news from the publishing world

News this week is that Springer Nature is selling off both Scientific American and Spektrum der Wissenschaft - and to different buyers as well. Spektrum goes to GeraNova Bruckmann, a media holding that has magazines for pet owners among other things, so I'm not quite sure about this move. The most scientific magazine I can spot in their portfolio is the German edition of National Geographic.

I started translating for Spektrum in 1991 and writing my own articles soon after, but somehow petered out in the 2010s as I got more work from Current Biology and the Spektrum pieces tended to take too long to come out. It looks like my most recent item in Spektrum appeared in January 2020.

So a loss more at the nostalgia front and not a business problem, but still ...

Speaking of nostalgia, I still have all the print issues from the 1980s through to the 2020s (they stopped sending me complimentary copies a few years ago). These issues may soon become another relic of a bygone era.

Here's an astrobiology-themed cover from 2015:

And here's a photo of multiple issues of Spektrum prepared for this article about my writing career:

catching up with 2020

I do still publish stuff in German magazines, I only forget to blog about the pieces. (Note also that the publications list on my website got stuck at the end of 2018!) So here's another attempt to catch up, covering November 2019 till January (nothing out in Feb), chronologically backwards:



Ausgeforscht: Die Stunde der Wahrheit
Nachrichten aus der Chemie Volume 68, Issue 1, Jan. 2020, Page 114
FREE Access via Wiley Online Library
2020 was the future once and now it is here ... what happened to all the advances we were promised?

So eine Schwärmerei
Nachrichten aus der Chemie Volume 68, Issue 1, Jan. 2020, Page 78-79
Access via Wiley Online Library
Feature about research at the MPI for collective biology in Konstanz. Related content in English.

Die Theorie der "intensiven Welt"
Gehirn und Geist Jan. 2020, 70-75.

Chemie: Der Herr des Kohlenstoffrings
Spektrum der Wissenschaft Jan. 2020, 29-31
Bending polyynes to form large carbon rings. Related content in English.


2019

Ausgeforscht: Hühner zur Sonne, zur Freiheit
Nachrichten aus der Chemie Volume 67, Issue 12, 2019, Page 98
Access via Wiley Online Library

Am Anfang war das Narrengold
Nachrichten aus der Chemie Volume 67, Issue 12, 2019, Page 68-69
Access via Wiley Online Library
The role of pyrite (fool's gold) in the early days of life on Earth.

Ausgeforscht: Absorbierende Kunst
Nachrichten aus der Chemie Volume 67, Issue 11, 2019, Page 114
Access via Wiley Online Library

all things German

Publications in a few German magazines keep happening, I'm just failing miserably in keeping track of them.

So, without any attempt at logic or regular patterns of updates, here is what has come in since the last update:


Synthetische Biologie: Lebensfunktionen neu erdacht
Chemie in unserer Zeit Volume 53, Issue 1, Februar 2019, Page 7
Access via Wiley Online Library
related content in English

Von Mikroben und Mineralien
Nachrichten aus der Chemie Volume 67, Issue 2, Februar 2019, Pages 52-53
Access via Wiley Online Library
related content in English


Ausgeforscht: Mit 150 fängt das Leben an
Nachrichten aus der Chemie Volume 67, Issue 2, Februar 2019, Page 98
Access via Wiley Online Library


Ausgeforscht: Künstliche Dummheit
Nachrichten aus der Chemie Volume 67, Issue 3, March 2019, Page 114
Access via Wiley Online Library


Chemie: Künstliche Intelligenz entdeckt neue Stoffe
Spektrum der Wissenschaft Heft 2/2019, S 24-27
related content in English (the second story mentioned in this blog entry)




Own photo of the event that inspired the Ausgeforscht column published in February (a product launch trying very hard to look cool).

catching up

oooops, I seem to have neglected the round-ups of my publications in German, so here goes from July through to December 2016:

