Today (22 April) is Earth Day. While currently, we’re somewhat preoccupied with a different crisis, the climate crisis remains a pressing concern. Nuclear power is an oft-mentioned alternative to fossil fuels but comes with the associated problem of nuclear waste. Here, Matthew Harris explains some of the storage solutions and puts the problem in perspective.
How do you fight something you can’t see? That’s the question when it comes to the coronavirus crisis which currently has many of us holed up at home. Physical distancing is one important answer to preventing the spread of the virus, as avoiding catching it in the first place stops you from spreading it to others. But how can we take the fight directly to the virus?
Now that Spring is here and we’re all busy social distancing, it’s likely we’ll all be spending more time in the garden. The latest edition of Periodic Graphics in C&EN takes a look at what’s in the fertilisers we add to our gardens at this time of year, and how they help plants grow. View the full graphic on the C&EN site.
At the time of writing, there have been almost a quarter of a million confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide. The number of deaths is approaching 10,000. Across the world, countries are scrambling to increase their testing capacity for the virus — how are these tests carried out and how do they work?
8 March is International Women’s Day. As in previous years, I’ve put together another edition of this series looking at underappreciated women from chemistry history.
As coronavirus continues its spread, panic-buying has swept supermarket shelves of hand sanitisers. What’s in these sanitisers and how effective are they in comparison to hand washing? This graphic takes a look.
