To celebrate the beauty of a discipline that is usually regarded only with respect to its utility, three Canadian chemists decided to launch a contest of chemistry-inspired art. The various submissions to “ChemiSTEAM” – the photos, drawings, and even tea towels – showed them that in the end it’s all about the stories behind the art.

By the end of the year, France will pull more than 2,000 troops from the Sahel, but its military involvement in the region will persist. Blindly referring to ideological root causes of violence, however, leaves local conflicts out of the equation, while ignoring religious factors altogether is equally problematic.