Chemistry

We may grumble about the rain but its one of the reasons Ireland has a vibrant green landscape earning it the name of the Emerald Isle. The North Atlantic drift keeps the climate temperate, offloads a lot of rain and keeps our vegetation…

New Asthma breakthrough Asthmatics could soon see a major change in their treatment. To date asthma sufferers have been treated for their symptoms after they appear but a new paper published in Science Translational Medicine identified a…

When I first studied cancer medicine as an undergraduate, my lecturer described chemotherapy as “beating up the patient with a baseball bat in the hope that you get the cancer on the way.” Chemotherapy has benefits, but the side effects can…

"Gas! Gas!….flound’ring like a man in fire or lime… guttering, choking, drowning… blood come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs.” Few things evoke the horror of battle as powerfully as Wilfred Owens’ Dulce et Decorum Est. Even…

As some of you may have heard, this year’s Nobel Prizes have been awarded to many great and deserving people. This highly prestigious award, started by the dynamite tycoon Alfred Nobel in 1895 (following his death), comes only after…

Personally, my hangovers have been getting worse and worse and so I am really interested in finding the best scientific strategy to cure a hangover. We’ve all heard of numerous different hangover cures over the years. Some are preventative,…

The idea of an origami microscope may seem completely bonkers but the inspired research team in Prakash Lab in Stanford University, California have made this insane concept a reality. I came across the video below as I delved into…

"I have been frequently questioned, especially by women, how I could reconcile family life with a scientific career. Well, it has not been easy." – Marie Curie. When I first decided that Marie Curie would be the next Legend of the Month…

Yesterday a paper was published online in the Journal of Neuroscience which showed that even recreational cannabis smoking may affect the shape and size of certain regions of the brain. Of course this study got widespread attention in the…

"Ugh, I hated chemistry when I was in school."   Ask me how many times I've heard that and I'll counter by asking you how many times you've seen the sun rise. The exchange usually goes something like this upon…