Chemistry
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Humans
Calendar marks chemistry milestones
January 1, 2011, ushers in the International Year of Chemistry. The American Chemical Society has compiled on online calendar that points to landmark events and trivia to celebrate.
- Humans
Periodic table gets some flex
IUPAC committee replaces fuzzy atomic weights with more accurate ranges
- Chemistry
Hornet pigment drives solar cell in lab
Though far from photosynthetic, an insect's light-harvesting apparatus intrigues scientists.
- Chemistry
Twisted rules of chemistry explained
A theorist uses quantum mechanics to explain why Möbius molecules have different numbers of electrons than standard rings.
- Chemistry
Clever way to break the nitrogen-nitrogen bond
New chemical reaction cleaves dinitrogen molecule and brings carbon and nitrogen together.
- Chemistry
Locks to learn
A new way to probe interactions between pairs of hairs could offer insights into fly-aways and other tonsorial woes.
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- Tech
Heavier crudes, heavier footprints
BLOG: Refining heavy oils and tar sands could greatly exaggerate the greenhouse gases associated with fossil-fuel use, a new study finds.
- Chemistry
Bacterium grows with arsenic
A microbe appears to substitute a normally toxic element for a basic ingredient of life, raising intriguing questions about the limits of biochemistry.
- Chemistry
Snot has the power to alter scents
Enzymes in mice's nasal mucus can alter certain odors before the nose can detect them, a new study finds.
- Chemistry
The nitty-gritty of diamond polishing
Researchers figure out what happens at the atomic scale when jewelers polish the hardest substance known.
- Tech
Newfound water risk: Lead-leaching valves
Hidden elements in drinking-water lines can shed large amounts of lead, a toxic heavy metal. And it's quite legal, even if it does skirt the intent of federal regulations.
