Matter and Its Interactions
- Agriculture
Potty-trained cows could help reduce pollution
About a dozen calves have been trained to pee in a stall. Toilet training cows on a large scale could cut down on pollution, scientists say.
- Chemistry
Scientists Say: Electron
Electrons are negatively charged particles. They are attracted to the positively charged particles in the center, or nucleus, of an atom.
- Chemistry
Chemists win Nobel Prize for faster, cleaner way of making molecules
Both scientists independently came up with new process — asymmetric organocatalysis. That name may be a mouthful, but it’s not that hard to understand.
- Life
Well-known wildflower turns out to be a secret meat-eater
Look closely at Triantha occidentalis, and you’ll see gluey hairs — and a trail of insect corpses on its stem.
- Tech
Synthetic trees could tap underground water in arid areas
They also could also help coastal residents mine fresh water from salty sources.
- Chemistry
Scientists Say: Plasma
In physics, plasma refers to one of the four states of matter. In medicine, plasma describes the part of blood that ferries cells, nutrients and more throughout the body.
- Materials Science
Tiny swimming robots may help clean up a microplastics mess
Big problem, tiny solution. Researchers in the Czech Republic have designed swimming robots that can help collect and break down microplastics.
- Chemistry
Scientists Say: Aerosol
Aerosols are tiny bits of solids or drops of liquids suspended in gas. Aerosols include mist, fog and soot, as well as pollution from fossil fuels.
- Animals
Tiny animals survive 24,000 years in suspended animation
Tiny bdelloid rotifers awake from a 24,000-year slumber when freed from the Arctic permafrost.
- Materials Science
Take a look at this weird, bendy type of ice
These specially grown threads of ice bend into curves, then spring back when released.
- Chemistry
Scientists Say: Oxidation and Reduction
Oxidation and reduction are two parts of a chemical process in which one atom steals electrons from another.
- Chemistry
New glue offers to turn any small walking robot into Spider-Man
To climb walls, robot feet need to alternately stick and let go. A novel adhesive can do that. Its stickiness is controlled by electric fields.
