In profile

  • Steven Chu: ‘I’m in the process of learning chemistry’

  • Margaret Faul: ‘Stand for what you think is right’

  • Jean-Marie Lehn: ‘Science or music really can take up all your life’

  • Konstantin Novoselov: ‘I don't really know where my Nobel medal is’

  • Dan Shechtman: ‘Cyrus Smith was my idol’

  • Richard Schrock: ‘It’s not my catalyst, it’s nature’s’

  • Sossina Haile: 'I never resonated with role models'

  • Donna Strickland: ‘My career goal was to get a PhD’

  • Martin Chalfie: ‘I decided I wasn’t going to be a scientist’

  • David MacMillan: ‘The medal is the real celebrity’

Straightening afro hair

Are hair relaxers damaging to health?

By

Different chemistries have been designed to turn curly hair straight, but in all cases questions remain about their safety, finds Rachel Brazil

Kurt Wuthrich

Nobel laureate speaks of experiencing ‘male discrimination’ at annual Lindau meeting

By

Kurt Wüthrich describes climate of meeting of Nobel laureates as hostile

Woman at computer

Share of women in US government Stem jobs has been static since 2005

By

Women are underrepresented in US federal Stem jobs and leave these posts at a higher rate than men, but more female supervisors might help

Question marks on a scientific experiment

Design of experiments

Quizzes and resources to help you to become better at designing experiments. Created in partnership with JMP

Charles Lieber

Lessons from Lieber

The prosecution of Charles Lieber has had a chilling effect on US researchers, leaving them uncertain about collaboration with overseas programmes

Robot coming out of lamp

Scientific authorship in the time of ChatGPT

With AI-generated texts here to stay, we need to recognise that intellectual work is much more than just writing

OECD logo

A new regulatory paradigm for increased robustness in chemical testing

Non-animal methods could revolutionise how we assess toxicity

Straightening afro hair

Are hair relaxers damaging to health?

Different chemistries have been designed to turn curly hair straight, but in all cases questions remain about their safety, finds Rachel Brazil

Lab PPE

Research productivity is not a hostage to good safety in the lab

No decline discovered in the output of University of California chemistry labs following tighter safety rules after deadly accident in 2009

Two figures in white hazmat suits with breathing apparatus enter through the door of a rundown house

Catalysing the clean-up of methamphetamine

Closing a meth lab is just the first step towards making it safe