Chemistry Interviews

Bisphenol-A and Human Health

Can plastics pollute your body? We speak to Tamara Galloway who has identified a link between heart disease and bisphenol-A, the base of polycarbonate plastics... Professor Tamara Galloway, Exeter University

Insensitive Munitions

Meera Senthilingam explores how munitions are designed and tested to ensure they only detonate when they're supposed to!Professor Jackie Akhavan and Dr James Padfield, Cranfield University

Bushfires and Wine-making

Bushfires can ruin a wine when smoke chemicals penetrate the grapevine. But now Adelaide-based scientists may have come up with a way to rescue a smoke-damaged vintage...Kerry Wilkinson, University of Adelaide

The 2009 Nobel Science Prizes

Richard Van Noorden reveals the winners of this years Nobel Science prizes as well as an insight into why their work was so important...Richard Van Noorden, Nature

European Researchers' Night and the Brains of Brainiac

We find out what Researchers Revealed was all about and meet the host for the evening, John Tickle to find out what he's up to these days...Dr Paula Martin, Durham University and John Tickle, Braniac

Chemistry in its Element - Erbium

Where did spectroscopy come from? This week's element is erbium: an otherwise little-known substance with a luminous secret...Andrea Sella, UCL, Department of Chemistry

Explosive Chemistry with Dr Hal

This week's Explosive Chemistry with Dr Hal featured the following amazing experiments...Dr Hal, Brighton University

Cool Chemistry with Dr Hal

This week's Cool Chemistry with Dr Hal featured the following amazing experiments...Dr Hal, Brighton University

Chemistry in its Element - Fluorine

This week, Kira Weissman explores the element that stops eggs sticking to frying pans and keeps astronauts safe in space, but can also be a vicious killer...Kira Weismann, Zaarland University

This week in science history - The discovery of Aspirin

This week in science history saw, in 1897, Felix Hoffman first synthesise a stable form of acetylsalicylic acid for medical use, better known as aspirin...Sarah Castor-Perry

Chemistry in its Element - Iodine

And now for the first chapter in a new series we're introducing on the show over the summer called Chemistry in its Element, from the Royal Society of Chemistry. In each episode we'll be hearing from a chemist who's taken a look at the more sinister side of one of the elements that make up the periodic table... This week it's the turn of UCL scientist Andrea Sella and is a story of cretins, firecrackers and clean water...Dr Andrea Sella, UCL

This week in science history - the death of Otto Hahn

This week in science history saw, in 1968, the death of Otto Hahn, the German chemist who co-discovered nuclear fission, was a courageous opposer of Jewish persecution by the Nazis, a campaigner against the use of nuclear power as a weapon and is considered by many to be the father of nuclear chemistry...Sarah Castor-Perry

This week in science history - The first demonstration of dynamite

This week in science history saw, in 1867, Alfred Nobel first demonstrate dynamite in the UK, at Merstham Quarry in Surrey. Nobel had invented dynamite two years earlier and this demonstration was the first step towards a lucrative UK patent for the substance...Sarah Castor-Perry

Filling Up with Algae

Now, electric cars are not the only option we have for sustainable personal transport. Already, there are a number of vehicles on the roads that use biodiesel and that’s diesel that doesn’t come from fossil fuel but from living creatures, from living plants. Now, Anna Stephenson is a PhD student at the University of Cambridge and she’s looking at alternative ways to meet the demand for biodiesel...Anna Stephenson, Cambridge University

A New Element - Ununbium

And also this week scientists have come up with a reason for you to tear up that periodic table which is on the wall of your chemistry laboratory or your school classroom, and replace it with a new one. This is because we have a new element to add to it. And here to tell us about that new element is someone who occasionally contributes to the Naked Scientists, but is also a BBC science reporter, and that’s Victoria Gill.Victoria Gill, BBC Science Correspondent

Curing Infant Jaundice

Curing Infant JaundiceProfessor David Phillips, Imperial College London

This Week in Science History - Valence Theory

This week in science history saw, in 1852, the publication of a paper by Edward Frankland describing the valence theory of why chemical elements bond with only a certain number of other elements. Sarah Castor-Perry explains more...Sarah Castor-Perry

F1 Inspired Wheelchairs

Formula 1's a fast paced world where cars can race at up to 220 mph in certain conditions but for these cars to reach these speeds and drive smoothly and safely they need to be at the forefront of science and technology. But did you know that the science behind Formula-1 is actually spilling out into other fields and even everyday life?John Bailey; Beru F1 Systems & Mike Spindle; Trekinetic

Seaweed Seeds Clouds

What happens on the sea shore can impact on the atmosphere across the country, as Stephen Ashworth explained to Chris...Dr Stephen Ashworth, University of East Anglia

Bicycle Day - The Discovery of LSD

On the 19th April 1943, Dr Albert Hoffman tested a substance he had derived from Ergot, and discovered it's strong psychedelic properties. This week, therefore, marks the 66th birthday of LSD...Professor Philip Strange, Reading University