Comets have long been proposed as possible sources of the organic molecules that helped kick-start life on Earth. But a new modeling study suggests that not many comets could have successfully delivered useful concentrations of those molecules to the planet’s surface. #chemsky 🧪

Comets may not have kick-started life on Earth after all

Simulations suggest that few cometary impacts could have delivered enough hydrogen cyanide to support the chemistry that preceded life

cen.acs.org

The surface of an Andes virus is covered in protein spikes with which it attaches to human cells. Researchers have now mapped how a human cell receptor fits within these spikes—identifying a new potential target for antiviral drugs. #chemsky 🧪

Andes hantavirus has a secret pocket

Researchers uncover ‘highly unusual’ way the Andes virus locks a receptor protein inside a deep pocket

cen.acs.org

Blue Activity, one of C&EN's #10StartupsToWatch, combines microorganisms, water treatment chemistry, and continuous monitoring to reduce reliance on chemical biocides: #chemsky 🧪

10 Start-Ups to Watch 2026: Blue Activity uses bacteria to treat industrial cooling water

The start-up combines microorganisms, water treatment chemistry, and continuous monitoring to reduce reliance on chemical biocides

cen.acs.org

Two independent research teams have built clocks that tune themselves to a transition inside the atomic nucleus: cen.acs.org/analytical-c... #chemsky 🧪

It's start-up season. @cenmag.bsky.social just published it's annual list of 10 start-ups to watch. We've got a fascinating cohort this year. Read the profiles here: cen.acs.org/business/sta...

10 Start-Ups to Watch 2026

Meet the companies rethinking how we make medicines, food, materials, and more

cen.acs.org

Meet the companies rethinking how we make medicines, food, materials, and more: cen.acs.org/business/sta... #10StartUpsToWatch #chemsky 🧪

Here's a little #FridayFun: @theanageorgescu.bsky.social finds a connection between lab-made sapphires and ketchup in the latest #Newscripts for @cenmag.bsky.social #chemsky🧪 cen.acs.org/materials/ta...

A taste for unusual colors

From Windex-blue sapphires to alga-green ketchup, researchers expand the palette

cen.acs.org

Here’s what we’re watching in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries this week: #chemsky 🧪

Business Watch CJ CheilJedang and ADM to form an amino acids joint venture; PTT to link up with Siam Cement in petrochemicals

Here’s what we’re watching in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries this week

cen.acs.org

The 2026 #NobelPrize in Physics has been awarded to Francis Halzen of @uwmadison.bsky.social for investigations of fundamental particles: cen.acs.org/people/nobel... #chemsky 🧪

The 2026 #NobelPrize in Physics has been awarded to Francis Halzen “for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin.” Stay tuned for the full story to come! 🧪

2026 Nobel Prize in Physics awarded for investigations of neutrinos

Francis Halzen honored for the discovery of ghostlike messengers from the cosmos

cen.acs.org

#ClimateWeekNYC 2026 is wrapping up and C&EN was all over the city covering tech showcases, panels, activations, talks, and the arts, all focused on advancing humanity's response to climate change despite the current headwinds. cen.acs.org/environment/... #chemsky 🧪

Ana Georgescu went deep on coatings chemistry for C&EN for, y'know, reasons. Not addressed: is it a sandwich? #chemsky cen.acs.org/materials/co...

Why the Reflecting Pool coating peeled and blistered

Primer, heat, and water could all help explain the failures in the pool’s new polymer lining

cen.acs.org

Researchers have engineered marine bacteria to keep producing siderophores, molecules that microbes use to scavenge iron from their surroundings, even when iron is abundant, speeding up the dissolution of olivine. #chemsky 🧪

Engineered bacteria speed rock weathering for carbon removal

Iron-binding molecules keep olivine dissolving in seawater, helping pull more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere

cen.acs.org

A study describes how engineered bacteria accelerate olivine weathering in seawater reactors and increase the water’s alkalinity, allowing it to absorb more CO₂ from the atmosphere. #chemsky 🧪

Engineered bacteria speed rock weathering for carbon removal

Iron-binding molecules keep olivine dissolving in seawater, helping pull more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere

cen.acs.org

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology reopened a chemistry building Aug. 31 after closing it for several days after a hazardous material incident involving a graduate student. #chemsky 🧪

Potential dimethylmercury incident reported at MIT

The building was closed for 4 days after a report of dimethylmercury synthesis; MIT says it is unclear whether the highly toxic compound was actually produced

cen.acs.org

Researchers are studying whether 5-(tetradecyloxy)-2-furoic acid, known as TOFA, can promote weight loss by changing how the body stores and uses fat. #chemsky 🧪

Can an old molecule turn up the metabolic heat?

