Chemistry Articles

Countless atomic recipes and crystal arrangements mean there are literally trillions of possible materials that could...

Niraj Lal looks at a growing part of our electrical future: the solar cell...

First came fire. Cavemen rubbed sticks together and there it was, a source of ‘artificial’ heat and light, giving us...

Bees are being trained to detect drugs and explosives...

Surprising as it sounds, one of the world's top tipples a century ago was laced with cocaine. And although the...

Simpsons fans will know only too well the opening sequence to the cartoon in which Homer discovers, during his commute...

Snowflakes form when water vapour condenses directly into ice crystals, and for many years writers have used their...

Ask anyone who made the world’s best violins and they’ll inevitably answer "Stradivari". But science is...

Why re-invent the wheel when Nature has already come up with the best solution? Becky Poole explores the field of...

Mention plastics and most people think of polythenes, perspex and other oil-based nasties that never break down. But...

Contrary to what Hollywood would have you believe, although it’s almost impossible to escape from quicksand, it's...

By now we’re familiar with apocalyptic visions of a scorched and flooded world ravished by global warming. But this...

As the world focuses on carbon dioxide, are more dangerous agents of global warming creeping up unnoticed? Lucy...

Scheele was the first to isolate Hydrogen cyanide in 1782 then went on to show its toxic effects by accidentally...

Nature produces a seemingly limitless number of compounds that are valuable for treating disease. Over 30% of the top-...

Photo-therapy is the term used to describe treatments which use light to achieve their effects. But how do these work...

The recently discovered traces of ricin in a makeshift laboratory in a flat in London have caused a media frenzy over...

The chemistry of cooking, including what chemical changes occur in food when we cook it, and how taste and flavour work...

A report was published warning that Britain's prosperity will suffer if the government does not come up with new...

Water, with its incredible properties, is considered an essential ingredient for life. But how does it contribute to...

By the year 2020, the number of people in the world suffering from blindness will have risen to 45 million. The vast...

Nanomedicine, nanotechnology and nanoengineering are the future of science and medicine. Barry Gibb describes how the...

I am organising a public event in Oxford entitled "The Science of Wine Tasting"...