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
HENRY SNAITH: Sun worshipper
An energetic physicist pushes a promising solar-cell material into the spotlight. (part of ‘Nature’s 10: The people who mattered this year’)
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Spare Parts
Can 3D printing solve the organ donor shortage?
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A century of isotopes
Once appalled by the military use of his discoveries, Frederick Soddy would pleased by his legacy today, says Mark Peplow.
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Graphene: The quest for supercarbon
Graphene’s dazzling properties promise a technological revolution, but Europe may have to spend a billion euros to overcome some fundamental problems.
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No firm proof Arafat was poisoned
Investigation claims evidence of polonium poisoning in death of Palestinian leader but draws no certain conclusions.
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The judgement of your peers
A bit of hindsight goes a long way in measuring scientific quality, says Mark Peplow.
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Hormone disruptors rise from the dead
Broken-down pollutants reform in the dark, casting doubt on environmental risk assessments.
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Missing methane gas mystifies Mars scientists
Curiosity rover fails to detect previously recorded chemical in Martian atmosphere.
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Graphene makes light work of optical signals
Ability to convert light to electrical signals efficiently holds potential for high-speed computing.
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Engineered bacterium hunts down pathogens
E. coli microbe seeks out and destroys invaders without harming helpful bacteria.
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