The chemical breakdown & Chemistry in its element

This week marks the 20th anniversary of the Baia Mare disaster, when toxic sodium cyanide spilled from a gold processing plant led to ecological damage on a huge scale. Mike Freemantle tells the tragic tale and explores the poison's place in precious metal processing.

Once thought of as an interesting – but useless – turpentine derivative, this oddly-named acid became the precursor to one of the world's most widely used plastics

From ancient Egyptian pottery to distinctive blue bottles, cobalt oxide has been providing 'chemically and artistically perfect' pigments for centuries

If you're trying out a vegan diet, you're likely to be told to make sure you get enough vitamin B12. Ben Valsler asks what B12 does, where we get it from, and how can we be sure we're getting enough?

To celebrate 2019 – the International Year of the Periodic Table – we're joined by Helen Arney and the Waterbeach Brass Band with an updated version of Tom Lehrer's elements song. See the video, featuring contributions from chemists around the world, here: https://www.chemistryworld.com/IYPT Happy New Year!

After promising results treating ill pets, some researchers think iminosugars could become treatments for infection and even cancer. Mike Freemantle explores the buzz about iminohoney.

Frances Addison examines how our quest to control and manage pain has led to a modern medical crisis, as opioids oxycodone and hydrocodone are among the most abused prescription medications in the US

Ben Valsler tackles 'zombie facts' and the tenuous connection between tryptophan in turkey and your post-Thanksgiving dinner doze

Brian Clegg introduces the class of materials where the holes are more important than the whole – the super-porous zeolites

It helps prevent garlic plants from marauding insects and should have prevented the Hindenburg disaster – Mike Freemantle on allicin and the smell of freshly crushed garlic

Louise Crane explains how a series of happy accidents led to the discovery of this rose-scented compound, found in rose oil, beer, apple pie and Kentucky bourbon.

Brian Clegg introduces gallium arsenide – the supercar of the semiconductor scene

Georgia Mills introduces the malleable mixture of gold and silver that minted some of the world's oldest coins

Ben Valsler introduces the oxygen sensors that help life react to changing conditions, and were key to the 2019 Nobel prize in physiology or medicine

Enna Guadalupe investigates the toxin found in reef fish that leads to food poisoning so bad it can cause life-long symptoms.

How a Brazilian scientist's knowledge of viper venom led to the discovery of a whole class of medication for high blood pressure. With Mike Freemantle.

Louise Crane investigates a jasmine-derived synthetic scent with supposed sex appeal

Georgia Mills examines a controversial killer: Sodium fluoroacetate or 1080

Sold as a 'sports supplement', methylhexaneamine – or DMAA – is implicated in the deaths of otherwise fit & healthy people. Enna Guadalupe investigates.

Katrina Krämer investigates a marine toxin that drives animals crazy and might have inspired one of Alfred Hitchcock's most famous films

Mike Freemantle revisits battlefield surgery to investigate boric acid, a key part of Dakin's antiseptic solution used extensively in the first world war

Patrick Hughes delves into the molecule at the centre of a decades-old cancer treatment conspiracy theory

Georgia Mills tackles the feel-good neurotransmitter and hormone behind thrill seeking, addiction and mobile gaming

Mike Freemantle finds the connection between Land of Hope and Glory and the noxious, corrosive, flammable gas that stinks of rotten eggs

One doctor's battle with alcoholism and self-experimentation with baclofen led to a rush of people desperate to try the drug to curb their addictions. But are we simply replacing one problem with another, asks Enna Guadalupe