Matter and Its Interactions
- Chemistry
Build ice towers with bottled water and ice
Pour out liquid water into a solid ice tower. We outline the conditions you’ll need to turn this demonstration into a super-cool experiment.
- Chemistry
Stinky success: Scientists identify the chemistry of B.O.
They turned up the enzyme in bacteria behind that underarm stench. Understanding how it works could pave the way to new types of deodorant.
- Materials Science
Will bacterial ‘wires’ one day power your phone?
An accidental discovery helps scientists generate electricity out of thin —but humid — air with bacteria-made protein nanowires.
- Space
Explainer: Stars and their families
Most pinpoints that light the night sky are raging infernos we call stars. As adults, many will create new elements that they later cast off into the cosmos.
- Physics
Shape-shifting cuts give shoes a better grip
With pop-out structures inspired by kirigami and animals, a shoe sole goes from flat to spiky to boost friction on slippery surfaces such as ice.
- Physics
A contrast between shadows and light can now generate electricity
A new device exploits the contrast between bright spots and shade to produce a current that can power small electronics.
- Plants
Silk-based microneedles may help treat diseased plants
Engineers have invented silk microneedles to inject medicines into plants. One day farmers might use drones to dart their sick plants with meds from the air.
- Space
Astronauts may be able to make cement with their own pee
Lunar dust and a compound found in urine might one day be used to build future dwellings on the moon, a new study finds.
- Physics
Physicists foil classic oobleck science trick
Cornstarch and water — best known as oobleck — solidifies upon impact. Researchers used a new technique to make it stay liquid.
- Chemistry
This tube worm’s glowing slime may help sustain its own shine
Snot oozed by a marine tube worm can glow for up to 3 full days. The secret of how this works might lead to long-lasting lights that glow on and on.
- Planets
Planets with hydrogen skies could harbor life
Microbes can live in a hydrogen atmosphere. This points to new space worlds that host alien life.
- Chemistry
Ancient recipes helped scientists resurrect a long-lost blue hue
Led by medieval texts, scientists hunted down a plant and used its fruit to make a blue watercolor with mysterious origins.
