Chemistry
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Chemistry
Stopping wool from shrinking
Treating wool with a fungal enzyme not only prevents the fibers from shrinking but also is more environmentally friendly than using conventional chemical treatments.
- Chemistry
Parrot plumage has exclusive pigmentation
The spectacular colors of parrot feathers owe their vibrancy to a set of pigments found nowhere else in nature.
- Chemistry
Molecular surgery traps hydrogen inside carbon cage
In a feat of precision chemistry, scientists have locked a pair of hydrogen atoms inside a soccer ball–shaped carbon molecule known as a buckyball.
- Chemistry
Chemistry au Naturel
Chemists aim to mimic natural systems with the hope of developing more-efficient chemical processes that are also less harmful to the environment.
- Chemistry
Hungry for Hydrogen: Microbes in hot springs feed on unlikely source
Microbes dwelling in Yellowstone National Park's hot springs draw their energy not from sulfur but from hydrogen.
- Chemistry
Building artificial cells from scratch
Scientists have created artificial cells that can live and produce proteins as their natural counterparts do, but can't replicate.
- Chemistry
Recipe for Roman cosmetic revealed
British chemists have found that a white material inside a small tin canister excavated from a 2000-year-old Roman temple is an ancient cosmetic face cream.
- Chemistry
Researchers stretch for improved surfaces
A surprisingly simple, new technique could create better coatings for everything from medical implants to ship hulls.
- Chemistry
Cleaning up anthrax
Chemists have developed catalysts that spur common oxidants to quickly destroy germs, including deadly anthrax spores.
- Chemistry
Busy Beads: Magnetic dust takes droplets for a ride
With a bit of dust and a magnet, chemists can shuttle drops around on a surface, an advance that could lead to chemistry labs on a chip.
- Chemistry
Fatty acid makes busy micropotter
A fatty acid commonly found in soap and vegetable oil assembles into microscopic, potterylike structures when it crystallizes.
- Chemistry
Solar Hydrogen
With the vision of a hydrogen economy looming ever larger in people's minds, scientists have picked up the pace of their pursuit of materials that use solar energy to split water and make clean-burning hydrogen fuel.
