, but it’s still a tricky concept to nail down. Philip Ball investigates
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ResearchBonding rethink called for as new metavalent bond proposed
Combination of elements in the metalloid region of periodic table produces a bond with both metallic and covalent characteristics
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OpinionDoes Ada Lovelace belong on the £50 note?
Tales from the amazing life of the self-proclaimed ‘bride of science’
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FeatureAre the Nobel prizes good for science?
Philip Ball looks at whether prizes and awards help or hinder scientific progress
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OpinionThe physicist's guide to biology
How Erwin Schrödinger’s What is Life? overlooked the central science
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ResearchTrapped-ion quantum computer does chemistry calculations for the first time
For an accurate quantum simulation, all you need is a few atoms
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OpinionPreserving the Naica Cave of Crystals
Visitors are changing the chemistry of a natural wonder of the world
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ResearchSpins doctor water’s reactivity
Ultracold experiments reveal water isomers have different reaction rates
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OpinionThe chemistry that inspired H.G. Wells
How the science fiction author borrowed real science to create unreal worlds
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ResearchTuring patterned membrane takes on water purification
Mathematician Alan Turing’s sole chemistry paper inspires self-assembling spotted and striped polymer structures
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OpinionThe scientists who create life
Chemistry has created life for 100 years – but where can it lead us?
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ResearchEvidence mounts that water has two liquid forms
Supercooled solution reveals phase transition at -80°C
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ResearchMolecules’ vibrations linger longer than thought
Surface chemistry could be guided by vibrations that go on for orders of magnitude longer than previously reported
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OpinionRevisiting Richard Dawkins' idea of replication
Why The selfish gene is only part of the story