Katrina Krämer asks if an essential blood-thinning medicine ended Joseph Stalin's 30-year rule over the Soviet Union

Discover bat-borne-bombs and a classic chemistry textbook, as Mike Freemantle examines the history of kerosene

One mineral form may look like gold, but Brian Clegg isn't fooled by the value of iron sulfides

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