Chemistry World Podcast

In this episode, we bring the latest from the recent temporary reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and discuss the presence of potential explosives at the historic Antarctic bases of explorers Ernest Shackleton and Robert Scott with Phillip Broadwith and Frances Briggs. The US and Iran have recently signed a form of agreement to temporarily reopen the Strait of Hormuz for shipping. But will this be...

This week, we discuss the latest challenges facing US science outlined by president of the US National Academy of Sciences Marcia McNutt in her outgoing address as well as the unique chemistry underpinning wool's incredible properties with Neil Withers and Rebecca Trager. Marcia McNutt gave her final address as president of the US National Academy of Sciences earlier this month, warning of turmoil...

This week, we look back at how far click chemistry has come in the last 25 years and discuss the strange bonding behaviour of some of the largest elements on the periodic table with Mason Wakley and Frances Briggs. It started as a review paper in 2001 that has since been cited almost 20,000 times, becoming one of the most influential chemistry papers ever written. Click chemistry has revolutionise...

This week, we discuss the latest milestone in quantum computational modelling and reveal the common laboratory item causing strange readings in microplastics research with Frankie Macpherson and Patrick Walter. A new hybrid workflow involving two IBM quantum computers and two powerful supercomputers has allowed researchers to model a protein–ligand system containing up to a record 12,635 atoms. Wh...

This week, we are celebrating Chemistry World's Battery Week with a special battery-themed episode! We discuss the race between cathode materials for electric vehicles and a new photocatalyst capable of turning plastic waste into hydrogen and value-added chemicals, with Neil Withers and Patrick Walter. A race between competing battery cathode materials is heating up, the winner of which will shape...

This week, we discuss vanadium's potential in the medical field and the changes you can make in our lab to reduce your carbon footprint, with Jennifer Newton and Emma Pewsey. Many are familiar with vanadium's role in metal production, but did you know that it has a history of research as a potential medicine? We explore the little-known story of vanadium's medical potential. And, how can your lab...

This week, we discuss how to ensure experimental instruments are truly inert and chemistry's answer to the fate of the Mary Celeste, with Phillip Broadwith and Mason Wakley.  A new study has demonstrated how unexpected results can arise from experiments using seemingly inert materials. How do we avoid the effects of these accidental reagents? And, scientists may have found the answer behind what h...

This week, we discuss the peculiarities of water's behaviour and how science sleuths are fighting disinformation with Philip Robinson and Emma Pewsey. A recent study from researchers at Stockholm University has found the existence of a critical point in supercooled water, which could prove the existence of two types of water. How did they do it, and what does this mean for our understanding of thi...

This week, we discuss team discuss the boundaries of the atom and breakdown the US's plan to eliminate synthetic food dyes with Jennifer Newton and Phillip Broadwith. The atomic radius of an atom is a concept we are taught from early in our chemistry careers, but for such an important value its definition remains ambiguous. Why is there no single answer to the size of an atom? And, US health secre...

This week, we discuss reflections from this year's American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting and the latest advances in plasma chemistry with Rebecca Trager and Mason Wakley.  The annual meeting of the AAAS kicked off in Phoenix, on the heels of the recent minibus spending package announcement, as well as the rescinding of the 2009 Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Findin...

This week, we discuss the new deep learning model AlphaGenome and visit the very beginning of life on Earth with Mason Wak ley and Neil Withers. Google DeepMind has released a new deep learning model that can predict the effect of small changes to DNA sequences up to one million base pairs in length. What does this new tech mean for our understanding of the human genome?  And, how did life start o...

This week, we discuss new butyllithium formulations and ancient limescale chemistry with Emma Pewsey and Phillip Broadwith. New bench-stable tert- and n-butyllithium formulations developed by Merck KGaA, should make organometallic chemistry safer and more accessible. What's different about these formulations and how do they work? And a team based in Germany have managed to reconstruct the history...

Welcome to the first episode of our latest podcast series, The chemical breakdown. Each week, we'll dive deeper into two stories we've covered here at Chemistry World . We'll provide insight into the facts, why you should care, and what it means for the chemistry community. We'll also give you that week's headlines to keep you up to date on what's happening in the chemistry community. And finally,...

This month we introduce our new puzzles page, discuss the implications of Trump for science and meet Yuri Oganessian, the only living person with an element named after him

Six-toed cats and misconceptions in genetics are discussed in this months podcast

This month we discuss the ubiquitous nature of food fraud and its detection

This month, we discuss how to write quality scientific papers

This month we discuss unconscious bias and other reasons why science is sexist

This month we learn of the problems that arise from mining rare metals in David Abraham's The Elements of Power

This month we consider the dawning of a new epoch as we discuss Gaia Vince's Adventures in the Anthropocene

Our book club podcast considers simple language in science as we discuss Randall Munroe's new book, Thing explainer.

This month, we learn how to leave the calories out of fine chocolate, and discover the earth might be older than we thought

In this podcast, we learn why does asparagus make your wee smell, as we discuss Andy Brunning's new book

This month we meet chemisty Nobel winner,Thomas Lindahl, and we learn how bio-markers might be used to determine the time of death

We probe the nature of scientific language with Michael Gordin's bestseller, Scientific Babel