Photo Chemistry

  • heart-cockles
    English

    Biophotonic ‘windows’ enable symbiosis

    2024-11-27T13:19:00Z

    Several molluscs have developed benificial relationships with symbiotic, photosynthetic algae. Heart cockles boast advanced biophotonic structures in their shells that operate like optic fiber cables to catch and transmit the incoming sunlight.

  • SymmetryCover3d
    English

    The symmetry of bees lies within

    2024-11-13T07:39:00Z

    Nature is full of symmetry, though often only on the outside, but recently an international team discovered that honeybees also build the inside of their nests symmetrically. As well as being aesthetically pleasing, this has practical advantages.

  • EfaecalisCells
    English

    Clumping pests

    2024-10-23T09:50:00Z

    A team from Umeå University in Sweden has been studying how bacteria pass on their resistance genes to each other, resulting in a beautiful picture.

  • Natural-cement
    English

    Zapping sand

    2024-09-25T06:02:00Z

    Turning soft beaches into hard rock. American researchers managed this (at least on lab scale) by exposing sea-soaked sand to a mild electric current.

  • 2024_NatMicrob_Benoit_Laventie-Biozentrum_UniBasel
    English

    Smart intruders

    2024-09-10T09:16:00Z

    By studying the infection of lung organoids, Swiss researchers revealed how a notorious pathogen deploys a Trojan horse-stategy.  

  • Cye5-dye 2
    English

    Organic synthesis goes golden

    2024-08-26T11:55:00Z

    Working with dyes is asking for pretty pictures. While synthesising fluorescent tracers, Maarten van Meerbeek took this picture of a Cy5 dye.

  • Antenne-mier
    English

    Necessary neurons

    2024-08-23T14:54:00Z

    Noses are as diverse as the species they belong to. Ants use antennae to detect and process olfactory signals. But without the Orco protein, the development of the required neurons is halted.  

  • Klebsiella-01_compress_Kleb_oxytoca_MK01_03 - Kopie
    English

    Food fight

    2024-06-26T11:52:00Z

    Harmful bacteria? Don’t be too quick to judge, because sometimes toxins can also be protective.   

  • Six layers of excitatory neurons colored by depth, klein
    English

    Hey Google, what does a brain look like?

    2024-06-10T14:21:00Z

    A team from Google Research and Harvard University has published the largest ever dataset of neural connections in a fragment of the human brain.

  • Posnjak adl2733 image 1
    English

    DNA diamonds

    2024-05-22T11:44:00Z

    You can create extraordinary photonic crystals out of ‘tetrapods’ using DNA origami with unprecedented precision.

  • Chakrabarti adl0495 image 3
    English

    ​Sensitive channels

    2024-04-03T11:24:00Z

    Surprisingly little is known about the molecular basis of our sense of touch. A newly discovered ion channel fills in the picture.

  • 20230714lnp20-flower
    English

    Children’s experiment for adults

    2024-02-21T10:50:00Z

    It is a popular experiment to introduce children to science: staining a rose with food colouring. An American student did it with fluorescent dye.

  • Oerwoud-kolf
    English

    Jungle in a flask

    2024-02-12T14:43:00Z

    With a little imagination, you can see a complete jungle in this picture, with large ferns and grass on the ground. 

  • Mesospheric Ghost
    English

    Ghost of Mesosphere Present

    2023-12-19T12:23:00Z

    Stratospheric discharges are not only beautiful, they are also the subject of research into what makes them so colourful.

  • original picture-straight
    English

    Blue bead parade

    2023-12-13T12:35:00Z

    The audience award of the ChemistryViews 2023 Photo Competition went to this atmospheric image of blue calcium alginate ‘beads’. 

  • ChemViews_winnaar
    English

    Picture perfect tubes

    2023-11-20T12:22:00Z

    Maciej Majdecki won first prize in the ChemistryViews Photo Competition 2023 with this collection of beautifully coloured NMR tubes.

  • Molecular Jellyfish
    English

    Molecular jellyfish

    2023-06-23T09:48:00Z

    Serendipity is a thread running through many extraordinary discoveries in the history of chemistry. These ‘molecular jellyfish’ are no exception.

  • Iron_Lace
    English

    Iron embroidery

    2023-05-03T11:51:00Z

    Source: Ludovic Troian-Gautier, C&EN Nature offers the most beautiful crystal structures. But beauty is certainly not absent from the lab, as shown by these iron(II) photosensitisers.

  • Nylon single fiber
    English

    Threads of beauty

    2023-04-14T09:55:00Z

    Analytical polymer chemistry can be quite colourful, as shown in this X-ray diffraction pattern of a nylon fibre.

  • Low-Res_Mimulus_Horizontal_23_black.jpg
    English

    About the birds and the genes

    2023-02-24T08:44:00Z

    Chinese researchers show which gene in monkeyflowers has been altered so that the flowers no longer produce yellow pigment.