Matter and Its Interactions
- Materials Science
New black hair dye uses no harsh chemicals
Scientists have developed a new black-carbon-based hair dye. Instead of using damaging chemicals to dye hair, flexible flakes of carbon coat each strand.
- Animals
In a colony, king penguins act like a liquid
Is this a living liquid? King penguins move around within their colonies, clearing out some space, and then refilling it. That behavior resembles a liquid, scientists conclude.
- Chemistry
Hard-to-burn ‘smart’ wallpaper even triggers alarms
Scientists have made wallpaper that won’t easily burn. And embedded nanowires can be linked to a sensor to sound an alarm when the paper gets too hot.
- Chemistry
Banana plant extract can slow how fast ice cream melts
Food scientists now show that adding these tiny plant particles to ice cream may delay the rate at which this treat melts into a soupy mess.
- Chemistry
Light could make some hospital surfaces deadly to germs
A new surfacing material can disinfect itself. Room lighting turns on this germ-killing property, which could make the material attractive to hospitals.
- Animals
Cool Jobs: Diving for new medicines
Scientists mix research with underwater adventure as they search the oceans for new chemicals to treat infections, cancer and more.
- Life
This power source is shockingly eel-like
The electric eel’s powerful electric charge inspired this new squishy, water-based new approach to generating power.
- Brain
Explainer: What are opioids?
Opioid drugs can kill pain, but they can also kill people. Here’s how.
- Chemistry
Explainer: What are polymers?
Polymers, whether natural or artificial, are big molecules made by linking up smaller repeating chemical units. The most common “backbones” for polymers are chains of carbon or silicon, each of which can bond to four other atoms.
- Physics
Explainer: Quantum is the world of the super small
The word quantum often gets misused. What does it mean? Think small. Really, really small.
- Chemistry
Scientists Say: Catalyst
Sometimes a chemical reaction can take a while. If speed is needed, a catalyst can help.
- Chemistry
Trees can make summer ozone levels much worse
The greenery can release chemicals into the air that react with combustion pollutants to make ozone. And trees release more of those chemicals where it gets really hot, a new study finds.
