News & Comment

Chemistry research and education face challenges anywhere in the world, but more so in less developed — or less stable — economies. These countries and their more economically fortunate neighbours can all contribute to the development of chemistry and its ability to tackle local and global issues.

Bohrium behaves just as a group 7 element should — but this is in fact surprising, Philip Wilk explains.

Mauricio Erben, a researcher at the National University of La Plata and the National Scientific and Technical Research Council, talks to Nature Chemistry about his experience of research in Argentina, and how it is inherently linked to the country's political climate.

Chemistry education and research in Africa is challenging — a fact that is clearly reflected by publication metrics. Yet this is far from the full story on a continent that has youth on its side, a cultural link to chemistry through its strong interest in plants and indigenous medicine, and an increasing number of ways forward.

A trio of recent discoveries in physics should be celebrated by everyone, even chemists, argues Bruce Gibb.

From secretive beginnings to serving in missions on Mars, Rebecca J. Abergel and Eric Ansoborlo take a look at the glowing mark curium has left on contemporary science and technology.

The practice and overarching mission of chemistry need a major overhaul in order to be fit for purpose in the twenty-first century and beyond. The concept of 'one-world' chemistry takes a systems approach that brings together many factors, including ethics and sustainability, that are critical to the future role of chemistry.

It is easy to overlook just how important temperature is when it comes to chemistry and Michelle Francl wonders if thermometers had a role in turning alchemists into chemists.

David Payne relates iridium's role in two very different ages.

Of all the things humans can bestow names upon, new chemical elements are about the rarest. Our group of periodic table experts attempts to read the tea leaves and predict the names for elements 113, 115, 117 and 118.

Yuichiro Nagame ponders on the steps it took to make lawrencium, and its location in the periodic table.

Publishing the wrong interpretation of experimental data can result in an immediate horde of chemists feeding on the error like vultures. On rare occasions, this phenomenon can open up an entire new field of science — and the structure of ferrocene is a case in point.

The modification of proteins with fluorophores, drugs and polymers is required for many applications, yet conjugation reactions often generate a heterogeneous mixture of products. A collection of articles in this issue focuses on methods to modify proteins in a site-selective manner.

A day in the life of an academic, as told by Bruce C. Gibb.

Peter Dinér describes the journey of yttrium from its discovery in a remote mine to high-temperature superconductors and light-emitting diodes.