TOFA helped high-weight mice lose fat by altering lipid metabolism and energy expenditure

cen.acs.org

Researchers are studying whether 5-(tetradecyloxy)-2-furoic acid, known as TOFA, can promote weight loss by changing how the body stores and uses fat. #chemsky 🧪

Can an old molecule turn up the metabolic heat?

TOFA helped high-weight mice lose fat by altering lipid metabolism and energy expenditure

cen.acs.org

Again has acquired the industrial biotechnology company Genomatica in a deal that combines a young carbon dioxide-to-chemical firm with one of the longest-standing developers of biobased chemicals. #chemsky 🧪

Again acquires industrial biotech veteran Genomatica

The deal adds Genomatica’s biomanufacturing technology and commercial experience to Again’s carbon-to-chemical platform

cen.acs.org

Here’s what we’re watching in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries this week: #chemsky 🧪

Business Watch: Japan’s Eneos to acquire TPC; FDA approves twice-rejected melanoma drug

Here’s what we’re watching in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries this week

cen.acs.org

A new multiplexed screening platform that simultaneously tests multiple small molecules against a panel of E3 ubiquitin ligases, enzymes that tag proteins for degradation, has allowed a team of researchers to search for molecular glues more efficiently. cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic... #chemsky 🧪

Researchers collected microscopic paint samples from the areas marked in purple on Diego Rivera’s Creation (1922–23) to analyze the mural’s binding medium. The team found evidence of copal resin but no detectable beeswax. #chemsky 🧪

New analysis rewrites the recipe for Rivera’s first mural

Researchers find the copal resin, but not the beeswax, Rivera described in his technique

cen.acs.org

Here’s what we’re watching in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries this week: #chemsky 🧪

Business Watch: BioBTX moves on renewable aromatics; Scribe’s IPO is a hit

Here’s what we’re watching in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries this week

cen.acs.org

Chemistry is key to the success of current and future space missions: cen.acs.org/physical-che... #chemsky 🧪

Buying PolyPeptide will give Samsung Biologics new capability and expertise in peptides, a modality that has surged with the popularity of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) drugs for weight loss and that is being explored in oncology and other disease areas. #chemsky 🧪

Peptides are big, and Samsung Biologics is paying $1.8 billion to get in on the action

Planned acquisition of specialist PolyPeptide signals interest in peptides by drug outsourcing firms

cen.acs.org

One of my all-time favorite projects, forever in love with salamanders and my three teammates 🦎

Alex Megerle@alexmegerle.bsky.social · 4mo ago

And if you want extra amphibian visuals, click through to the mini documentary produced by myself, @theanageorgescu.bsky.social, Laura Martín Agudelo, and Lucie McCormick. www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSmt...

In a new study that pointed two radio telescopes at a molecular cloud, researchers detected erythrulose, a four-carbon monosaccharide that could have been transferred to minor bodies, such as comets and asteroids, and then delivered to younger planets such as the early Earth. #chemsky 🧪

Astronomers detect sugar in interstellar space for the first time

The discovery of erythrulose suggests that complex sugars can form on icy dust grains long before planets emerge

cen.acs.org

🚀Space package launch is a go!🚀 @cenmag.bsky.social's physical sciences team has been working hard on this for over half a year and I'm so excited to finally show it to the world! cen.acs.org/physical-che...

To the moon, Mars, and beyond

Chemistry is key to the success of current and future space missions

cen.acs.org

This moisture-activated battery can bend and stretch thanks to this pangolin-inspired design that packs individual battery cells closely together and absorbs mechanical strain via the battery’s interconnecting structures. cen.acs.org/materials/en... #chemsky 🧪

Researchers have designed a new ultrablack composite material made for automotive coating that absorbs nearly all light. #chemsky 🧪

Any color the customer wants, as long as it’s the blackest black

A new ultrablack coating for automotive and other applications combines carbon black and carbon nanotubes

cen.acs.org

Scientists using NASA's Perseverance rover have detected complex organic carbon in rocks from Jezero Crater, adding to growing evidence that organic material can persist on Mars for billions of years. #chemsky 🧪

Ancient Martian rocks preserve complex organic carbon

The ‘Perseverance’ rover finds new clues to how organic material formed and persisted on the Red Planet

cen.acs.org