News
University of Hull confirms chemistry department closure
Department closure follows series of similar proposals at UK universities
In depth
After years of negotiations, a global agreement to tackle plastic pollution is within sight
The UN’s plastics treaty negotiations have faced many hurdles, but delegates are getting closer to a final agreement
Microcrystal electron diffraction promises a revolution in study of proteins, small molecules
Technique offers a way to get around problems with hard-to-crystallise proteins, already scoring impressive successes with a Parkinson’s protein
Explainer: what is ricin?
The poison found in castor beans so deadly a single molecule can kill a cell
Explainer: Why athletes are taking sodium bicarbonate supplements
Why runners are taking pills containing a common kitchen ingredient
Explainer: Why drug shortages happen and how can we reduce them?
Record-high numbers of drugs are in short supply, from chemotherapy and antibiotics to hormone replacements
Explainer: How is the US pharmaceutical patent system being misused?
What are ‘evergreening’ and ‘thicketing’ and what is being done to reform the system and aid competition?
AlphaFold developer says AI is just getting started in science
Chemistry Nobel laureate John Jumper says latest version of AlphaFold is making good progress on interactions between molecules and protein
Large language models are better than humans at answering chemistry questions
AI models outperform human chemists in every topic area. But are they really better chemists?
AI robots work together to perform autonomous synthesis and analysis
System offers route for rapid testing, analysis and interpretation of a wide range of chemistries
Twenty ways AI is advancing chemistry
List reveals how machine learning is already changing the central science
Explainer: Why have protein design and structure prediction won the 2024 Nobel prize in chemistry?
Research that has taken us from sequence to structure and back again
Protein design and structure prediction wins chemistry Nobel prize
David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper were rewarded for creating computational tools to design proteins and predict their structures that have ‘revolutionised biological chemistry’
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
Predictions for the 2024 chemistry prize highlight growing importance of AI and computational methods
Protein structure prediction, efficient simulations and clean energy among the fields tipped for recognition by chemistry’s top prize
Worldwide
Isotope analysis reveals ‘mundane’ origins of remarkable dinosaur fossil site
Collapsing burrows, not volcanoes, killed the dinosaurs in China’s Yixian Formation
Scientific freedom lacking in Africa, Unesco finds
Africa represents 12.5% of world’s population but less than 1% of its research output
Dirty secret of mysterious ‘tar balls’ washed up on Sydney’s shores uncovered
Scientists unite to investigate objects that shut down beaches in New South Wales
University of Hull confirms chemistry department closure
Department closure follows series of similar proposals at UK universities
UKRI harmonises doctoral training cutting nine programmes down to two
Two schemes aim to fund rapid responses to emerging research and address specific challenges
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
Open letter from fraud sleuths raises concerns over research integrity at Scientific Reports
‘Stealth corrections’ uncovered in scientific journals, raising transparency concerns
Widespread signs of paper milling discovered in materials science and engineering papers
Plastic treaty negotiators fail to reach agreement
Disputes over treaty’s scope remain as original deadline passes
After years of negotiations, a global agreement to tackle plastic pollution is within sight
The UN’s plastics treaty negotiations have faced many hurdles, but delegates are getting closer to a final agreement
New recommendations to assist UK move away from animals in chemical safety assessments
UK well-positioned to become a leader in animal-free testing
Shell appeal overturns ruling enforcing faster emissions cuts
UK’s autumn budget receives mixed response from science and education sectors
Nobel prize-winning scientists mobilise for Kamala Harris
Carbon capture making slow progress in UK and Europe
Argentina’s researchers face continued catastrophe under Javier Milei
Drug companies reluctantly accept state price negotiations
RSC calls on government to address lab space shortage
Countries announce new steps to reduce methane emissions at Cop29
A new declaration on solid waste has been endorsed by seven of the 10 largest emitters in the organic waste sector
Catalyst uses electricity to convert carbon dioxide into methane
Acting at the gas-liquid-solid interface to permit carbon dioxide and water to react, the catalyst achieves 80% efficiency
Carbon capture gets personalised touch to match best tech with right location
Holistic analysis combines models and experiments to find the sorbent that works for each industrial site
Isotope tracking suggests that plants cycle carbon faster than previously thought
New analysis suggests that vegetation is less able to offset climate change than had previously been calculated
Nobel prize winners far more likely to come from wealthy families highlighting inequality in the sciences
Winners today come, on average, from less wealthy families than when the prize began but there is still a long way to go
Women stay in science far longer than thought, study of OECD countries suggests
Analysis of publications reveals that, on average, women ‘survive’ as long as men across 16 scientific disciplines
Indian scheme to provide 300 research grants for women
The announcement made by India’s science and technology minister aims to foster more cross-disciplinary research
Next president of the Royal Society of Chemistry will be Robert Mokaya
University of Nottingham chemist will begin his tenure in 2026
Gender equality report highlights progress and challenges for women in research
Humphry Davy’s whole story – warts and all – deserves to be told
Universities in the UK beat national average on gender pay gap but large discrepancies remain
UKRI investigation clears diversity panel following science minister’s accusations of extremism
US researcher vows to appeal after losing her disability discrimination suit