Chemistry
- Chemistry
New recycling technologies could keep more plastic out of landfills
Recycling plastics is really hard — especially into useful materials. But new chemical tricks could make recycling easier.
- Chemistry
Explainer: What are chemical bonds?
When various particles, atoms, ions or molecules come together to form a substance, they are held together with chemical bonds.
- Chemistry
Level up your demonstration: Make it an experiment
What’s the difference between a demonstration and an experiment? Questions, measurements and many, many replications.
- Chemistry
Let’s learn about acids and bases
Acids give away particles with positive charge. Bases accept positively charged particles. They are both critical for chemical reactions.
- Chemistry
Extreme pressure? Diamonds can take it
Diamond retains its structure even at extreme pressures, which could reveal how carbon behaves in the cores of some exoplanets.
- Physics
Scientists Say: Piezoelectric
Piezoelectric materials produce an electric voltage when they are bent or squished. This can let us harvest electricity from movement.
- Chemistry
A new catalyst turns greenhouse gas into jet fuel
The catalyst is an improvement over its predecessors. Made of cheap materials like iron, it produces jet fuel in a single step.
- Health & Medicine
Let’s learn about taste
Taste tells us what’s good to eat, but scientists are still learning about how it works.
- Chemistry
Scientists Say: Molecule
A molecule is a group of atoms linked with chemical bonds. It’s the smallest particle of a substance that has all of its chemical properties.
- Tech
Bye-bye batteries? Power a phone with fabric or a beacon with sound
New piezoelectric systems produce electricity in unusual ways, such as when a certain nylon bends or underwater ceramics vibrate.
- Chemistry
A soil-based ‘concrete’ could make buildings green, even on Mars
A new soil-based material offers an alternative to concrete for 3-D printing environmentally friendly buildings.
- Tech
Flexible devices may help clothes solar power your screens
A fluorescent polymer duo boosts the efficiency of solar cells. One day this material may coat your jacket, hat or backpack to provide power on the go.
