Chemistry

  1. Chemistry

    A new element on the periodic table might be within reach 

    Scientists made the known element 116 with a beam of titanium atoms, a technique that could be used to make the undiscovered element 120.

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  2. Planetary Science

    Sulfur was key to the first water on Earth

    Hydrogen bonded with sulfur may have given our world its first water after the hydrogen broke away and joined with oxygen in the planet’s crust.

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  3. Materials Science

    Jurassic Park’s amber-preserved dino DNA is now inspiring a way to store data 

    DNA is capable of encoding all sorts of data. Storing it in an amberlike material may keep that information safe for nearly forever.

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  4. Environment

    Landfills belch toxic ‘forever chemicals’ into the air

    An analysis of samples from three Florida landfills shows that landfill gas can carry more PFAS than the liquid that leaches from the waste.

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  5. Chemistry

    ‘Flavorama’ guides readers through the complex landscape of flavor

    In her new book, Arielle Johnson, former resident scientist at the restaurant Noma, explains how to think like a scientist in the kitchen.

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  6. Chemistry

    A new method of making diamonds doesn’t require extreme pressure 

    Lab-grown diamonds can form at atmospheric pressure in a liquid of gallium, iron, nickel and silicon.

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  7. Space

    How a sugar acid crucial for life could have formed in interstellar clouds

    Computer calculations and lab experiments have revealed a possible mechanism for the creation of glyceric acid, which has been seen in meteorites.

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  8. Chemistry

    Protein whisperer Oluwatoyin Asojo fights neglected diseases

    Oluwatoyin Asojo’s work on hookworm protein structures have contributed to a vaccine being tested in people.

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  9. Humans

    These are the chemicals that give teens pungent body odor

    Steroids and high levels of carboxylic acids in teenagers’ body odor give off a mix of pleasant and acrid scents.

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  10. Chemistry

    The smallest known molecular knot is made of just 54 atoms

    Chemists are still trying to figure out why this combination of gold, phosphorus, oxygen and carbon atoms resulted in a molecular knot in the first place.

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  11. Chemistry

    Here’s how tardigrades go into suspended animation

    A new study offers more clues about the role of oxidation in signaling transitions between alive and mostly dead in tardigrades.

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  12. Climate

    Capturing methane from the air would slow global warming. Can it be done?

    Removing methane from the atmosphere requires different technology from removing carbon dioxide. Scientists are taking on the challenge.

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