News 2019

A fundamental problem for biology is explaining how life evolved. How did we get from simple chemical reactions in the prebiotic soup, to animals and plants? A key step in explaining life is that about 4 billion years ago, all we had was just the simplest molecules that could replicate themselves. These are called 'replicators' - the earliest form of life, so simple that that they are almost chemistry rather than biology.

Imperial College London scientists have created a new type of membrane that could improve water purification and battery energy storage efforts. The new approach to ion exchange membrane design, which is published today , uses low-cost plastic membranes with many tiny hydrophilic ('water-attracting') pores.

Scientists have reconstructed the cooking techniques of the early inhabitants of Puerto Rico by analysing the remains of clams. Led by Philip Staudigel, who conducted the analysis as a graduate student at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School and is now a postdoctoral researcher at Cardiff University, the team has used new chemical analysis techniques to identify the exact cooking temperatures at which clams were cooked over 2500 years ago.

A new technique in chemistry could pave the way for producing uniform nanoparticles for use in drug delivery systems. Scientists have been investigating how to make better use of nanoparticles in medicine for several decades. Significantly smaller than an average cell, nanoparticles are more similar in size to proteins.

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A new treatment for lung disease in cystic fibrosis (CF) for which there remains no cure could potentially benefit all patients, according to a University of Bristol study published in Chemical Science. The findings are an important step towards a new therapy addressing the fundamental cause of cystic fibrosis.

The return of a space probe bearing samples from a distant asteroid is being eagerly anticipated by researchers from the University of Glasgow and Curtin University in Australia. Scientists from the School of Geographical and Earth Sciences will receive three miniscule precious pieces of the asteroid Ryugu when the uncrewed Hayabusa2 mission returns to Earth late next year after six years in space.

By creating protocells in hot, alkaline seawater, a UCL-led research team has added to evidence that the origin of life could have been in deep-sea hydrothermal vents rather than shallow pools. Previous experiments had failed to foster the formation of protocells - seen as a key stepping stone to the development of cell-based life - in such environments, but the new study, published in  Nature Ecology & Evolution , finds that heat and alkalinity might not just be acceptable, but necessary to get life started.

Researchers at the University of Sussex have developed a glue which can unstick when placed in a magnetic field, meaning products otherwise destined for landfill, could now be dismantled and recycled at the end of their life. Currently, items like mobile phones, microwaves and car dashboards are assembled using adhesives.

A new method of extracting hydrogen from water more efficiently could help underpin the capture of renewable energy in the form of sustainable fuel, scientists say. In a new paper, published today , researchers from universities in the UK, Portugal, Germany and Hungary describe how pulsing electric current through a layered catalyst has allowed them to almost double the amount of hydrogen produced per millivolt of electricity used during the process.

Scientists have developed a new way of significantly reducing the amount of platinum used in catalysts, opening up a much cheaper and cleaner ways of producing a whole host of commodity chemicals and fuels. Though present in a whole host of catalysts used to speed up chemical reactions in industrial processes, platinum is an extremely expensive metal that produces harmful by-products.

The power of nature could soon be used to create day-to-day materials such as paints, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals in a much more environmentally friendly way, thanks to a new breakthrough from scientists at Cardiff University. The international team, led by the Cardiff Catalysis Institute, has successfully unlocked the catalytic abilities of enzymes taken from fungi by creating the perfect conditions needed for them to function.

A way of making organic polymers from the fragrant molecules in conifers and fruit trees has been developed by scientists at the University of Birmingham. The technique, developed for 3D printing applications, could lead to a new generation of sustainable materials for use in biomedical applications or prototyping.

An international team of scientists, including a professor of chemistry from the University of Bristol, has worked out a way to improve energy storage devices called supercapacitors, by designing a new class of detergents chemically related to laxatives. Their paper, published today , explains why these detergents, called ionic liquids, are better electrolytes than current materials and can improve supercapacitors.

An artificial 'tongue' which can taste subtle differences between drams of whisky could help cut down on the trade in counterfeit alcohol, scientists say. In a new paper published today in the Royal Society of Chemistry's journal Nanoscale, Scottish engineers describe how they built the tiny taster, which exploits the optical properties of gold and aluminium to test the tipples.

Imperial College London scientists have created artificial cells that mimic biological cells by responding to a chemical change in their surroundings. The artificial cells could be used to sense changes in the body and respond by releasing drug molecules, or to sense and remove harmful metals in the environment.

Inspired by the processes of cellular differentiation observed in developmental biology, an interdisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Bristol have demonstrated a new spontaneous approach to building communities of cell-like entities (protocells) using chemical gradients.

Why do some people take to the streets to protest against corruption in their society. and others don't? Researchers from the Centre for the Study of Corruption at the University of Sussex have found that people who experience corruption first hand are more likely to protest, but only up to the point where it becomes routine.

Chemical traces in the atmospheres of stars are being used to uncover new information about a galaxy, known as the Gaia Sausage, which was involved in a major collision with the Milky Way billions of years ago. Astrophysicists at the University of Birmingham in collaboration with colleagues at European institutions in Aarhus, Bologna and Trieste, have been studying evidence of the chemical composition of stars in this area of the Milky Way to try to pinpoint more accurately the age of the smaller galaxy.

The chemical composition of the Earth's mantle is a lot more variable and diverse than previously thought, a new study has revealed. According to a new analysis of cores drilled through the ocean crust, the mantle is made up of distinct sections of rock each with different chemical make-ups. The chemical composition of the mantle has been notoriously difficult to determine with a high degree of certainty because it is largely inaccessible.