RSC - Advancing the Chemical Sciences


Chemistry World

 

March 2007

Vol 4, No.3

March 2007

News and analysis

UK Chemistry reclaims lost ground

UK chemistry reclaims lost ground

Education air of optimism sweeps through beleaguered labs


Hafnium oxidem helps make chips smaller and faster

Hafnium oxide helps make chips smaller and faster

Intel and IBM have announced that they will use dramatically different materials to build smaller, faster transistors for their next generation of chips


Cigarette

Funding ignites ethics row

German research prize raises burning questions


Against the grain

Against the grain

Energy currently favoured biofuels won't meet demands


Foreign postgrads to be screened

Foreign postgrads to be screened

Policy Proposed security scheme 'absolutely unnecessary'


Woman honoured with international prize

Women honoured with international prize

The 2007 L'Oreal Unesco awards for women in science were announced at a ceremony in Paris on 22 February


High street viagra sales fuel marketing controversy

High street Viagra sales fuel marketing controversy

Men in the UK are now able to buy Viagra from a pharmacist without a doctor's prescription


Drug companies slash workforces

Drug companies slash workforces

AstraZeneca and Pfizer announce significant job cuts


The million dollar microscope

The million dollar microscope

Leica Microsystems GmbH plan to put the first commercial Sted systems on sale this autumn


News in brief

Short items


Business roundup

Industry news


Funding briefs

Short items


New on the market

New products - March 2007


In the papers...

Short items


Chemical science

Leigh-Nature

Demonic devices make densest memory

Rotaxanes used in chemical computing can drive thermodynamics in reverse


X-ray diffraction

'Ultimate microscope' in sight

26 January 2007

No lenses and fancy computing boosts x-ray resolving power


psychedelic face

LSD reveals its secrets

31 January 2007

The mechanism behind mind-bending trips caused by hallucinogens has been uncovered by a US study.


Uranium sensor

DNA-based detection for uranium

05 February 2007

High sensitivity and selectivity claimed for a portable sensor that detects most common form of uranium.


pnc-Si membrane

Slim-line silicon speeds up protein separation

14 February 2007

Ultra-slim silicon membranes: from labs on chips to artificial kidneys.


Polymer nanocapsule

Nano-pumpkins fitted for drug delivery

12 February 2007

Surface modification of polymerised nanocapsules.


Neutral-molecule synchrotron

First synchrotron for neutral molecules

22 January 2007

Device can probe behaviour of ultracold compounds


Snake!

Snakes have a soft spot for heart-stopping toad toxins

30 January 2007

Toads far from happy about the deal


A wound

Proteins join forces for wound healing

26 January 2007

UK scientists provide fresh insight into the protein-mediated events behind wound healing.


Optical micrograph of neuron population

Nervous response to drugs

12 February 2007

A non-destructive way to monitor cells reveals potential Alzheimer drug's effect on neurons.


Tiny furball

Nanoparticles bond like atoms in a molecule

18 January 2007

Hairy ball theorem used to get isotropic nanoparticles linking up in a chain.


Bubbles on track

Bubbles put the logic into lab-on-a-chip

08 February 2007

Microfluidic processors use bubbles as 'bits'


Amino acid crystal structure

Giving life a hand

02 March 2007

Origin of homochirality sees two more explanations


A red LED

Simply biofuels

13 February 2007

A simple enzyme-based biofuel cell has been made by a team of Japanese scientists.


Section of a microfluidic device

That's swell: hydrogel plugs in control

30 January 2007

American researchers have used hydrogels to control the flow of liquid in microfluidic devices.


Self-exploding microcapsules

Instant insight: Delivering the goods

09 February 2007

Stefaan De Smedt and Bruno De Geest of Ghent University, Belgium, weigh up the pros and cons of using polyelectrolyte capsules as drug delivery vehicles


Features

Editorial

Riding the RAE rollercoaster

UK academics will soon be bracing themselves for the 2008 research assessment exercise, the last of its kind before a hotly debated metrics system takes over.


The one-stop science shop

The one-stop science shop

From mass spectrometers to lab reagents, the newly formed Thermo Fisher Scientific sells it all.


The terahertz gap: into the dead zone

The terahertz gap: into the dead zone

New materials are opening up applications for terahertz radiation in the physical, biological and medical sciences. Joe McEntee reports


Chemistry for the common good

Chemistry for the common good

Marcellin Berthelot was a man of many talents, combining ground breaking chemical research with a busy and successful political career, as Mike Sutton finds out


Regulars

Editorial

Editorial: Another energy meltdown

Will Britain ever build another nuclear power station?


Prepare to be engaged

Comment: Prepare to be engaged

Ted Nield warns of the perils of Pest


Derek Lowe

Opinion: In the pipeline

Do the benefits of pharmaceutical company mergers really outweigh the costs, asks Derek Lowe


Philip Ball

Opinion: The crucible

Understanding why nature's materials are so smart could be the first step to educating our own dumb polymers, argues Philip Ball


Dylan Styles

Opinion: Bench Monkey

Dylan Stiles worships at the altar of NMR


Crossword and Su Doku

Prize crossword and Su Doku, March 2007


The last retort: MySpace: the final frontier

There are more than 140 million registered users on MySpace


Flashback

40 years ago in Chemistry in Britain


Letters

Chemistry World Letters, March 2007

Reviews

Chemistry World Reviews, March 2007