December is here, and that means it’s Chemistry Advent season! It’s been a few years since I’ve put together a new edition, but it’s back this year with the theme “A Festive Food Journey Around the World.”
Disabled scientists are still vastly underrepresented in the sciences. With Enable Science, and with the help of a grant from the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Inclusion and Diversity Fund, we’ve produced a series of twelve graphics highlighting the amazing science being done by disabled scientists across the UK. Each poster highlights some of the challenges and accommodations needed to do science alongside being disabled, but also the scientists’ contributions to science.
Confectioners produce around 9 billion pieces of candy corn every year, according to the US National Confectioners Association, with a significant chunk of this consumed by trick-or-treaters. In the latest edition of Periodic Graphics in C&EN, we look at what candy corn is made of and the chemistry behind its vibrant colours. View the full graphic on the C&EN site.
The 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded jointly to Moungi G. Bawendi, Louis E. Brus and Alexei I. Ekimov for the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots.
Superconducting materials, capable of conducting electricity without resistance, have fascinated scientists for over a century. They’ve also been in the news recently as scientists hunt an elusive room-temperature superconductor which could transform civilisation. The latest edition of Periodic Graphics in C&EN examines what superconductors are, how they’ve been found, and how we use them. View the full graphic on the C&EN site.
Cooking is chemistry, so it should come as no surprise that chemical knowledge can help in the kitchen. The latest edition of Periodic Graphics in C&EN includes four practical tips and the science behind them. View the full graphic on the C&EN site.