Five of the most explosive non-nuclear chemicals ever made

Feb 18, 2017 00:24 am UTC| Science

A chemistry department at a British university was recently evacuated after a student made the known explosive, TATP. The chemical, tri-cyclic acetone peroxide, or TATP, was made by accident as the product of a...

Organoids - the future of medical research

Feb 17, 2017 17:36 pm UTC| Science

Most of the research behind new medical advances is carried out using either animal tissues or cancer cells. Both tools have their problems: results from animals and humans do not always match up and cancer cells grown for...

Space Science Series

Organic molecules found on giant asteroid Ceres – why that's a such a huge deal

Feb 17, 2017 01:59 am UTC| Science

Sometimes, I think scientists are just that little bit too modest. A new paper in Science has a humdinger of a title: Localized aliphatic organic material on the surface of Ceres. It doesnt exactly trip off the tongue and...

Space Science Series

If atoms are mostly empty space, why do objects look and feel solid?

Feb 17, 2017 00:34 am UTC| Science

Chemist John Dalton proposed the theory that all matter and objects are made up of particles called atoms, and this is still accepted by the scientific community, almost two centuries later. Each of these atoms is each...

Perceptions of genetically modified food are informed by more than just science

Feb 16, 2017 06:59 am UTC| Science

When people dont seem to use science to make decisions, it is tempting to assume that its because they dont understand the underlying science. In response, scientists and science communicators often just try harder to...

Five ways nanoscience is making science fiction into fact

Feb 16, 2017 06:35 am UTC| Science

Russian author Boris Zhitkov wrote the 1931 short story Microhands, in which the narrator creates miniature hands to carry out intricate surgeries. And while that was nearly 100 years ago, the tale illustrates the real...

Human genome editing report strikes the right balance between risks and benefits

Feb 16, 2017 00:44 am UTC| Science

If you recognise the words CRISPR-mediated gene editing, then youll know that our ability to alter DNA has recently become much more efficient, faster and cheaper. This has inevitably led to serious discussions about...