Phosphorus is running out – 350 years after its discovery, does its survival lay in human waste? It’s tempting to look at Hennig Brand’s uncovering of the vital element with amusement, but ...

Supplies of phosphate rock – the only major phosphorus ore – are limited. So much so that phosphorus has been listed among the “endangered elements” where there is a risk to future supply.

A chemical needed by all living things on Earth may have come from comet strikes, astronomers say. A new study suggests phosphorus, which is present in DNA and cell membranes of all living ...

The ocean inside Saturn's moon Enceladus may be enriched with phosphorus, an important element for life as we know it, new research reveals. Phosphorus is a vital component of life's biochemistry.

“The source of phosphorus in the Outer Galaxy may be alternative routes in stellar nucleosynthesis. Because of the failure of the galactic chemical evolution models, it has been postulated that ...

Volumes Bookcafe in Chicago will host environmental journalist Dan Egan in conversation about his new book all about phosphorus, a chemical element you may not think about but rules much of the world.

The story of how the 15th element on the periodic table was discovered stands as one of the great accidents of human endeavour – the chemist’s equivalent, perhaps, of Columbus setting out for India ...