Chemistry

  1. Health & Medicine

    Cool Jobs: Saliva offers a spitting image of our health

    Scientists are using this secretion to study our body’s functions, to test for disease and even to diagnose injury.

    By
  2. Chemistry

    Scientists Say: Alkaline

    Alkaline chemicals are basic — substances that produce hydroxide ions in solution.

    By
  3. 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.

    By
  4. 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.

    By
  5. 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.

    By
  6. 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.

    By
  7. 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.

    By
  8. Physics

    Scientists Say: Piezoelectric

    Piezoelectric materials produce an electric voltage when they are bent or squished. This can let us harvest electricity from movement.

    By
  9. 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.

    By
  10. Health & Medicine

    Let’s learn about taste

    Taste tells us what’s good to eat, but scientists are still learning about how it works.

    By
  11. 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.

    By
  12. 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.

    By