Scientists would love to be able to track molecules as they pass through porous solids like catalysts. This Chemistry World story shows how it can be done:

Molecular traffic spied in nanoscale tube network

Chemists in Germany have tracked single molecules diffusing through a porous solid for the first time. The study paves the way for further insights into how catalysts, drug delivery and membrane materials might be improved.

Funding boost for high-tech plastics research:

Scientists win cash to develop plastic x-ray detectors

26 November 2007

UK scientists have shown for the first time that polymers could compete with silicon for detecting x-ray radiation. Now, a funding boost gives the researchers the chance to work with industry and bring the technology closer to market.

Plants' molecular sunscreen

From Chemistry World

Proteins protect plants from sunlight

21 November 2007

A team of European scientists have revealed the molecular mechanism that allows plants to protect themselves from strong sunlight. The findings could be important for the development of solar energy systems, as well as helping agriculture.

Liquid computer

The computer you are sitting at right now does its 'thinking' in a load of tiny silicon switches called logic gates. This Chemistry World article explains how liquids in tiny channels can do the same job and process chemical, not electronic data.

Computing goes into solution

15 November 2007

South Korean scientists have developed the first soluble molecular logic gates - one step along the way to designing molecular computers and biological lab-on-a-chip devices. A team of scientists led by Juyoung Yoon of Ewha Womans University has used solutions of fluorescent sensor molecules that respond to 'inputs' of pH, metal ions and, for the first time in a molecular logic gate, proteins.