In Short

'Tubby' is a gene found in vertebrates and plants. But what's in a name?

For many, it's the smell of spring and summer. But hexenal - responsible for the aroma of freshly cut grass -...

The mental scars left following trauma and how ecstasy can help treat post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Could plankton shells hold the key to understanding ancient climate conditions?

The 19th November was World Toilet Day. Here's a Quick Fire Science on sanitation, and the future of the toilet

Did chemistry help control tension in the trenches? Brian Clegg investigates potassium bromide

The 2013 opium harvest was the largest on record. But what is it, and what is its history?

A devastating weapon indelibly associated with Apocalypse Now and the Vietnam war, Simon Cotton introduces Napalm

Australian archaeologists have found part of a fossil from an ancient platypus that was a metre long.

Tamoxifen can treat and prevent one type of breast cancer, without the side effects of chemotherapy. Andrew Holding...

New drug ideas to defend the immune system from TB

With Bonfire Night fast approaching, the chemistry of fireworks and gunpowder receives the Quick Fire Science treatment

By tasting fantastically bitter, but only to some, phenylthiocarbamide (or PTC) exposed the genetics of taste

GM plants with high leaf oil content could transform farming, while reducing environmental damage

Sitting on your glasses is no longer a death sentence for spectacles, thanks to shape memory alloys like nitinol

The microorganisms all around us, and inside us, can influence some surprising facets of life - including our mood and...

As a new Great British Bake Off champion is crowned, here's your quick fire science on baking...

With researchers asking for help to track the Spanish slug, here's your quick fire science on invasive species...

It's a massive molecular record breaker. Andrew Holding introduces Titin, the largest protein in the human body

How do you look for the cause of a brand new medical problem?

Helen Scales looks at cantharidin, the active ingredient in this famous aphrodisiac

Awarded annually for Chemistry, Physics and Medicine, what are the Nobel Prizes?

A molecule exploited by HIV to spread between cells can be altered to block viral transmission, heralding a new...

One of Western Australia's best-loved and most striking birds - the red-tailed black cockatoo - though once common...