Featured
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News Feature |
Networking: Four ways to reinvent the Internet
The Internet is struggling to keep up with the ever-increasing demands placed on it. Katharine Gammon looks at ways to fix it.
- Katharine Gammon
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Research Highlights |
Material science: Speedy silk imprinting
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News |
Altered microbe makes biofuel
Bacterium could work directly on grass or crop waste.
- Jeff Tollefson
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Letter |
Cleaving carbon–carbon bonds by inserting tungsten into unstrained aromatic rings
The transformation of petroleum-derived feedstocks into useful chemicals often requires controllable cleavage of C–H or C–C bonds. There are many examples of achieving this through the oxidative addition of C–H bonds to metal centres, but analogous transformations of C–C bonds are rare. Here, using a tungsten centre and exploiting the formation of an unusual chelating ligand, a strong C–C bond is cleaved; other metal centres with suitable ancillary ligands could perform the same function.
- Aaron Sattler
- & Gerard Parkin
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News & Views |
Carbon–carbon bonds get a break
As a rule of thumb, carbon–carbon bonds are not easily broken. But a tungsten complex has been found to break a particularly strong carbon–carbon bond, opening up fresh opportunities for organic synthesis.
- Alan S. Goldman
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News Feature |
Planetary science: A whiff of mystery on Mars
The surprising discovery of methane in Mars's atmosphere could be a sign of life there. Researchers are now working out how to find its source, reports Katharine Sanderson.
- Katharine Sanderson
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Letter |
High-water-content mouldable hydrogels by mixing clay and a dendritic molecular binder
In the search to reduce our dependency on fossil-fuel energy, new plastic materials that are less dependent on petroleum are being developed, with water-based gels — hydrogels — representing one possible solution. Here, a mixture of water, 3% clay and a tiny amount of a special organic binder is shown to form a transparent hydrogel that can be moulded into shape-persistent, free-standing objects and that rapidly and completely self-heals when damaged.
- Qigang Wang
- , Justin L. Mynar
- & Takuzo Aida
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Research Highlights |
Chemistry: Chase acid, solve maze
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News & Views |
More ozone over North America
Springtime ozone levels in the lower atmosphere over western North America are rising. The source of this pollution may be Asia, a finding that reaffirms the need for international air-quality control.
- Kathy Law
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Research Highlights |
Astrophysics: Dusty galaxy
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News & Views |
Membrane magic
The use of magnetic fields to assemble particles into membranes provides a powerful tool for exploring the physics of self-assembly and a practical method for synthesizing functional materials.
- Jack F. Douglas
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News Feature |
The real holes in climate science
Like any other field, research on climate change has some fundamental gaps, although not the ones typically claimed by sceptics. Quirin Schiermeier takes a hard look at some of the biggest problem areas.
- Quirin Schiermeier
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News |
Pollutants plucked from air with copper
Fortuitous catalyst discovery offers a new way to suck carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
- Katharine Sanderson
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Letter |
Structural basis for the photoconversion of a phytochrome to the activated Pfr form
Phytochromes regulate numerous photoresponses in plants and microorganisms through their ability to photointerconvert between a red-light-absorbing, ground state (Pf) and a far-red-light-absorbing, photoactivated state (Pfr). The structures of several phytochromes as Pf have been determined previously; here, the three-dimensional solution structure of the bilin-binding domain as Pfr is described. The results shed light on the structural basis for photoconversion to the activated Pfr form.
- Andrew T. Ulijasz
- , Gabriel Cornilescu
- & Richard D. Vierstra
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News |
Bisphenol A link to heart disease confirmed
Second study supports an association between the controversial chemical and cardiovascular problems.
- Brendan Borrell
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News Feature |
Smart grids: The energy storage problem
Renewable energy is not a viable option unless energy can be stored on a large scale. David Lindley looks at five ways to do that.
- David Lindley
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News |
Kepler finds its first planets
Early data hint at discoveries to come in the hunt for Earth-like worlds.
- Eric Hand
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News |
Chemists crack complex compound
Naturalistic approach vindicated as sponge molecule yields to synthesis in the lab.
- Mark Peplow
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