Chemistry
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Chemistry
Flame-retardant cotton gets a boost from clay
Mixing cotton fibers with nanoparticles of clay increases the materials' heat tolerance, ultimately rendering new cotton fabrics flame retardant.
- Chemistry
Molecular Midwives: Small helper compounds may have spawned early tools of life on Earth
Life on Earth may have sprung into being with the assistance of tiny molecules that are remarkably adept at stitching together DNA in the lab.
- Chemistry
Microbes craft unusual crystals
Bacteria dwelling in an abandoned iron mine form unusual crystals that could help scientists look for signs of previous life on Mars.
- Chemistry
Mini Motor: Synthetic molecule yields nanoscale rotor
Scientists have built a tiny rotor out of a synthesized molecule that rotates in the presence of an electric field.
- Chemistry
New champions among corrosive microbes
Newly discovered strains of bacteria have developed a metabolic shortcut for eating away iron with great efficiency.
- Chemistry
Clean hydrogen fuel from corn?
A new reactor can convert ethanol from corn into hydrogen fuel with enough efficiency to make the process economical.
- Chemistry
Radical molecule could produce plastic magnets
A team of chemists has synthesized an unusual organic molecule that could lead to cheaper and lighter magnets.
- Chemistry
Nitrogen Unbound: New reaction breaks strong chemical link
Researchers have developed a new way to turn nitrogen into ammonia that could improve upon an energy-intensive, 90-year-old method used to make fertilizers.
- Chemistry
Nature’s tiniest rotor runs like clockwork
By manipulating a tiny protein found in most living cells, researchers created a molecular rotor that can convert mechanical motion into chemical energy.
- Chemistry
Nobel prize recognizes future for plastics
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry went to three researchers for the discovery and development of plastics that conduct electricity.
- Chemistry
Moonlighting: Reflective protein causes squid to shimmer
Squid can manipulate light in amazing ways to camouflage themselves at night, and researchers have unveiled a bizarre set of reflective proteins in the animals' tissues that underlie this trait.
- Chemistry
The March of History: Terra-cotta warriors show their true colors
As archaeologists continue to excavate the famous Chinese terra-cotta warriors, a new restoration technique could preserve the figures' paint coats, which normally peel off when exposed to the elements.
