features – Page 26
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FeatureMultiple-choice tests - are they fit for purpose?
Of what value are multiple-choice tests in the new GCSE Science specifications?
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FeatureNanomedicine arrives
Nanoscale chemical entities target the building blocks of biology with medicinal consequences
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FeatureThe Power of NMR: The Beginnings
Originally a curiosity of the quantum world, NMR is now an essential tool for chemists, biochemists and clinicians
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FeatureCambridge Pre-U chemistry
The 'Cambridge Pre-U' qualifications - the latest alternatives to A-levels
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FeatureFighting cancer - the early years
Research and development of nitrogen mustards 60 years ago sets the scene for new era in the treatment of cancer
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FeatureFrom waxes to riches
Supercritical carbon dioxide can be used to remove valuable chemicals, including waxes, from plants, the most widely available and cheap source of biomass in the world
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FeaturePhotochromism in view
A context-based chemistry practical highlighting the importance of chemical kinetics and spectroscopy in commercial photochromic dyes
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FeatureExperimental nanoscience for undergraduates
The recent development of low cost, user-friendly scanning tunnelling microscopes has brought nanoscience experiments into undergraduate laboratories
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FeatureGeorge III, indigo and the blue ring test
Can a urine test offer insight into George III's insanity?
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FeatureGood lab practice
Students who want to work as analytical chemists in industry need to be introduced to the basic regulatory requirements of 'good laboratory practice'
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FeatureBelladonna, broomsticks and brain chemistry
Poisonous plants such as deadly nightshade produce toxic tropane alkaloids. These chemicals have been exploited in magic, murder and the design of a host of useful therapeutic drugs
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FeatureBiosensors based on DNA
Chemists are developing new medical and environmental sensors based on DNA sequences which have been selected to bind certain targets such as cancer markers in blood
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FeatureCF3SF5 - a 'super' greenhouse gas
Trifluoromethyl sulfur pentafluoride - a byproduct of the electronics industry - has been named a 'super' greenhouse gas by physical chemists
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FeatureHalogenating enzymes in organic synthesis
The use of haloperoxidases, from seaweed, in organic syntheses is simple and cost-effective and offers more environmentally-friendly routes to a host of compounds
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FeatureEarly pain-free days
Towards the latter part of 19th century cocaine provided the lead for chemists to develop effective local anaesthetics for dental surgery
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FeatureFuelling the future: solid phase hydrogen storage
The portable and safe storage of hydrogen will be fundamental to the success of fuel cell-powered cars
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FeatureI can see clearly now...
Thanks to advances in polymer chemistry contact lenses are now more comfortable and fashionable
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FeaturePolymers on the move
Fuel prices and the impact transport has on the environment are leading car and aircraft manufacturers to use more lightweight plastics and composites in their products
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FeatureBuild your own spectrophotometer
By designing and building their own visible-light spectrophotometers, students get to grips with the underlying principles of this widely used analytical tool