In focus – Page 11
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The Mole
Fractional crystallisation
Explore how fractional crystallisation can be used to purify mixtures and refine substances using this simple evaporation experiment.
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Soundbite
Bark beetles eat Beatle’s memorial tree
Nina Notman discovers at how bark beetles are destroying pine trees at an alarming rate
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The Mole
The monks’ tales
Kathryn Roberts looks at how modern spectroscopy lets us discover the secrets of 1500-year-old manuscripts without leaving the library
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The Mole
Trade secrets... Explosive detection
Secrets of the trade: Jonathan Hare explores an alternative approach for detecting bombs called nuclear quadrupole resonance
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The Mole
Observing chirality and the ‘handedness’ of sugar
Find out more about the molecular property of chirality and try a simple experiment using sucrose to explore ‘handedness’ of sugar yourself.
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Feature
Chemists on the front line
The UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory has a near century-long history of working with chemical weapons. Philip Robinson reports from Porton Down
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Feature
MOFs head to market
The most porous manmade materials, metal–organic frameworks, are pushing towards commercialisation. Elinor Hughes tracks their progress
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Soundbite
Dutch roads smarten up
Nina Notman explores the possibility of interactive, sustainable highways
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The Mole
When chemistry and art collide
From disappearing bottles to catalytic clothing: Josh Howgego investigates how a scientist–artist duo is starting conversations about society’s future
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The Mole
Modelling crystal structure using marshmallows
Explore the regular and ordered structure of crystals before modelling them yourself using marshmallows and cocktail sticks in this ‘Avogadro’s lab’ activity.
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The Mole
Trade secrets... Curdling of soya milk
Secrets of the trade: Jonathan Hare asks why soya milk tends to form hundreds of floating lumps when added to coffee
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Soundbite
Chemical weapon destruction takes float
Nina Notman’s thoughts turn to the chemists preparing to destroy Syria’s chemical arsenal at sea
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The Mole
Trade secrets... Neon lights, flicker bulbs and chaos
Secrets of the trade: Jonathan Hare shines a light on randomness
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The Mole
Catalytic metals and their uses
Learn about catalysts based on the transition metals and find out how they are used in catalytic converters to clean up exhaust fumes.
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