Highlights
C&EN: Hydrogen plasma offers sustainable nickel production
30 April 2025Electric arc furnace tackles low-grade ores, emitting much less carbon dioxide than conventional methods.
C&EN: Lanthanide orbitals spring a reaction surprise
23 April 2025Not known for their outgoing nature, 4f orbitals have been caught steering a reaction for the first time.
Nature Index: How the US tech industry is shaping the transition to green energy
20 March 2025Major investments to fuel AI’s power demands are not the only way big tech is having an influence.
Engineering: Electric Vehicle Market Slowly Edges Toward Solid-State Batteries
03 March 2025Companies are gradually overcoming technical challenges with batteries that offer longer driving range and safer operation.
C&EN: ‘Berkelocene’ puts exotic berkelium in a sandwich
28 February 2025Researchers find bonding surprises at the extreme end of organometallic chemistry.
TESTIMONIALS
“As an editor and reporter, Mark Peplow is fast, accurate, and versatile. He covers science policy and pure research with equal passion, and his writing combines a scientist’s precision with a journalist’s verve.” Tim Appenzeller
Former Chief Magazine Editor at Nature, now News Editor at Science
"Mark guided me through some of the most challenging stories I've written. These are pieces I might not have attempted were it not for his steady editorial hand." Linda Nordling
Freelance Journalist, South Africa
“Working with Mark is never anything other than a pleasure. He is the kind of editor that writers hope for: able to identify what needs fixing and what doesn’t, bringing to bear a wealth of knowledge, always clear, prompt and easy to talk with. Much of that comes from being a splendid writer himself.”
Philip Ball
Freelance Science Writer
Author Archives: Mark Peplow
ACS Central Science: Unlocking the Lanthanome
The discovery of bacteria that depend on lanthanides is providing new ways to detect and extract these crucial metals.
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C&EN: Halogenated azidopyridines fill gap in click chemistry toolbox
Handled with care, the compounds could be useful building blocks for medicinal chemistry.
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C&EN: Hydrogel battery could power bio-implants
Small lithium-ion battery is as soft as human tissue.
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C&EN: Reactor converts methane to heavier hydrocarbons without forming CO₂
A scaled up version of the process could help to curb methane venting and flaring at remote oil sites.
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C&EN: Graphene transistor detects SARS-CoV-2 in less than a minute
Device uses DNA probes to identify COVID-19 virus RNA with speed and high sensitivity.
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C&EN: Protein could unlock new sources of rare-earth elements
Lanmodulin can extract and purify technology metals from electronic waste and coal ash.
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C&EN: Chain-link molecules form squishy crystals
A metal-organic framework built from catenanes is surprisingly elastic.
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Nature Biotechnology: Nanotechnology offers alternative ways to fight COVID-19 pandemic with antivirals
A new wave of funding focuses on antiviral nanomaterials as pandemic countermeasures.
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C&EN: Uranium nitride triple bond is surprisingly covalent
NMR spectroscopy reveals an outlier of actinide bonding and provides a convenient method to assess bonding in other metal-nitrogen complexes.
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C&EN: Aptamer-nanopore sensor detects only infectious viruses
DNA-based device might offer rapid COVID-19 test that is not fooled by dead virus.
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