news 2021

Most high-value chemicals are currently produced using fossil fuels - industrial chemistry's use of petroleum accounts for 14% of all greenhouse gas emissions. An exciting alternative is to engineer bacteria as -cell-factories- with a genetic switch that reroutes their chemistry to produce high-value chemicals, such as biofuels, polymers and pharmaceuticals.

A new system capable of identifying complex molecular signatures could aid in the search for alien life in the universe and could even lead to the creation of new forms of life in the laboratory, scientists say. University of Glasgow researchers have developed a new method called Assembly Theory which can be used to quantify how assembled or complex a molecule is in the laboratory using techniques like mass spectrometry.

Scientists have created new artificial tissues that mimic some of the complex characteristics and abilities of living tissues, paving the way towards unprecedented advances in medicine, soft-robotics, and micro-engineering. The University of Bristol-led breakthrough, published in Advanced Materials , reports the first way to produce centimetre-sized artificial tissues of any shape and with complex internal structures.

Astronomers have identified the molecule methanol in the 'warm zones' of a protoplanetary disk circling a star about 360 light years from Earth. The finding is significant because although methanol - CH3OH - is one of the simpler complex carbon-based molecules, it is a precursor chemical involved in the creation of more complex substances such as amino acids and proteins, the building blocks of life.

Levels of air pollutants in cities in India and the UK are on the rise, according to a new study led by UCL and the University of Birmingham. Published today in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, researchers analysed satellite data to estimate trends in a range of air pollutants for 2005 to 2018.

The University of Cambridge is creating a new research initiative, bringing together physicists, chemists, biologists, mathematicians, and earth scientists to answer fundamental questions on the origin and nature of life in the Universe.

A team of scientists, led by the University of Bristol, with colleagues from Goethe University, Frankfurt, has found the first evidence for ancient honey hunting, locked inside pottery fragments from prehistoric West Africa, dating back some 3,500 years ago. Honeybees are an iconic species, being the world's most important pollinator of food crops.

A team of scientists, including those based at the University of Oxford as part of the Faraday Institution CATMAT project, researching next-generation cathode materials have made a significant breakthrough in understanding oxygen-redox processes involved in lithium-rich cathode materials. The paper proposes strategies that offer potential routes to increase the energy density of lithium-ion batteries.

A new research project is setting out to investigate how to make an industrial process which helps feed nearly half the world's population more sustainable. The Haber-Bosch process, developed in the early 20th Century, was the first economically-viable large-scale ammonia production process. It works by combining nitrogen and hydrogen under high pressures, with the addition of an iron-based catalyst which helps the process work at a moderate temperature.

A new type of 3D-printed battery which uses electrodes made from vegetable starch and carbon nanotubes could provide mobile devices with a more environmentally-friendly, higher-capacity source of power. A team of engineers led from the University of Glasgow have developed the battery in a bid to make more sustainable lithium-ion batteries capable of storing and delivering power more efficiently.

New research led by the University of Cambridge has found rare evidence - preserved in the chemistry of ancient rocks from Greenland - which tells of a time when Earth was almost entirely molten. It's astonishing that we can even hold these rocks in our hands - let alone get so much detail about the early history of our planet Helen Williams The study, published in the journal Science Advances , yields information on an important period in our planet's formation, when a deep sea of incandescent magma stretched across Earth's surface and extended hundreds of kilometres into its interior.

Researchers working on the Faraday Institution ReLiB (Recycling and Reuse of Li-ion Batteries) project have completed the installation of new battery testing and storage facilities at the University of Birmingham. The new facilities will allow battery scientists and engineers to speed up their research to develop safe, economic and environmentally sound recycling routes that recover large volumes of valuable materials contained in batteries at the end of their first life.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge and Skoltech in Russia have shown that polaritons, the quirky particles that may end up running the quantum supercomputers of the future, can form structures that behave like molecules - and these 'artificial molecules' can potentially be engineered on demand.

A large consortium led by the University of Bath has reached an important milestone in improving energy storage in lithium-ion batteries. Last updated on Friday 5 March 2021 A large consortium led by the University of Bath, investigating ways of improving energy storage in batteries, has made a significant step towards creating higher energy density lithium-ion batteries.

Scientists at UCL and the IIT -Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (Italian Institute of Technology) have created a temporary tattoo with light-emitting technology used in TV and smartphone screens, paving the way for a new type of "smart tattoo" with a range of potential uses. The technology, which uses organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), is applied in the same way as water transfer tattoos.

A team of engineers and scientists has developed a method of 'multiplying' organoids: miniature collections of cells which mimic the behaviour of various organs and are promising tools for the study of human biology and disease. We need to find the right conditions to help the cells in mini-organs self-organise Yan Yan Shery Huang The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, used their method to culture and grow a 'mini-airway', the first time that a tube-shaped organoid has been developed without the need for any external support.

Scientists are using an analysis of gases in the atmosphere of Venus to develop a new generation of lower-cost and more effective catalytic converters. Based on what they learned, a research team at the University has manufactured a synthetic compound which they believe will reduce toxic emissions of carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) from diesel engine exhaust.

Evidence is emerging that vitamin D - and possibly vitamins K and A - might help combat COVID-19. A new study from the University of Bristol published in the journal of the German Chemical Society Angewandte Chemie has shown how they - and other antiviral drugs - might work. The research indicates that these dietary supplements and compounds could bind to the viral spike protein and so might reduce SARS-CoV-2 infectivity.

Scientists from Bath's Centre for Sustainable and Circular Technologies have made a sustainable polymer using the second most abundant sugar in nature, xylose. Last updated on Tuesday 19 January 2021 Not only does the new nature-inspired material reduce reliance on crude oil products, but its properties can also be easily controlled to make the material flexible or crystalline.

New research on the structure and dynamics of a branched form of DNA called a three-way junction could lead to more effectively targeted treatments for degenerative disorders like Huntington's Disease, scientists say. In a new paper published , chemists from the University of Glasgow show for the first time how three-way DNA junctions undergo unexpected rearrangements in their structure.