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: Assassination attempt of Russian spy sparks chemical forensics investigation
U.K. officials want to know who poisoned Sergei Skripal with a ‘rare’ nerve agent.
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Chemistry World: China powers up
Huge investments and cutting-edge research are helping China to pioneer innovations in clean energy technologies.
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Chemical & Engineering News: Polar bear hair inspires stealth fabric
A cape made from porous fibers traps heat and hides a bunny from night-vision cameras.
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Chemistry World: When evidence isn’t enough
The UK debate over folic acid highlights science’s role in public health ethics.
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Chemical & Engineering News: Kesterite solar cells get ready to shine
Ambitious research programs aim to overcome the roadblocks keeping these materials out of commercial solar cells.
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Chemical & Engineering News: How lanthanides keep volcanic bacteria alive
Coordination complex reveals why rare-earth elements give methanol dehydrogenase enzyme a boost.
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Chemical & Engineering News: Shaking up gold and palladium
Mechanochemical method makes noble metal compounds without solvents or harsh reagents.
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Chemical & Engineering News: Robot arm carries nanoscale cargo
Fast-moving DNA origami device controlled by electric field.
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Chemistry World: A question of reproducibility
Survey of metal–organic frameworks raises concerns about the reliability of adsorption data.
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Chemical & Engineering News: Rewritable paper goes technicolor
Metal-ligand complexes display a range of long-lasting colors that can be erased on demand, allowing paper to be reused.
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