This week we discuss a new light-controlled technique that creates structural color and water repellent properties in polymer films and discuss our low-stakes mistakes with Mason Wakley and Frankie Macpherson.

What do lotus leaves and plastic sheets have in common? We discuss how structural colour provides an alternative for pigments and chemicals and their environmental cost.

And, have you ever panicked over a broken a piece of lab equipment or a ruined experiment, only to realize it wasn't as big a deal as you thought? This week, we are discussing our low-stakes mistakes, why they feel so dire in the moment, and what we can learn from them.

Main stories:

https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/biomimetic-foaming-photopolymers-offer-new-waterproof-white-material/4024218.article

https://www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/the-chemistry-world-team-shares-some-of-its-low-stakes-mistakes/4024104.article

Headlines:

https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/merck-and-cos-us-antibiotic-withdrawal-sends-the-wrong-signals-for-combating-resistance/4024343.article

https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/lunar-samples-returned-by-chinas-change-6-mission-contain-rare-highly-magnetic-iron-allotrope/4024261.article

https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/two-accidental-nitroalkane-reactions-reveal-complementary-photochemical-routes-to-alkenes-and-unite-their-discoverers/4024314.article

https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/syngenta-plans-to-close-grangemouth-manufacturing-site/4024349.article

It's Nobel season again! And we're doing something a little different here on The chemical breakdown. Instead of our usual stories, in this episode we are turning the microphone to speculation and discussing who we think will be taking home the chemistry Nobel prize this year with Jamie Durrani and Neil Withers.

Each year the Nobel prize is awarded across six categories, including physiology/medicine, physics, literature, peace, economic sciences, and chemistry. This year the announcement of the chemistry prize is set for Wednesday 7 October.

Past winners have included last year's metal organic frameworks, protein structure prediction and design, and quantum dots.
Who is slated to win the prize this year? We trace trends in previous award winners, current predictions being discussed including the Clarivate citation laureates, and chat through our own Chemistry World team's predictions.

Main stories:

https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/who-will-win-the-2026-nobel-prize-in-chemistry/4024197.article

https://www.chemistryworld.com/nobel-prize/the-data-behind-the-nobel-prizes/4010453.article

Headlines:

https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/hats-off-for-new-lower-temperature-route-to-unzip-plexiglass-for-recycling/4024240.article

https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/300mw-electrolyser-construction-starts-off-spanish-hydrogen-valley/4024272.article

https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/elemental-sulfur-found-in-mammalian-cells-for-first-time/4024258.article

https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/simple-organic-catalyst-walks-phosphate-groups-along-sugar-backbones/4024254.article

This week, we explore how molecular glues have revolutionized how we treat previously 'undruggable' cancers and explore how modern scientific techniques are teasing apart the mysteries of one of the most iconic historical artefacts with Phillip Broadwith and Neil Withers.

A ground-breaking new drug has become the first of its kind to win FDA approval for metastatic pancreatic cancer. Could it mark the beginning of a new era for cancers that have long been considered impossible to target?

We'll also uncover the chemistry behind the investigation and conservation of the Bayeux Tapestry. What secrets have scientists already revealed, and what questions about this iconic artefact remain unanswered?

Main stories:

https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/us-approves-pancreatic-cancer-treatment-that-targets-undruggable-proteins/4024110.article

https://www.chemistryworld.com/features/the-chemistry-helping-to-unravel-the-bayeux-tapestrys-secrets/4024093.article

Headlines:

https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/does-the-discovery-of-a-new-coronavirus-upend-the-covid-19-lab-leak-hypothesis/4024170.article

https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/uk-funding-agency-to-spend-66-million-on-new-methods-for-engineering-the-mitochondrial-genome/4024165.article

https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/chinas-scientific-rise-is-being-driven-by-returning-expertise-especially-chemists/4024149.article

https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/growing-confidence-of-africas-chemical-societies-brings-chemistrys-benefits-to-continent/4024137.article