Neurochemie: Vogelspinne zeigt neue Schmerz-Wege
Chemie in unserer Zeit Volume 50, Issue 4, page 159
abstract and restricted access to full text

Netzwerk Leben: Calcium rundum vernetzt
Chemie in unserer Zeit Volume 50, Issue 4, pages 224-225, August 2016
abstract and restricted access to full text

Ökosystem: Eine globale Nährstoffpumpe
Nachrichten aus der Chemie Volume 64, Issue 7/8, pages 738-740
abstract and restricted access to full text

Ausgeforscht: Bier - neu definiert
Nachrichten aus der Chemie Volume 64, Issue 7/8, pages 819
restricted access to full text and PDF download

Ausgeforscht: Küche gegen Labor
Nachrichten aus der Chemie Volume 64, Issue 9, page 935
restricted access to full text and PDF download

Netzwerk Leben: Ein Thermometer, das auch wehtun kann
Chemie in unserer Zeit Volume 50, Issue 5, pages 352–353, October 2016
abstract and restricted access to full text

Medizinische Chemie: Schmerzbehandlung ohne Suchtgefahr
Nachrichten aus der Chemie Volume 64, Issue 10, pages 952-954
abstract and restricted access to full text

Forensik: Fälschliche genetische Fingerabdrucke
Spektrum der Wissenschaft Nr 10, pages 29-30

Wie entstanden und funktionierten die ersten Nucleinsäuren?
Chemie in unserer Zeit Volume 50, Issue 6, page 370
abstract and restricted access to full text

Netzwerk Leben: Erkennt die Signale
Chemie in unserer Zeit Volume 50, Issue 6, pages 420-421, Dez 2016
abstract and restricted access to full text

Biowissenschaften: Insekten als Indikatoren
Nachrichten aus der Chemie Volume 64, Issue 12, pages 610-612
abstract and restricted access to full text

Ausgeforscht: Der Duft der alten Bücher
Nachrichten aus der Chemie Volume 64, Issue 12, page 1235

Also, congratulations to Chemie in unserer Zeit for completing its 50th year, here is how it all began, back in 1967:

blue moon

The harvest of the German magazines in November and December includes cephalopods (on the cover of Nachrichten aus der Chemie, below), neon on the moon, and molecular electronics:

Blickpunkt Biowissenschaften: Die wundersamen Fähigkeiten der Tintenfische
Nachrichten aus der Chemie 2015, 63, 1186-1188.
related content in English

Ausgeforscht: Neon auf dem Mond
Nachrichten aus der Chemie 2015, 63, 1259.

Materialforschung: Biomolekül als Elektronikbaustein
Spektrum der Wissenschaft No. 11, 17-19

cover of Nachrichten aus der Chemie, Dec. 2015.

layers of gold and plastics

In the round-up of German pieces published in March / April we find structures folded and intertwined, deposits of gold and plastics, and reflections on a chemistry-related movie.

Pop-up im Mikromaßstab
Chemie in unserer Zeit Volume 49, Issue 2, page 94, April 2015
Abstract and limited access to full text

Hauptsache, die Chemie stimmt
Nachrichten aus der Chemie 63, 433-434
review of "Better living through chemistry", English version here.

Was macht der Müll im Meer?
Nachrichten aus der Chemie 63, 443-444

Ausgeforscht: Eine Hölle mit goldenem Boden
Nachrichten aus der Chemie 63, 503

Molekularer Drudenfuß und Davidstern
Spektrum der Wissenschaft Nr. 3, 10-12
first paragraphs of the article and limited access to full text

... oh, and a new Wikipedia entry as well.

macro-scale origami birds (own photo)

light reading

In the round-up of German pieces published in January/February it's mostly about light, so we have photosynthesis, seasonal affective disorder, UNESCO's year of light. Along with that a bit of chemistry bang in the shape of Knallgas bacteria and a new synthesis approach:

Ein neuer Molekülbaukasten
Chemie in unserer Zeit Volume 49, Issue 1, page 12, Februar 2015
abstract and limited access to full text/pdf
related content in English

