150 years later, 2019 is the International Year of the Periodic Table

Jan 29, 2019 12:24 pm UTC| Science

The United Nations announced 2019 as the International Year of the Periodic Table of the Chemical Elements to highlight its first publication in 1859. The periodic table as we know it today was first designed by the...

Gene drive technology makes mouse offspring inherit specific traits from parents

Jan 27, 2019 14:42 pm UTC| Nature Science

As mouse geneticists, we spend a lot of time waiting for mice to make more mice. Their small size, ease of care and willingness to mate have made mice the mammal of choice for scientists for more than a century. Indeed,...

Periodic table: new version warns of elements that are endangered

Jan 27, 2019 14:41 pm UTC| Insights & Views Science

It is amazing to think that everything around us is made up from just 90 building blocks the naturally occurring chemical elements. Dmitri Mendeleev put the 63 of these known at the time into order and published his first...

Why Chinese science seems so secretive – and how it may be about to change

Jan 27, 2019 14:41 pm UTC| Insights & Views Science

Chinas recent scientific achievements including its embryo gene-editing research and historic moon landing appear to be surrounded by secrecy. The global scientific community first learned about its experiments modifying...

We're conservation scientists – here's why we haven't lost hope for the future

Jan 27, 2019 14:39 pm UTC| Insights & Views Science

It can be easy to lose hope in the age of what some call the planets sixth mass extinction. It is clear that there are no easy solutions to ongoing biodiversity loss, and while there are some inspiring local successes, we...

How realistic are China's plans to build a research station on the Moon?

Jan 20, 2019 09:01 am UTC| Insights & Views Science

The world is still celebrating the historic landing of Chinas Change-4 on the dark side of the moon on January 3. This week, China announced its plans to follow up with three more lunar missions, laying the groundwork for...

What the moon's craters reveal about the Earth's history

Jan 19, 2019 09:02 am UTC| Insights & Views Science

Most scientists believe the rate at which the moon and Earth have been bombarded by meteorites has remained constant for the past two to three billion years. Understanding the age of craters on the moon can help us better...