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
Spectrum: Printed Diode Is Fast Enough to Speak With Smartphones
Simple component could help to connect everyday objects to the Internet of Things.
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Spectrum: Perovskite Is the New Black in the Solar World
All the cool solar-cell scientists are working on perovskite photovoltaics.
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Spectrum: Thin-film Solar Cells Freed From Toxic Processing
Cadmium chloride treatment replaced by benign magnesium chloride – a key ingredient in tofu.
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Technologist: To frack or not to frack
Can America’s shale-gas revolution be repeated in Europe?
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Technologist: Google’s shopping spree
The web giant is making a major push into artificial intelligence and robotics. What does this have to do with the search-engine business? And are robots on the battlefield the next step after driverless cars?
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Nature: EU science chief wants greater voice for experts
Anne Glover says that better access to evidence helps policy-makers to make informed choices.
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Chemistry World: A mind-blowing legacy
Alexander Shulgin’s research on psychoactive drugs shows how molecules can take on a life of their own once they leave the lab.
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Nature: US physics strategy collides with budget
Particle physicists seek international collaboration as domestic funding faces uncertain future.
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It’s life, but not as we know it
A living cell that uses artificial bases in its DNA heralds a profound development for chemistry, says Mark Peplow.
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Two Labs Get the Lead Out of Promising Perovskite Solar Cells
Photovoltaic cells made from perovskite materials have rapidly become one of the hottest areas in energy research over the past few years. But most of these materials have included the toxic metal lead, raising concerns about their environmental impact.
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