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
Category Archives: Highlights
Chemistry World: The China CFC dilemma
New production breaking the Montreal Protocol demands a concerted response.
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Chemical & Engineering News: Lights, camera, reaction!
Although some kinks are still being worked out, the European X-ray Free-Electron Laser facility is now giving researchers an unprecedented view of the inner workings of molecules and materials.
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ACS Central Science: A Conversation with Ting Zhu
This chemical biologist is building the mirror image of nature’s molecular machinery.
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Nature: The Flint water crisis: how citizen scientists exposed poisonous politics
A review of two books on broken pipes and promises in Michigan.
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Chemistry World: Shaking up the knowledge economy
UK Research and Innovation is poised to reshape the research funding landscape.
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Chemical & Engineering News: Perovskite progress pushes tandem solar cells closer to market
Rapid improvements in the stability and efficiency of perovskite-silicon tandem cells are raising commercial hopes.
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Chemical & Engineering News: Ancient organic molecules found on Mars
Curiosity rover also reports data on the red planet’s mysterious methane plumes.
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Chemistry World: Escaping the postdoc trap
Low pay and gloomy career prospects are thwarting the next generation of researchers.
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Chemical & Engineering News: Rise in CFC emissions threatens ozone recovery
Rogue trichlorofluoromethane likely originates from production facilities in East Asia.
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Chemical & Engineering News: Periwinkle gives up its cancer-busting secrets
Key enzymes in complex biosynthesis could enable alkaloid production.
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