All Stories by Jessica Gorman
- Chemistry
Down to the bone
A new method for making bone cement could simplify hip and knee replacements and improve the surgeries' outcomes.
- Materials Science
What the mail must go through
Mail irradiation in Washington, D.C. is damaging valuable objects and documents intended for scientific study or archiving at the Smithsonian, the White House, and other government organizations.
- Materials Science
Spinning Fine Threads: Silkworms coerced to make better silk
The caterpillars that spin commercial silk can make tougher or more elastic threads, depending on how fast they're forced to spin.
- Chemistry
Questions of Origin
Two new studies renew controversy about the authenticity of a map that may be the first depiction of North America.
- Chemistry
Tums of the Sea
Ocean scientists question whether the seas can handle rising carbon dioxide concentrations.
- Materials Science
New gel could lead to cartilage repair
A new scaffold material that contains cartilage cells and encourages their growth could help scientists create living tissue replacements suitable for treating osteoarthritis and sports injuries.
- Chemistry
Mimicking the Best of Nature’s Binders: New technique produces artificial receptors
Scientists have devised a new way to make artificial receptors that differentiate among similar molecules.
- Chemistry
Material could halt catalyst waste
New research suggests a way that carmakers might use less of expensive metal materials in automobiles' catalytic converters.
- Archaeology
The Original Cocoa Treat: Chemistry pushes back first use of the drink
Analysis of residues from ancient Maya vessels has revealed that the pots held cocoa almost 1,000 years before its previously known earliest use.
- Chemistry
Buckymedicine
Scientists are turning carbon-cage molecules called fullerenes into drug candidates and medical diagnostic tools.
- Materials Science
Healing Wounds: Interactive dressing speeds the process
A new, easily prepared hydrogel material promotes more rapid wound healing in laboratory animals than do conventional dressings.
- Materials Science
Molecular template makes nanoscale helix
Using ribbons made of organic molecules as minuscule templates, researchers have coaxed a semiconductor material into tiny helical coils.
