Starch: Chemistry in its element
Inspired by a mention of arrowroot in Jane Austen's Emma, Mike Freemantle investigates how subtle differences in composition mean starch can be resistant dietary fibre or easily-digested nourishment.
19 Apr 20196min
Aniline: Chemistry in its element
How an early synthetic dye chemical came to play a role in a mysterious disease outbreak in 1980s Spain
12 Apr 20197min
Talc, or magnesium silicate: Chemistry in its element
Coating your naked body with powdered magnesium silicate may sound strange, but it's an important part of many bathtime rituals
5 Apr 20196min
Tocopherols: Chemistry in its element
Mike Freemantle discovers sea buckthorns, also called 'beauty berries' because of their high concentration of tocopherols and tocotrienols, collectively known as vitamin E.
29 Mar 20196min
Trichloroanisole – Wine cork taint: Chemistry in its element
If you've ever been unlucky enough to experience 'corked' wine, then 2,4,6-trichloroanisole, or TCA was likely the chemical culprit
22 Mar 20195min
Vinblastine and vincristine – Vinca alkaloids: Chemistry in its element
Kat Arney unearths the story of a truly international effort to develop new drugs for cancer, and the female researcher whose key role went overlooked
15 Mar 20197min
Polyethylene glycol or PEG: Chemistry in its element
Kit Chapman on the simple polymer that preserves and protects ancient artifacts, and saved a historical Swedish shipwreck from complete collapse
8 Mar 20194min
Ferrous sulfate, or iron(II) sulfate: Chemistry in its element
Mike Freemantle on the iron compound that has been turning oak gall extract into indelible ink for centuries, but is now eating though our ancient manuscripts and musical scores
1 Mar 20196min
