Chemistry Interviews

Fukushima Reactor Review

To bring us up to date with events at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, and explain how his own work fits in with this week's Nuclear Science Question and Answer theme, we're joined by Dr Ian Farnan from the Department of Earth Sciences at Cambridge University...Dr Ian Farnan, Cambridge University Department of Earth Sciences

Separating Metals from Mud - Mining Technologies

An important resource that we find in deep dark places are the metals and minerals we need for industry and everyday life, which means that mining minerals like copper and platinum is a multi-billion pound industry. Dave and Meera have been out exploring how you separate the metal we do want from the rocks we don’t...Professor Jan Cilliers, Imperial College London

The History of Aspirin

On the 6th March 1899, the Beyer pharmaceutical company officially registered Aspirin as a trademark, following their chemist Felix Hoffman’s successful synthesis of a stable form of acetylsalicylic acid – the chemical name for aspirin - in 1897...Sarah Castor-Perry

Geoengineering - How We Could Change the Climate

Another reason to try and understand atmospheric chemistry is in case there comes a time when we have to try and do some geo-engineering. Dr Peter Braesicke joins us to explain our options...Dr Peter Braesicke, Cambridge University

Sampling the Atmosphere and Tracking Pollution - the RONOCO Campaign

How do we study the atmosphere? We have a vast array of tools and chemical tricks that we can rely on, but the atmosphere is a very dynamic thing. So sampling the air in just one place can only tell us so much. Now, an international consortium of scientists and organisations including the MET office, the Natural Environment Research Council, have taken to the skies in a modified BAe-146 airliner to explore what happens to atmospheric chemistry once the Sun goes down...Professor Rod Jones and other researchers involved in RONOCO

Celebrating William Ramsay

In London, Blue Plaques have been placed on buildings across the city for over 140 years to highlight where notable people in history have lived. This week, Meera Senthilingam went along to the unveiling of just such a plaque for a scientist whose work actually changed the field of chemistry...Professor Alwyn Davies and Dr. Andrea Sella, University College London, and Dr. Susan Skedd, English Heritage

Metal Organic Frameworks

One recent, and fast developing, area of Chemistry is the design and use of Metal-Organic Frameworks. They have potential uses in Gas Storage and Catalysis, but can also provide greater insight into the fundamental workings of chemical reactions...Neil Champness, University of Nottingham

Diamond News Update - Fighting antibiotic resistance

Sarah Boundy brings us the latest news from the synchrotron...Sarah Boundy, Diamond Light Source

The Chemistry of Cocktails

Darcy O'Neil explores the chemistry behind being shaken, not stirred....Darcy O'Neil, University of Western Ontario

Thriving on Arsenic - Rethinking the Chemistry of Life

The discovery of bacteria that can not only survive in waters rich in toxic arsenic, but actually use it as part of it's DNA, forces us to rethink the chemistry of life here on Earth and beyond...Professor Paul Davies, Arizona State University

Planet Earth Online - Supercooled Water

Now, here’s an easy science question: What temperature does water freeze at? Zero degrees, right? Actually, that’s not necessarily the case and scientists at the University of Leeds believe that supercooled water may be implicated in the crash landing of the British Airways 777 jet at Heathrow in 2008...Richard Hollingham, Planet Earth Online and Ben Murray, Leeds University

Planet Earth - Sniffing the Atmosphere

Predicting how the Earth’s climate is likely to change is one of the toughest challenges facing science, one that as we know is not without its controversies. To build accurate simulations of the climate, scientists need raw data and Planet Earth podcast presenter Richard Hollingham has been to Scotland to meet researchers sniffing the air...Richard Hollingham with John Moncrieff, University of Edinburgh

The weird world of water at the nanoscale

We all know what happens to water when it freezes - it becomes ice. But it does some weird stuff as well, and there are still lots of unknowns about how this sort of transition from water to ice actually happens, especially on the nano scale. Understanding this could help with a wide range of different industry applications, as well as our predictions of what will happen with climate change. So this week, Meera Senthilingam went along to the London Centre for Nanotechnology to meet Angelos Michaelides to find out how his team are looking at how water turns into ice...Angelos Michaelides, London Centre for Nanotechnology

Building an Alien Biochemistry

William Bains describes a new way to think about the search for extra terrestrial life using biochemistry...William Bains, Cambridge University

New Peptide to Fight Tumours

Researchers in California have shown how a new drug, called iRGD, can help to fight tumours by boosting levels of chemotherapy agents just in the cancer...Professor Erkki Ruoslahti, University of California, Santa Barbara

The Cambridge Science Festival

Meera Senthilingam brings us the highlights of this years Cambridge Science Festival...Jim Haseloff, University of Cambridge; Gareth Fabrow, University of Cambridge; Gordron Day, Williams F1, Holly Margerison, MRC

NEPAD Water Initiative

Eugene Cloete explains how the NEPAD water initiative aims to bring together scientists working in the field of water research to tackle the lack of safe water and sanitation in Southern Africa...Eugene Cloete, University of Stellenbosch

How Safe is our Mineral Water?

Martin Wagner explains how his team have been looking into the release of oestrogen-like chemicals from in our mineral water...Marin Wagner, University of Frankfurt

Keeping our Rivers Clean at the Sewage Treatment Works

Meera Senthilingam gets her hands wet and dirty this week to see how the river Cam is kept clean...Sara Rowland and Nicola Marvin, Anglian Water

Oestrogen in the Water

How do hormones, like oestrogen, affect aqatic ecosystems? Professor Karen Kidd explains more...Professor Karen Kidd, University of New Brunswick