Bioenergy research gets a boost

The UK's Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council has announced the biggest ever single UK investment in bioenergy research. The £17 million project is intended to develop a sustainable fuel derived from agricultural waste that will provide a significant source of environmentally-friendly energy. The main research hubs will be based in the Universities of Nottingham, Cambridge, Dundee and York, and at Rothamsted Research.  

US says no to nuclear 

Barack Obama has announced that the US will stop developing new nuclear weapons - a huge change from the Bush administration - and will be seeking to dramatically reduce the US stockpiles of nuclear weapons and material. He is also pledging to lead a global effort to secure all nuclear weapons materials at vulnerable sites within four years - which he says is the most effective way to prevent terrorists from acquiring a nuclear bomb. 

Mega-database launched 

Elsevier have launched a database called Reaxys that combines the content of CrossFire Beilstein, CrossFire Gmelin and the Patent Chemistry Database. The company claim the merged databases will provide harmonised content and additional functionalities to improve searching efficiency. 

Go Figure

30 per cent   

The increase in students enrolling on chemistry undergraduate courses at UK universities in the past 5 years. UCAS, the universities admissions service, have reported that 4009 people started studying chemistry in the UK at the start of the 2008-2009 academic year.