From tacky Hallowe’en decorations to the stuff of an arachnophobe’s nightmares, spiders don’t have the greatest reputation. But, as Kat Arney is here to prove, there’s fascinating chemistry at work in their webs.
Jamie Durrani on the compound that gives pepper its characteristic kick
Brian Clegg with the winemaking byproduct that may be lurking in your larder
Kat Arney discovers the strange things that happen when organic compounds go round the twist
A component of 'trench atmosphere' and ‘the most powerful antiseptic known’, Mike Freemantle explores calcium hydroxide and the birth of a chemical dynasty
Swipe, tap, pinch, poke and prod – Neil Withers gets hands on with touchscreen material indium tin oxide, ITO
Science imitates art imitating science, as sitcom The big bang theory inspires the creation of a new compound
Concluding our pair of podcasts on a recent cycling scandal, Ben Valsler looks at the steroid triamcinolone
Acetylcysteine is a versatile drug, helping manage lung conditions and treat paracetamol overdose. But, as Ben Valsler discovers, it has found itself at the centre of a cycling controversy
Jamie Durrani presents a pair of plant-based poisons
Kat Arney wraps herself around the tree sap that saved transatlantic telecommunications
A giant marine toxin with a total synthesis story to tell
Colourful crustaceans and the story of a ubiquitous biological pigment
Kat Arney investigates the biological pigment that links sun tanning, squid ink and browning bananas
We speak to Yuri Oganessian about the element that bears his name
Three Tennessee institutions contributed to the discovery of element 117, now fittingly named tennessine
Meet the Mayor of Livermore, California, and discover how his city has been immortalised on the periodic table
The US-Russian collaborative superheavy element 'factory' strikes again, but only 100 atoms of element 115 have ever been observed
How 'hot fusion' research saw an end to cold war tensions
We catch up with the changes in the periodic table. This time, Kit Chapman discovers the element that realised a Japanese national dream
Brian Clegg illuminates a glow-in-the-dark compound that defies naming conventions
Mike Freemantle brings us a sparkling mineral and a tale of derring-do on the high seas
Kat Arney discovers the biological chemistry behind a colourful blood disorder
Super-sweet and packed with preserving power, Mike Freemantle discovers that fructose can help keep things fresh long after the sell-by date
Katrina Krämer speaks to organic chemist Daniel Allwood about a multi-talented molecule that proves that not all radicals live up to their name
Brian Clegg becomes a sleuth to investigate the uses of a deceptively simple Lewis acid
Mike Freemantle discovers a sweet solution to monitoring contaminated water
Kat Arney takes a long, hard look at the story behind those famous little blue pills
Brian Clegg introduces a failed rocket fuel oxidiser with a very tricky structure
Kit Chapman discovers the compound that blighted Nixon’s second presidential inauguration by littering the route with dead pigeons
