Chemistry News

Soap suds mess up shoals

If you thought the soap suds you flush down the drain every time you wash your hands or take a shower were innocent, then think again.  A new study has shown that even very lo...

Scientists mussel-in on sticky surfaces

US reseachers studying how mussels anchor themselves to rocks, stones and jetties have stumbled upon a trick that can chemically coat any surface with something so sticky that it w...

"Brain-Clotting" - new movie reveals origin of platelets

A Harvard-based research team have successfully produced a miniature movie of the generation of platelets, the key elements that allow blood to clot. Tobia...

Smells good to me!

Researchers have discovered the first evidence that our experience of smell is not general, but highly personal and that genes govern whether an odour smells nice, or nasty. ...

World's smallest thermometer - a single molecule

Researchers have found that a green-glowing chemical from a jellyfish can be used as a molecular thermometer. Known as GFP - green fluorescent protein - t...

Friend, or "Foe-zone"?

Researchers have found that ozone, the chemical we can't live without, could also be the death of us, or at least a potent trigger for global warming. Stephen Sitch, from the UK's ...

Bacteria on hunger strike

A paper in Nature this week contains worrying news for waterways. Bacterial communities living in estuaries usually protect the sea from pollution by remo...

Cigs spoil sperm

We’ve known for a long time that tobacco smoking can cause a range of cancers – in fact, it’s believed to be responsible for more than a quarter of all cancer deaths in the UK.&nbs...

It's all in the wrist, or should that be index finger?

A study of 75 school children has shown that a photocopy of their hands is all that's needed to predict their literacy and mathematical skills....

Scientists Swollen with Success

...