Last week the Guardian reported that a suspected moonshine factory in Boston, Lincolnshire caught fire killing five people and leaving a sixth with 75 per cent burns. Although this nasty event was part of an illegal brewing operation, home brewing is becoming more and more popular for law-abiding citizens too.
18 July 2011: Have something to say about an article you’ve read on Chemistry World this week? Leave your comments below…
Chemical companies in Belarus for sale? – Phosagro raises $538m through IPO – And Nice decides against Lucentis recommendation (more…)
Earlier this week I noticed a joke come up on the Chemistry World twitter feed. What’s more, it was one I’d not heard before: “Hey, know any good jokes about sodium?” “Na.” Brilliant. So, I sent out a bit of a request for jokes with one of my own favourites. Below is a list of the jokes I got back, thanks to everyone who took part. If your favourite is missing, why not add it in the comments section? (more…)
I’m afraid I have something of an ulterior motive in selecting Melvin Calvin as my chemistry hero. There are many brilliant chemists shrouded in the mists of 20th century history, and it was only because of an amusing story I was told by the legendary John Kilcoyne at this year’s Cheltenham Science Festival that I began to take serious notice of Calvin’s work. That said, Calvin is a man worthy of standing alongside some of the other giants of the chemical sciences that have already been featured in this series of blog posts. (more…)
Sulfa drugs revolutionised early 20th century medicine and saved millions of lives. Simon Cotton discovers the origins of the first effective antibiotic in this week’s Chemistry in its element podcast
Lipitor patent extension for Pfizer – Patent pool for AIDS drugs set up – $1.4 billion deal for Arch Chemicals – And the biggest fertiliser plant in Africa (more…)
Picric acid might sound like a fairly innocuous chemical, but last Friday it resulted in a call to the army bomb disposal team from the small town of Tralee in south west Ireland. There, scientists at the Tralee Institute of Technology had discovered that all too familiar sight in many a research lab; an old looking bottle of a dangerous chemical.
11 July 2011: Have something to say about an article you’ve read on Chemistry World this week? Leave your comments below…
AkzoNobel to invest €110 million in new UK manufacturing site – China bans 10 toxic insecticides – And mice in space! (For drug industry studies…) (more…)
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