features – Page 28
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FeaturePhenols in medicine
Phenol encountered in school or college chemistry laboratories demands special respect on account of its toxic and corrosive nature. But phenol and its derivatives do have a few medicinal surprises
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FeatureInvestigating activation energies
A challenge for post-16 students to investigate the activation energies of the enzyme-catalysed and the inorganic-catalysed decomposition of hydrogen peroxide
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FeatureAncient coins
Chemistry has played its part in numismatics - in the manufacture, analysis, aesthetics and conservation of coinage
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FeatureApplied science: on course
Applied science has a key role in the 14-16 curriculum, and its popularity is growing
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FeatureNatural products - back in vogue
Chemists are once again turning to Nature to replenish the medicine chest
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FeatureGlass bones
'Bioactive' ceramic and glass alternatives could improve the quality of life for millions of people suffering from osteoporosis
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FeatureA forgotten anniversary?
Has the significance of William Henry Perkin's synthesis of the purple dye mauveine begun to fade?
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FeatureChapattis and the English disease
In the early 1700s in England 'nothing was so much feared or talk'd of as Rickets among Children'. We now know that this softening of the bones, is caused by a deficiency of vitamin D.
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FeatureMaking the most of starch
With some clever chemistry starch represents an enormous and sustainable source of renewable carbon for non-food applications.
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FeatureAmadeo Avogadro 1776-1856
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the death of the Italian chemical physicist, Amedeo Avogadro.
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FeatureArtemisinin and a new generation of antimalarial drugs
Every year between one and two million people - mainly children - living in the tropics and subtropics die of malaria.
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FeatureBiting insects - a challenge for chemists
In many parts of the world biting insects are major disease vectors, being the source of malaria and yellow fever for example, though in the UK they are mainly just a nuisance
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FeatureChlorpromazine - unlocks the asylum
The history of pharmaceuticals is enriched by accounts of drugs developed for one therapeutic purpose that found application in another. This is true for chlorpromazine, a treatment for severe mental illness
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FeaturePioneering women chemists of Bedford College
In the early part of the 20th century, a few institutions seemed to have been havens for women interested in chemistry.
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FeatureSpicing up Chemistry
Spices have been used in cooking since Roman times, and were believed to be important as antiparasitic agents and as gastrointestinal protectants in the diet
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FeatureTitan - a museum of the Earth's atmosphere
Titan, the largest moon of the planet Saturn, has an atmosphere that is predominantly nitrogen with a small amount of carbon present in the form of methane and higher hydrocarbons.
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FeatureAcid mine drainage - a legacy of an industrial past
The environmental damage caused by acid mine drainage (AMD) is a worldwide and growing problem in those countries that once, or are still, extracting coal and/or metals. What is AMD, what effect does it have on the environment, and what can be done about
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FeatureChemistry, medicine and genetic analysis
In the near future, doctors will be able to carry out a 'while you wait' test, using genetic analysis, for chlamydia, the silent disease that can lead to infertility in women.
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FeatureIn the steps of Markovnikov
The addition reactions of HCl and HBr to propene to give either 2-chloropropane or 2-bromopropane are often given as examples of Markovnikov's Rule, but in his original 1870 paper, Markovnikov used HI and not HBr or HCl.