Matter and Its Interactions
- Chemistry
Recipes for modern beauty products aren’t so modern after all
An art historian has combined forces with chemists to uncover the science behind cosmetics used about 500 years ago.
- Earth
Amateur astronomers reveal clues to a mysterious double aurora
Stunning images from citizen scientists show an unusual pattern in ‘Northern Lights.’ They offer clues that may help astronomers better understand a curious red glow.
- Chemistry
Cool Jobs: Scientific glassblowers shape science
Glass has played a major role in research for centuries. Today’s artisans work at the forefront of discovery.
- Animals
The top side of an elephant’s trunk is surprisingly stretchy
Research on elephant trunks could inspire new artificial skins for soft robots.
- Chemistry
Scientists Say: Pigment
From fruits to fur to fine art, many materials get their colors from compounds called pigments.
- Animals
Great white sharks may be partly to blame for the end of megalodons
Zinc levels in shark teeth hint that megalodons and great whites competed for food — and great whites won.
- Chemistry
Scientists Say: Proton
These positively charged particles are important building blocks in atoms.
- Physics
You might someday ‘wallpaper’ your bedroom with this loudspeaker
This thin, flexible and lightweight loudspeaker could reduce noise in loud spaces. It also might enable listeners to experience sound in new ways.
- Chemistry
Simple process destroys toxic and widespread ‘forever’ pollutants
Ultraviolet light, sulfite and iodide break down these PFAS molecules faster and more thoroughly than other methods.
- Chemistry
Let’s learn about diamond
Diamond is born under extreme heat and pressure inside Earth and elsewhere in the universe.
- Earth
Tiny gemstones show when Earth’s crust first started moving
Chemical hints observed in zircons suggest when the important process of plate tectonics first took off.
- Animals
Orb-weaving spiders use their webs like external eardrums
Scientists discover that orb-weaving spiders listen with their legs, detecting sound vibrations that travel through their silken webs.
