Chemistry World Blog

Christmas is gently creeping up on us and the tills are merrily ringing as we pound the high street in search of suitable offerings to please our kith and kin. But however far you travel and however much you spend in your seasonally-sanctioned extravagance, you’d have to go some way to beat the efforts of the inaugural yuletide gift-givers: Melchior, Casper and Balthazar. These three – the magi of the nativity story – tramped across the Middle East to present Christmas’ namesake with their precious gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

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Abbott pays $400m deal for AIMs – Dificlir approved in EU – And algae-based biofuels tested at sea (more…)

The latest update to Chemistry World‘s h-index ranking of living chemists is out. Unsurprisingly, Harvard University’s George Whitesides is undisturbed at the top of the tree, but there are a few climbers in the chart this time around.

Michael Grätzel of dye-sensitised solar cell fame,  has charged into the top five from 11th position in March, and Krzysztof Matyjaszewski from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, US, climbs nearly 20 places from 40th in March to 23rd.

What does this mean? Are DSSCs finally going to make good on their promise of recent years? Is atom-transfer radical polymerisation about to take over the world? Well, who knows – but its fun to watch the rollercoaster go up and down and round and around…

Phillip Broadwith

11 December 2011: Have something to say about an article you’ve read on Chemistry World this week? Leave your comments below…

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AstraZeneca cuts over 1000 US jobs – Merck R&D centre in China – And IBM library of 2.4 million compounds (more…)

In this week’s Chemistry in its element podcast, Brian Clegg tells an epic tale of creation and destruction with nitric acid playing hero and villain. And you can find out more on nitric acid’s cinematic role in our feature on film

Chemical industry facing material scarcity – Fertiliser with low explosive potential – and FDA warnings (more…)

The Chemistry World team are going to have some fun with a few Christmas related posts this December. First up, Advent Candles, look out for more in the coming weeks…

— Advent candle

For me, candles are a huge part of Christmas. As the night draws in, there’s something about a cosy room full of flickering candle light to really make me feel all Christmassy, and I love singing in candlelit carol services (although I always worry a bit about synthetic fabrics and distracted children). This year, though, there’s another reason for me to enjoy Christmas by candlelight from Michael Faraday, the man who instituted the Christmas Lectures at the Royal Institution and general chemistry hero. (more…)

4 December 2011: Have something to say about an article you’ve read on Chemistry World this week? Leave your comments below…

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The International Year of Chemistry (IYC) was brought to a close yesterday in Brussels, Belgium, with a bang as Iupac president Nicole Moreau made the most of the media spotlight to announce that the names for elements 114 and 116 had been give provisional approval.

The event, which attracted more than 800 people from 70 countries, was a time for reflecting on what had been achieved over the year and how much more there was still to do in raising awareness of the contributions that chemistry plays in everyone’s lives. Many of the speakers made much of the fact that tough times are ahead, as we face unprecedented global challenges in energy, food, water and many other areas. But there was real optimism that the next generation of young chemists is up to the job.

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