Chemistry
Here’s a clue to how this tube worm’s slime can glow blue for days
Mucus oozed by a marine tube worm can glow for up to 72 hours. New results suggest that the light may sustain itself through some clever chemistry.
Chemistry
More Stories in Chemistry
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ChemistryAncient recipes led scientists to a long-lost natural blue
Led by medieval texts, scientists hunted down a plant and extracted from its tiny fruits a blue watercolor whose origins had long been a mystery.
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PhysicsHere’s how the periodic table gets new elements
Today’s scientists keep adding to the periodic table. But an element has to earn its spot.
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ChemistryBeets bleed red but a chemistry tweak can create a blue hue
A new blue dye derived from beet juice might prove an alternative to synthetic blue dyes in foods, cosmetics or fabrics.
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Health & MedicineYou can help fight the coronavirus. All you need is a computer
With Folding@home, people can donate computing time on their home computers to the search for a chemical Achilles’ heel in the coronavirus.
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ChemistryThirdhand smoke wafting off moviegoers hurts air quality in theaters
Nonsmoking theaters can still get exposed to cigarette-related pollutants carried in on audience members’ bodies and clothing.
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ChemistryEvaporating mixtures of two liquids create hypnotic designs
Through the magic of surface tension, mixtures of two liquids form fingerlike protrusions and other patterns as droplets evaporate.
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Materials ScienceThe containers the U.S. plans to use for nuclear waste storage may corrode
The different components of a nuclear waste storage unit start to corrode each other when wet, new lab experiments show.
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ChemistryHow to brew a better espresso, according to science
To make more consistent and affordable espresso shots, use fewer beans and grind them more coarsely, a new study says.
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SpacePhosphorus, a key ingredient of life, has been found in a newborn star system
Astrochemists map phosphorus-bearing molecules in a star-forming cloud, giving clues to how this vital element may have arrived on Earth.