Jahr der Erleuchtung
Nachrichten aus der Chemie 63, Nr 1, pages 133–135
free access

Die Brennstoffzelle der Knallgasbakterien
Nachrichten aus der Chemie 63, Nr 2, pp 133–135 DOI: 10.1002/nadc.201590047

Chemische Heiterkeit
Nachrichten aus der Chemie 63, Nr 2, p 215

Fotosynthese mit Turbolader
Spektrum der Wissenschaft Nr 2, pp 17-19

Mehr Licht - die saisonale Depression
Trillium Diagnostik 2014, 12, Nr 4, pp 188-189

a schnapsidee

... is the kind of inspiration that you only have after a few glasses of schnaps, and which may turn out not quite so inspired once you've sobered up. The idea to produce alcoholic drinks in powder form sounds like it could qualify for this label in more than one respect, as I discussed in September's Ausgeforscht column. On a more sober note, the round-up of German pieces published in September/October also includes fake graphene, neonicotinoids, and shark antibodies. Something for every taste, really.

Pulverisierte Schnapsidee
Nachrichten aus der Chemie 62, No. 9, 951

Variationen zum Thema Graphen
Chemie in unserer Zeit Volume 48, Issue 5, page 329, DOI: 10.1002/ciuz.201490059
Abstract and limited access to full text
related content in English

Sorgenkind systemischer Pflanzenschutz
Nachrichten aus der Chemie 62, No. 10, 991
related content in English

Haie geben Einblick in die Evolution des Immunsystems
Spektrum der Wissenschaft No. 10, 12
Summary and limited access to full text
related content in English

own photo

DNA nanotechnology gets real

DNA nanotech is a field I've followed from its very beginnings, i. e. Nadrian Seeman's DNA cube in the early 90s. Back then, it was playful "misuse" of the tools developed for molecular biology, but increasingly, the methodology has become more versatile and sophisticated, leading us to a point now, where people can design complex and useful things, like nanopores, self-assemble them rapidly and efficiently, and rely on getting the structure they designed. There aren't many molecules you can do that with on a scale of tens of nanometres. So, while it remains an oddity that people misuse an information molecule to build machines, DNA nanotech has grown up into a technology to be taken very seriously.

My latest feature on this field is out in Current Biology today:

DNA nanotechnology gets real

Current Biology, Volume 23, Issue 3, R95-R98, 4 February 2013

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2013.01.049

Free access to

HTML text

PDF file

(Image: with permission from Langecker et al., Science (2012) 338, 932.)

PS: I've also covered the same work in an article in German, published in May 2013:

Spektrum der Wissenschaft 5/2013, S. 16

Materialwissenschaft: DNA-Nanotechnologie vor dem großen Sprung

First para and limited access to PDF

peptides, proteins and poo

the articles published in German this month cover innovative toilets, non-ribosomal peptides, and the story behind this year's chemistry Nobel (G-protein coupled receptors).

WC 8
Nachrichten aus der Chemie 60, 1175

Peptidsynthese ohne Ribosomen
Nachrichten aus der Chemie 60, 1198-1199

Enthüllungen aus dem Reich der Sinne
Spektrum der Wissenschaft Nr. 12, 24-27

PS Oh, there's also a book review in the special review section of the "in unserer Zeit" journals:

Kleine Nachhilfe: Antworten auf Kinderfragen (review of: Endlich Mitwisser, Holger Wormer and Michael Dietz)
Chemie in unserer Zeit 46, Nr 6, Treffpunkt Buch plus, V

a special proteasome for the immune system

The round-up of German pieces in November has only one article, covering the crystal structure of the immunoproteasome:

Molekularmedizin: Recyclingtonne für das Immunsystem – genauer betrachtet

Vom zelleigenen Schredder für Proteine, Proteasom genannt, besitzen Immunzellen eine Sonderausfertigung. Jetzt haben Forscher dessen Aufbau im Detail untersucht. Damit hoffen sie, Medikamente gegen Autoimmunkrankheiten zu entwickeln.

