The analytical performance of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) can be improved dramatically by using an artificial neural network approach, opening up new opportunities for its application.

Two important innovations in analytical science have reached their 25th anniversaries: solid phase micro-extraction (SPME) and comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC). Here’s why I think they are worth applauding.

Could carbon nanotubes hold the key to real-time, portable testing for meat freshness?

GSK and the RSC embark on a five-year partnership to bring GC-MS skills to Africa

Criminals “sweating it out” beware: a new amino acid test can tell male from female fingerprints

A new LC-MS/MS screening method simultaneously detects a wide range of non-banned potentially performance enhancing drugs and masking agents in urine

Could NASA’s “chemical laptop” breathe new life into the search for extraterrestrials?

Three years on, and our mission to record, celebrate and scrutinize analytical science is as strong as ever.

This application note will describe the analysis of a series of dextran samples ranging in molecular weight from about 1 – 650 kDa. Structural comparisons to other polysaccharides, gum arabic and pectin are presented. Initially discovered by Louis Pasteur in 1861, dextran is a polysaccharide that has found a variety of applications, primarily in the medical field, due to its minimal side-effects and solubility in aqueous media.

Sitting Down With… Detlef Günther, VP Research and Corporate Relations, and Professor for Trace Element and Micro Analysis, ETH Zürich, Switzerland.