Highlights
Science: Nobel Prize honors researchers who showed how ‘handedness’ can emerge in chemistry
08 October 2026Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai win award for reactions leading to mirror-image molecules.
Nature: Chemists struggle to ditch hazardous solvents — even after decades of ‘green’ efforts
26 September 2026Laboratories are still using dangerous and carbon-intensive liquids much more often than environmentally friendly ones, according to a 40-year survey of patents.
C&EN: Precise deuteration eases ‘heavy drug’ synthesis
10 September 2026Nickel catalyst swaps hydrogen for deuterium to produce drugs that are metabolized more slowly.
Engineering: Can ‘Superwood’ Replace Concrete and Steel?
25 August 2026Engineered woods aim to curb construction’s climate emissions.
ACS Central Science: These Graphene Experts Are Trying to Close the Reproducibility Gap in Two-Dimensional Materials Research
14 May 2026Too much work on graphene and related materials cannot be repeated — a problem that wastes time and holds back commercialization. New rules could help solve it.
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
Nature: Google AI and robots join forces to build new materials
Google DeepMind tool predicts nearly 400,000 stable substances, and an autonomous system learns to make them in the lab.
Posted in Highlights
Comments Off on Nature: Google AI and robots join forces to build new materials
Nature: A new kind of solar cell is coming: is it the future of green energy?
Firms commercializing perovskite–silicon ‘tandem’ photovoltaics say that the panels will be more efficient and could lead to cheaper electricity.
Posted in Highlights
Comments Off on Nature: A new kind of solar cell is coming: is it the future of green energy?
C&EN: Lithium-ion battery recycling goes large
As companies scramble to increase recycling capacity, they are navigating a tricky path through shifting battery chemistries and a raft of new regulations.
Posted in Highlights
Comments Off on C&EN: Lithium-ion battery recycling goes large
C&EN 10 Start-ups to Watch: DePoly
Recycling complex plastic waste for a circular economy.
Posted in Highlights
Comments Off on C&EN 10 Start-ups to Watch: DePoly
C&EN: Antifungal analog offers reduced toxicity
Improved version of amphotericin B is now in clinical trial, but debate continues about its mechanism of action.
Posted in Highlights
Comments Off on C&EN: Antifungal analog offers reduced toxicity
C&EN: Skeletal edit swaps carbon for nitrogen
Single-atom edit offers medicinal chemists a direct route from quinolines to quinazolines.
Posted in Highlights
Comments Off on C&EN: Skeletal edit swaps carbon for nitrogen
C&EN: A shocking way to produce hydrogen from plastic waste
Flash Joule heating converts polymers into low-cost hydrogen and graphene.
Posted in Highlights
Comments Off on C&EN: A shocking way to produce hydrogen from plastic waste
C&EN: Catalyst persuades alcohols to offer a helping hand for C-H activation
Tailored ligand on palladium catalyst uses hydrogen bonding to orchestrate reaction.
Posted in Highlights
Comments Off on C&EN: Catalyst persuades alcohols to offer a helping hand for C-H activation
Nature Biotechnology: ‘Clicked’ drugs: researchers prove the remarkable chemistry in humans
Bioorthogonal click chemistry is being used in patients to help target cancer medicines and diagnostic imaging agents.
Posted in Highlights
Comments Off on Nature Biotechnology: ‘Clicked’ drugs: researchers prove the remarkable chemistry in humans
C&EN: Medicinal chemistry methods miniaturized for high-throughput experimentation
Researchers redesign 4 workhorse reactions to run in microliter droplets.
Posted in Highlights
Comments Off on C&EN: Medicinal chemistry methods miniaturized for high-throughput experimentation
