Matter and Its Interactions
- Materials Science
Let’s learn about graphene
Scientists have been trying to understand and harness this material’s superpowers since its discovery in 2004.
- Climate
Chemists make device to destroy planet-warming methane pollution
It can slash diffuse sources of this extremely potent greenhouse gas, such as from livestock barns and other sites.
- Archaeology
Iron Age grave in England points to a possible woman warrior
The grave holds a sword. It hints the buried woman fought or helped plan raids some 2,000 years ago in what’s now southwest England.
- Tech
Synthetic biology aims to tackle disease and give cells superpowers
DNA machines and protein-mimicking nanotech could replace broken machinery in cells or even lead to made-from-scratch synthetic life.
- Tech
Balsa wood transistors could usher in ‘greener’ electronics
Researchers in Sweden coaxed wood to conduct electricity, then used it to make a climate-friendlier building block of electronics.
- Chemistry
Pollution power? A new device turns carbon dioxide into fuel
Scientists made a device that converts the greenhouse gas into formate. This salt can then run a fuel cell to make electricity.
- Tech
Offshore wind farms could do far more than just make clean power
Offshore wind farms cost more than onshore ones. But their ability to make ‘green’ hydrogen and capture carbon dioxide could help this wind power pay off.
- Environment
New ultrathin materials can pull climate-warming CO2 from the air
To slow global warming, we’ll need help from CO2-trapping materials. Enter MXenes. They’re strong and reactive — and they love to eat up CO2.
- Physics
Heat makes water evaporate. Now it appears light can, too
In the lab, shining light on water made it evaporate faster. This never-before-seen effect, if real, might be happening naturally all around us.
- Tech
Particles from tree waste could prevent fogged lenses, windshields
A new coating made from a renewable resource — water-loving nanoparticles made from wood — could keep glass surfaces fog-free.
- Tech
Bits of trees can make and store energy for us to use
This cellulose and lignin, two major building blocks of trees, could lead to greener electronics.
- Tech
Engineers cook up a new way to tackle CO2: Make baking soda
Engineers have found a material that can collect carbon dioxide from the air. When later mixed with water, it forms baking soda that can be shed in the sea.
