Chemistry

  1. Chemistry

    Scientists Say: Dioxide

    Carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and zirconium dioxide all have something in common. They are all molecules with two oxygens bound to some other element.

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  2. Materials Science

    Explainer: Temperature and electrical resistance

    Higher temperatures mean more energy and more motion. In contrast, cold means slow moving molecules.

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  3. Chemistry

    Some air pollutants seep through skin

    The skin is the body’s largest organ. And it can let in as much or more of certain air pollutants than enter through the lungs, a new study finds.

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  4. Microbes

    Slime cities

    Biofilms are like tiny cities of bacteria — some harmless, others destructive. Scientists are learning how to keep these microscopic metropolises under control.

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  5. Chemistry

    Scientists Say: Organic

    These days you might think organic refers just to food. But it has a completely different meaning in chemistry.

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  6. Life

    News Brief: Rare gem may hold earliest sign of life

    This fossil, such as it is, offers no indication of what that life might have looked like. It merely holds carbon in a form typical of the type preferentially collected by living organisms.

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  7. Environment

    Mealworms chow down on plastic

    Gut bacteria in mealworms break down polystyrene. Feeding plastic to the worms, or the germs they carry, could be a way to get rid of these wastes.

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  8. Chemistry

    Making caffeine content crystal clear

    Many popular drinks contain caffeine — a stimulant that in high amounts can keep you up at night. One teen is now measuring just how much is in the beverages we drink.

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  9. Health & Medicine

    These bubbles treat wounds

    New research shows bubble-powered drugs can travel upstream, against the flow of blood, to seal wounds shut.

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  10. Chemistry

    Got milk? Do you know what’s in it?

    One teen was dismayed to learn milk might host harmful pollutants. This prompted him to use his science fair project as a way to find out just what was in his favorite drink.

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  11. Chemistry

    Trio gets chemistry Nobel for figuring out DNA repair

    Three researchers have won the 2015 Nobel Prize in chemistry for working out how cells fix damaged genetic material.

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  12. Chemistry

    A teen turns an autumn chore into a science project

    Many scientists are trying to turn plants into a renewable fuel. One teen decided to help, by extracting sugars from the dead leaves on his lawn.

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