The Alchemist ups the "anti" this week with a look at aromaticity while the salty problem of fracking is high on the agenda once more but this time with a prehistoric perspective. Cleaner fuels might soon be available thanks to nanoscopic scrubbers while a new form of water emerges from the limbo between liquid and vapor when a little oil is added to the mix. Synthetic chemists have given a much needed shot in the arm for antiviral flu drugs and there's a "XMaS" bonus in the offing for European X-ray scientists.

via The Alchemist Newsletter.