Articles

Following our articles on the FAIR initiative, we now look at some examples of the FAIRification of data handling, collection and archiving.

The Tony Davies Column offers a challenge to us all with another contribution on FAIR data, which should be Findable, Available, Interoperable and Readable. It is clearly the way we should all be going, everybody from manufacturers and software developers, through researchers to publishers needs to work together.

How did a major trade show organiser cope with the disruption of COVID-19? Susanne Grödl, Exhibition Director of analytica for Messe München, gives her experience.

Peter McIntyre and Tony Davies remember Bill George, a real Welsh character and educator whose style and charisma influenced many to go on and not only stay in science but to rise to leading positions either in industry or academia.

In quantitative analysis, is it better to weigh materials when making up standard solutions or to use volumetric techniques? Traditionally, the answer has been “volume”, however, things may not be as straightforward as they seem. Henk-Jan and colleagues have conducted a new experiment, using robots for both sample preparation and spectroscopic analysis which may provide a definitive answer. Unfortunately, the answer must wait for publication of their paper, but Tony and Henk-Jan’s history of this question makes interesting reading nevertheless.

With a significant proportion of our regular readership probably under home lock-down, we were wondering if we could help you at this difficult time by pointing out some useful online resources. So, when we finally come out of this pandemic, you could do so better skilled and more up-to-date than when we went in to it.

The authors offer many useful points to consider when using pre-processing techniques.

This column shows how well the Theory of Sampling is able to address the powder sampling difficulties that have plagued the pharmaceutical industry for a long time. Definitely, a practical example of the importance of representative sampling.

Burned bones are often found in archaeological sites as a result of fire or funerary practices and are often the only preserved human remains. Using inelastic neutron scattering, infrared and micro-Raman spectroscopies, the authors can reach definitive conclusions as to the temperature at which the bone was burned. This enables archaeologists and anthropologists to learn more about how ancient civilisations used fire for funerary, burial or cooking purposes.