Researchers have developed a new, safer type of electrode for lithium batteries. (p. 399)

Adding exotic substances called quasicrystals to polymers creates nonabrasive hard materials, which could soon serve as coatings in machine parts. (p. 399)

Two research teams have created stable carbon nanotubes with the smallest diameter that scientists believe is physically possible, at just 0.4 nanometer across. (p. 398)

A new device can detect a single potato that's infected with bacterial soft rot while buried deep in a storage crate with hundreds of healthy tubers. (p. 342)

A recent NASA flight test of ultrahigh-temperature ceramic materials might lead to a new aerospace design that would make the space shuttle look downright old-fashioned. (p. 287)

Researchers have created pairs of silicon atoms that stay level instead of slowly rocking in place, permitting scientists to study silicon-surface reactions in unprecedented detail. (p. 287)

A novel electrochemical method improves the surface of stainless steel without making the metal brittle or prone to corrosion. (p. 263)

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry went to three researchers for the discovery and development of plastics that conduct electricity. (p. 247)

An extraterrestrial source may explain why Earth's mantle holds more platinum, gold, and certain other elements than it should. (p. 207)