• ‘Unnatural’ chemical allows Salk researchers to watch protein action in brain cells - Researchers at the Salk Institute have been able to genetically incorporate "unnatural" amino acids, such as those emitting green fluorescence, into neural stem cells, which then differentiate into brain neurons with the incandescent "tag" intact.
• Loudspeakers in your window - Korean scientists have used graphene sheets to make a transparent and lightweight loudspeaker which, they say, can be attached to windows and computer screens.
• Eight steps to foil antibiotic resistant bacteria - US scientists have synthesised by a new route a key intermediate for the production of synthetic analogues of natural antibiotic tetracyclines that could be used as potential new drugs to combat the growing ranks of antibiotic resistant bacteria.

Chemist and writer Robert Slinn gives us his Slinn Pickings from the world of chemistry.