Highlights
Nature: Fresh claim of making elusive ‘hexagonal’ diamond is the strongest yet
04 March 2026After decades of debate, researchers say that they have found the clearest evidence yet for this rare form of carbon.
C&EN: Copper finally joins the metallocene club
17 February 2026More than 70 years after ferrocene’s discovery, cuprocene fills a long-standing gap in the sandwich menu.
C&EN: Lighting a better path for biobased furans
16 January 2026Photocatalytic hydrolysis offers a shortcut for renewable chemicals.
C&EN: Gas looping boosts efficiency of carbon nanotube production
22 December 2025Methane pyrolysis reactor recycles process gases to improve output of nanotubes and hydrogen.
C&EN: Enhanced rock weathering shows little climate benefit in large trial
18 December 20253-year Swiss study underscores the importance of site selection to maximize CO2 sequestration.
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
Nature Index: How the US tech industry is shaping the transition to green energy
Major investments to fuel AI’s power demands are not the only way big tech is having an influence.
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Engineering: Electric Vehicle Market Slowly Edges Toward Solid-State Batteries
Companies are gradually overcoming technical challenges with batteries that offer longer driving range and safer operation.
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C&EN: ‘Berkelocene’ puts exotic berkelium in a sandwich
Researchers find bonding surprises at the extreme end of organometallic chemistry.
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Nature: Can this revolutionary plastics-recycling plant help solve the pollution crisis?
A world-first facility has a new way to break down ‘unrecyclable’ plastic waste.
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C&EN: Slow proteins may contribute to many chronic diseases
Reactive oxygen species in cells cause proteins to link up through disulfide bonds, reducing their mobility.
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Engineering: Hydrogen Hubs Arise in the United States
Public funding brings producers and users of clean hydrogen together to boost adoption of the gas.
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C&EN: Simple method converts fluorspar into fluorochemicals
Generating common fluorinating agents directly from the mineral avoids the dangers of hydrogen fluoride.
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Graphene at 20
Twenty years after its discovery, the atom-thin carbon sheet is finding its footing (Science)
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The Future of Solar Power?
Perovskite–silicon ‘tandem’ photovoltaics are on the brink of commercialisation (Nature)
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Science: Coming of Age
Twenty years after the ballyhooed discovery of graphene, the atom-thin carbon sheets are finding their footing.
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