I reviewed the August 2008 edition of this publication which is produced monthly from Cambridge Science Park just down the road from the Hawkins office.

The editorial covered the issue of attracting and keeping people into science but particularly retaining women and particularly in chemistry. It seems that 50% of all chemistry graduates are women but that "the issue is to persuade women to stay in chemistry after graduation". The article on Page 8 is entitled "Macho culture sees women leave chemistry". Not the impression that I gained at school but then, that was a VERY long time ago, oh, and an all boys school....

Possibly part of the problem is contained in the lead article entitled "Braving the ice - Antarctica's intrepid chemists". Certainly the gentleman featured on the cover hardly looked like James Bond but this might be unfair given the layers of clothing and the very bushy beard. Apparently, the study of the Antarctic atmosphere and ice core chemistry could provide crucial information about climate change. Rather to your editor's surprise, chemists are playing a leading role in the research rather than physicists as I had expected.

Page 9 is given over to the Phoenix expedition to Mars to investigate the potential for snow. Phoenix touched down on 25 May, to little public acclaim, and is an expedition to study the potential for Mars to support life rather than looking for life itself. Hopefully, were the landing craft to be approached by little green men the craft would not simply ignore them as being "outside its remit"!

A new US study suggests that levels of nitrogen triflouride (NF3), a powerful greenhouse gas, should be monitored. NF3 was omitted from the Kyoto protocol as it was only made in small amounts as part of rocket fuel and in lasers. Unfortunately, it has since been used in large amounts in the manufacture of plasma screens. Sounds like LCD cannot take over quickly enough.

Finally, on a very sad note, Australian scientists have found that mercury poisoning could be leading local dolphins to beach themselves. The mercury levels in beached dolphins were found to be twice as high as that of live animals sampled. These levels were "high enough to cause quite severe neurological effects" said researcher Ross Thompson.

Chemistry world is a lively publication of some 90 pages with the emphasis on articles and news rather than on advertising. The articles contain a good balance of fact and comment although I found some of the more depth articles rather too much for my A level chemistry.