Category Archives: Highlights

Chemical forensics confirm French wine had early roots

Ancient jars hold residue of 2,500-year-old vintage.

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Helium reserves under pressure

The fate of one of the world’s main sources of the gas hangs in the balance, and the global helium market faces a period of turbulence that could send prices soaring.

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The anatomy of sleep

The ebb and flow of neurotransmitters switches our brains between sleep and wakefulness in carefully regulated cycles.

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US bill would keep helium store afloat

Russia and Qatar prepare to dominate market as gas price inflation puts researchers under pressure.

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Protein gets in on DNA’s origami act

Engineered bacteria make self-assembling tetrahedra.

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A fixation with nitrogen

Despite decades of work to develop alternative ways to make ammonia, the Haber–Bosch process is here to stay, Mark Peplow discovers.

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Sanofi launches malaria drug production

Erratic supplies of a critical chemical have long denied millions of people in the developing world the malaria therapies that could save their lives. Now an effort to create a more reliable source is finally bearing fruit.

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Pesticide bee buzz needs more evidence

One thing’s for sure: the bees are not happy. Since 2006, worrying numbers of worker bees have been deserting their hives, a phenomenon dubbed colony collapse disorder (CCD). Although apiculturists have noted for centuries that bees can suddenly disappear in … Continue reading

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Military history: Dinner at the Fission Chips

Mark Peplow assesses a chronicle of the blighted US and Soviet communities that fuelled the nuclear arms race.

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Planck snaps infant Universe

Space telescope culls exotic creation theories with ultra-precise microwave map.

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