Spektrum der Wissenschaft Nov. 2012, S. 20-22

beginning of the text and restricted access to full text

I've covered some aspects of this work in English earlier this year, in a feature about symmetry and complexity.

(image: © Prof. Michael Groll/Technische Universitaet München.)

roundup of German pieces

My articles published in German this month include one about protein structure prediction, one about flu viruses, and a tongue-in-cheek appreciation of kitchen experiments.

Spektrum der Wissenschaft Nr 6, S. 18-20
Proteinstrukturen vorhersagen – dank Verwandtschaftsbeziehungen

Die dreidimensionale Struktur eines Proteins ist durch die Abfolge der einzelnen Aminosäuren eindeutig festgelegt. Trotzdem fällt es Forschern immer noch schwer, sie zu berechnen. Vergleiche zwischen verwandten Eiweißstoffen können helfen.
beginning of the text and limited access to PDF file

Nachrichten aus der Chemie Bd. 60, Nr 6, S. 632
Experimentierkunst in der Küche

Nachrichten aus der Chemie Bd. 60, Nr 6, S. 654-655
Globale Grippegefahr

PS: nearly forgot:

Chemie in unserer Zeit 46, 134
Alzheimer-Demenz: Amyloid-Plaques - wie sie entstehen und wie man sie wieder los wird

miscellaneous musings

rounding up the last two months worth of German pieces, I have the miraculous interconversion of spider glue and barnacle cement, the wine diet, barcodes and autism. Here goes:

Chemie in unserer Zeit 46, Nr 1, 6
Naturstoffe: Seide aus Beton
Abstract and FREE access to PDF file

Nachrichten aus der Chemie 59, Nr 2, 111
Ausgeforscht: Na denn, prost!

Nachrichten aus der Chemie 59, Nr 2, 137-8
Blickpunkt Biowissenschaften: Barcodes für Tiere und Pflanzen

Spektrum der Wissenschaft Nr 1, 24-26
Autismus: neue genetische Fährten

plus a late arrival from last December:

Trillium Report 9 Nr 4, 211-212
Astrobiologie: Lebenszeichen aus dem All




Astrobiology diffracted through a glass of Cotes du Rhone ...

October crop

the roundup of German pieces in October has philosophical insights gained in mitochondrial research, RNA scaffolding in synthetic biology, crop protection, and an appreciation of the conical flask / Erlenmeyer flask on its 150th birthday.


Die Energie der Mitochondrien und ein bewegtes Forscherleben, Spektrum der Wissenschaft 2011, Nr 10, 100. (review of "Feuersucher" by Gottfried Schatz)

RNA-Gerüst bringt Ordnung in die Zelle, Chemie in unserer Zeit 2011, 45, 351
restricted access to PDF file

Ungestörtes Wachstum erwünscht, Nachrichten aus der Chemie 2011, 59,966

Eine schräge Geschichte, Nachrichten aus der Chemie 2011, 59, 936



Erlenmeyer's original design drawing, apparently. Source: wikipedia

phages and pili

the roundup of German pieces in August is all about bacteria, namely first the phages that infect them, and then the hairs that enable them to infect us.

Planet der Phagen
Spektrum der Wissenschaft August 2011, page


Wie die Haare der Bakterien wachsen
Chemie in unserer Zeit 45, No. 4, page 234
DOI: 10.1002/ciuz.201190057
abstract and limited access to PDF file




a chestnut tree, as featured in the phages work reported

vernier's chemistry

The only German piece out this month is a news story on Harry Anderson's "Vernier chemistry" using the mathematical principle of the Vernier scale (a device consisting of two scales with different numbers of divisions lacking a common denominator, e.g. 9 and 10, invented 380 years ago) for the construction of well-defined molecular rings.

