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
Chemical & Engineering News: Bone nanostructure revealed by electron microscopy
Crystalline needles of bone mineral form helical patterns around collagen fibrils.
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Chemical & Engineering News: Scattered light weighs single biomolecules
Microscopy technique monitors protein aggregation and molecular binding in real time, without fluorescent tags.
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Chemical & Engineering News: Ultrasound triggers porous nanoparticles to attack tumors in mice
Metal-organic framework forms particle-embedded porphyrin-zinc complexes that generate reactive oxygen species.
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Chemical & Engineering News: Semiconductor silver sulfide stretches like metal
As the first known room-temperature ductile inorganic semiconductor, the material could boost flexible electronics applications.
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Chemistry World: What now for the world’s chemical weapons watchdog?
Attacks in Salisbury and Syria show that the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons needs to evolve.
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Chemical & Engineering News: Catalyst frees hydrogen from seawater
New solar-powered electrolysis system avoids briny bugbears like chlorine production.
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Chemical & Engineering News: Astatine forms halogen bonds
Union between halogen and electron-donor could help develop radiotherapy agents that rely on the uncommon element.
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Chemistry World: Live long and prosper
Perovskite solar cells need better stability testing if they are to flourish.
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Chemical & Engineering News: Nerve agent attack on spy used ‘Novichok’ poison
Chemical weapon used in U.K. assassination attempt was developed by Soviet Union during Cold War.
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Chemical & Engineering News: Looking for cheaper routes to malaria medicines
Efforts to produce low-cost synthetic artemisinin gain momentum with help from Gates Foundation.
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