All The crucible articles
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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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OpinionAn unprecedented supramolecular structure brings new complexities to life
The transcription factor FOXP3’s interactions with DNA present more evidence of the importance of disorder
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OpinionAtmospheres conducive to life
Researchers propose a new biosignature that could hint at habitable exoplanets
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OpinionSearching for new physics using ultracold molecules
‘Clock transitions’ could make it possible to discover if a flaw in the Standard Model exists – without the need for high-energy particle colliders
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OpinionMoving beyond protein structure
Efforts to understand how intrinsically disordered regions interact have produced a variety of answers
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OpinionWhy Roman concrete is still stronger than RAAC (and other modern concretes)
Researchers are searching for ways to replicate the self-healing properties of the ancient material
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OpinionShape is not enough to distinguish life from abiotic systems
No morphological differences between living and non-living systems are yet known
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OpinionCan life exist outside of the habitable zone?
Speculation about conditions on Venus raises questions about our existing definitions
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OpinionHow van der Waals first linked liquids and gases
150 years ago, a doctoral thesis changed our understanding of matter
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OpinionThe long and short of telomere rejuvenation
Telomerase is unlikely to be a straightforward elixir of youth