Schieblehre inspiriert Aufbau von Nanoringen, Spektrum der Wissenschaft Nr 5, S. 21

The beginning of the text and a link to the PDF (restricted access) is here.

As you can tell from the number of reader's responses, I got the explanation of the Vernier scale the wrong way round. In fact, the additional, slightly different scale is squashed (typically by 10:9), while I wrote that it was stretched. I think I had this wrong version in my head since the age of five or so, so it didn't occur to me to get the caliper out and check.

nine megabikes at the edge of the Universe

I just found out that my next book is going to come out earlier than I expected, on Feb 23rd. So now I have to get going building a web page for it (under construction here) and spreading the word ...

The book is in German, and it is a collection of my humour and opinion pieces from the last ten years, mostly published in Nachrichten aus der Chemie or Spektrum der Wissenschaft. Some previously unpublished gems are included as well.

The title of the book, 9 Millionen Fahrräder am Rande des Universums (9 million bicycles at the edge of the Universe) comes from a piece I wrote about Simon Singh's objections to the lyrics of Katie Melua's song 9 million bicycles back in 2005. The gist of it is obvious from my letter to the Guardian, which is online here.

The book will look like this:



I love the cover a lot. Never mind the text, buy it for the cover! Oh, and there are 14 cartoons by Roland Wengenmayr inside as well.



PS (4.3.) It's now listed at amazon.co.uk with the correct title!

silk and prizes

The roundup of German pieces for December includes a polymer science perspective on spider silk, a detailed look at this year's Nobel prize for chemistry (Heck reaction and similar couplings using palladium catalysts) and a look back over 20 years of the coveted IgNobel prizes in chemistry. The spiders even made it to the cover of Nachrichten:



Blickpunkt Biowissenschaften: Spinnenseide aus Sicht der Polymerforschung. Nachrichten aus der Chemie 59, 1250

Ausgeforscht: Was ist eigentlich Chemie? Nachrichten aus der Chemie 59, 1225

Verknüpfung von Kohlenstoffatomen mittels Palladium Spektrum der Wissenschaft Nr 12, 18 [free access]

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bioremediation of Deepwater Horizon spill

Soon after the Deepwater Horizon disaster, two papers in Science Express looked at the chances for bioremediation and seemed to come to opposite conclusions, i.e. that the Deepwater Horizon spill will or will not be rapidly degraded by microbes. This highlights that we know far too little about the microbes and microbial communities that can degrade oil in seawater, so we cannot predict whether they will be helpful in a given case and it will indeed be difficult to recruit them for cleanup operations.

Depressingly, science doesn't appear to have advanced very much since I covered oil-eaters in my book Life on the Edge 12 years ago. Much like the oil eating microbes themselves, research activity investigating their lifestyle tends to multiply after an oil spill and then fade again.

I wrote a short article about these first studies (and a third one which appears to weigh down in favour of bioremediation at least of the lighter hydrocarbons such as propane) which is now out in Spektrum der Wissenschaft:

Öl fressende Mikroben im Meer
Spektrum der Wissenschaft Nov. 2010, p. 12

first paragraph and restricted access to PDF file

PS This is the only German piece this month, so this blog entry also serves as my round-up of German publications.
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wine, games, and geometry

Articles out in German this month include circled squares, quiz chemistry, the science of wine, and the computer game that folds proteins:

Die Quadratur des Kohlenstoffs, Chemie in unserer Zeit 44, 317, DOI: 10.1002/ciuz.201090063
abstract and access to pdf
(my blog entry on this story in English)

Ausgeforscht: Quizfragen für Computer, Nachrichten aus der Chemie 58, 1002.

Biowissenschaften: In vino Wissenschaft, Nachrichten aus der Chemie 58, 1028.

Proteinfaltung als Computerspiel, Spektrum der Wissenschaft Nr 10, 16.
full text
(my blog entry on this story in English)

Oh, and talking about protein folding, here's a swan folding back its flexible domain onto the compact core domain: