Getting started at a new institution and building a research programme can be an exciting period, but there is much to do in a short space of time. Shira Joudan reflects on her first month as an assistant professor, discussing the stresses of setting up a new lab and how it’s easier with a little help from your (new) friends.

The researchers synthesized Li3TiCl6 from LiCl and TiCl3 and, with electrochemical testing, found room-temperature ionic conductivities above 1 mS cm–1. This is a relatively high value that enables positive electrode formulation in which the active material comprises 95 wt% of the solid composite electrode, a greater proportion than the <80 wt% in most solid-state cells. X-ray diffraction and bond-valance

Organisms that glow are perhaps eerie. Vadim Viviani ponders on the luciferin–luciferase systems responsible for their intriguing bioluminescence.

Bifurcating the population as either verbal or visual thinkers is one of the simplest ways to classify intelligence. Bruce Gibb argues that visual thinking is key to chemistry, and that teaching and testing must focus on this type of thinking rather than traditional approaches promoting verbal thinking skills.

Jane Liao and Allie C. Obermeyer explore the discovery, modification and applications of green fluorescent protein, best known for its use as a tool to cast light on cellular processes.

Does the pursuit of scientific research based on a well-defined technological outcome hamper our ability to be creative? And does it limit opportunities to explore and develop fundamental areas of science that may ultimately lead to applications we hadn’t even thought of yet?

The team synthesized a family of substituted tetraquinolines starting from a difunctionalized quinoline. Following chemoselective methyl ester formation and Suzuki–Miyaura coupling with a 2-aminophenylboronic acid, Kumagai and co-workers obtained the cyclic dimer via two-fold amidation. Treatment with an aryl alkyne, trifluoromethanesulfonic anhydride, and pyridine resulted in poor tetraquinoline yields;

Zafra Lerman talks to Nature Chemistry about embedding art in science education, and science in the pursuit of peace on Earth.