Parrots’ vibrant plumage controlled by single enzyme
Mutation in gene reveals control of red and yellow pigments specific to parrots
Cyclopropyl effect causes substituents on cyclohexane to favour axial conformation
‘Unusual stereocontrol element’ will help medicinal chemists increase three-dimensionality of drug candidates
Carbon capture COF shows impressive ability to survive hundreds of cycles
Fast take-up and low regeneration temperatures make direct air capture promising
How ‘magic mud’ gives baseball pitchers a better grip
Unique mud formula coats and roughens baseballs, boosting control and grip for pitchers
New catalytic strategies boost alkene synthesis
New database highlights gaps in plastic monitoring efforts
Skeletal editing technique removes nitrogen atoms from rotaxanes
Easy to remove tag could make mRNA synthesis for vaccines quicker and cheaper
Mineral-extracting microorganism could solve early Earth’s nitrogen-fixing mystery
New spectroscopy method maps out water’s hydrogen-bonded network
Highlights
Battery-free bioelectronic implants
Spurred by advances in energy-harvesting materials, a new generation of advanced implantable biomedical devices is emerging that does away with the bulky battery. James Mitchell Crow reports
The problem of plastic in our soils
Not just a marine issue, new research shows microplastics are also changing agricultural land. Bárbara Pinho finds out how and what we can do to prevent it affecting our food
How AI protein structure prediction and design won the Nobel prize
David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper won this year’s Nobel prize in chemistry. Jamie Durrani investigates the origins of a biochemistry revolution
How satellite remote sensing is enhancing our understanding of Earth
Instruments in space have studied the planet’s atmosphere and surface, and are now being joined by powerful new ones, finds Andy Extance
Analysing a chemist’s wish-list
Analytical techniques have come a long way, but what does the future hold? Rachel Brazil asks the experts what they’d like to see
Topics
Proteins with multiple structures open up AlphaFold’s black box
AI prediction model often fails to identify fold-switching, helping show how it works and the limits of its usefulness
Electrochemical series for materials makes predicting oxidation states easy
Machine-learning trained model could open up new opportunities in materials discovery
Algorithm predicts bitterness from mass spectra data alone
New tool could find use in food science and drug development
Teaching enzymes new reactions through genetic code expansion and directed evolution
Anthony Green’s research group at the University of Manchester, UK, reengineers enzymes to have catalytic functions beyond those found in nature
Lead found in Beethoven’s hair reveals new insight into his ailing health
Kidney and liver problems that killed the composer, as well as hearing loss, are associated with high lead levels
Chemical analysis reveals origins of early English silver coins
Byzantine silver plates were melted down to make many of the first Anglo-Saxon coins
Using analytical chemistry to illuminate the unlisted ingredients in tattoo inks
Discovery that more than 80% of the tattoo inks sampled had unlisted ingredients prompts New York-based lab to launch a website providing chemical information to tattoo artists and their clients
Science needs to get its house in order when it comes to energy use and waste
Labs have an outsized environmental footprint but solutions are within reach
Redox reactions ‘mine’ old fluorescent light bulbs for europium
In just three simple steps rare earth element can be recovered, avoiding ‘ecologically devastating’ mining
Biomass, plastic waste and carbon dioxide feedstocks key to cutting chemical industry’s emissions
Royal Society report warns that without intervention defossilisation of the chemicals sector will take many decades
Analysis of three French chemistry labs shows how they could halve their carbon footprint by 2030
Open-source tool helps researchers evaluate a series of carbon mitigation strategies
There’s a world of chemistry in water
Managing our most precious resource
Riding the microwave: three chemists share their stories
Disagreements surrounding non-thermal effects didn’t stop microwave reactors becoming a standard part of laboratory life
UK’s autumn budget receives mixed response from science and education sectors
R&D spending is protected, but university budgets will be impacted by national insurance hikes
Are Indian higher education institutes gaming the ranking system?
Concerns continue to be raised about students being misled by the Indian government’s flagship scheme
Thousands of published studies may contain images with incorrect copyright licences
Questions raised over copyright licence that covers images created using scientific illustration service Biorender
Chemist found to have falsified data in 42 papers has notched up 13 retractions so far
Investigating committee at Japanese institute found senior scientist Naohiro Kameta solely responsible for the misconduct
Open letter from fraud sleuths raises concerns over research integrity at Scientific Reports
Springer Nature singled out over ‘seriously flawed’ peer review in journal