ACS: Analyse this
I’m an organic chemist at heart, but for this meeting I’ve decided to explore beyond the wonders of total synthesis. So this morning, I attended one of the analytical chemistry sessions – and it was fascinating. Read more
I’m an organic chemist at heart, but for this meeting I’ve decided to explore beyond the wonders of total synthesis. So this morning, I attended one of the analytical chemistry sessions – and it was fascinating. Read more
I recently wrote a feature about storing hydrogen gas in incredibly porous materials (shameless bit of self promotion there, but one needs to keep the fans happy). But now I’m wondering whether I got it all wrong – a talk today by Bob Crabtree raised an interesting point – the motoring industry has an infrastructure that is all set up to revolve around liquid fuels, so why go after hydrogen as a fuel if one keeps it in the gaseous state? Read more
I think I’ve just encountered the highlight of my visit – a poetry reading by Nobel prize-winning chemist Roald Hoffmann. Coincidentally, I’ve been thinking a lot about poetry lately, and how a poet can convey their thoughts. I am not brave enough to attempt to write anything other than a jaunty limerick myself, so I have a good deal of admiration for anyone who can convey a complex thought in an abstract, but senseful way. And Hoffmann just spent an hour in the middle of a busy, bustling exhibition hall, packed full of people trying to sell mass spectrometers and … Read more
Space is big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it’s a long way down the road to the drug store, but that’s just peanuts to space. Read more
So, here I am , gathering news for Nature. Like Andy, I had a less-than smooth arrival, after being unceremoniously bumped off my flight last night. But here I am, a day late and raring to go. Read more
People often say to me that travelling must be one of the perks of the job, but, oh boy, there are times when I beg to differ. I tried so hard to check-in online, but the British Airways system kept chucking me out. So I tried to use the electronic check-in kiosks at Heathrow airport, but after queuing for 30 minutes, the machine refused to give me a boarding pass. I was told to join a nearby queue for the actual check-in desks, where I waited for an hour, before being told that, actually, it was the wrong queue. Read more
Well, the fall ACS meeting is nearly here – a few NPG editors will be attending the meeting (including myself), so don’t forget to check back for daily updates… … Read more
1. What made you want to be a chemist? Read more
Although it could be argued that the most controversial summer signing is that of a certain Argentine footballer – who moved north from a smallish team in east London to the greatest football club on the planet – it may not be the most significant. Read more
Controversies about the preparation of heavy elements are nothing new. While browsing through a 50-year-old issue of Nature, I came across a report describing the preparation of element-102 (Nature subscribers can see the report here). This described a multinational effort performed at The Nobel Institute of Physics, Stockholm, in which curium atoms were fused with carbon-13 atoms. The new element was named ‘Nobelium’ in honour of its place of birth. Read more
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