Matter and Its Interactions
- Space
Black hole mega-burp was truly explosive
Long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, a black hole blasted out 100 billion times as much energy as our sun ever will. One word for that: Wow!
- Chemistry
Explainer: What the pH scale tells us
The pH scale tells us how basic or acidic something is. Pure water sits in the middle of the scale, at a pH of seven.
- Climate
Study appears to rule out volcanic burps as causing dino die-offs
New data on when massive volcanic eruptions happened do not match when the dinosaur mass extinction took place.
- Physics
How to temporarily ‘fossilize’ a soap bubble
Here’s how to freeze a soap bubble in midair. Warning: The environment needs to be frosty, and even then it can take a certain amount of trial and error.
- Materials Science
New twist can hush — even cloak — some sounds
Swiss engineers developed clear, spiral structures to make a new sound-dampening system. Those twists block some vibrations and lets others through.
- Chemistry
Help for a world drowning in microplastics
Microplastic pollution in our oceans and lakes is a problem. Scientists are testing solutions — from more biodegradable recipes to nanotechnology.
- Materials Science
Here’s how to hide some objects from heat-sensing cameras
A special coating that conceals temperature information from heat-detecting cameras might someday be used as a privacy shield.
- Materials Science
Self-powered surface may evaluate table-tennis play
Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology built a 'smart' surface on which to play table tennis. It can track the location, speed and direction of the ball.
- Physics
Here’s how quantum mechanics lets heat cross a vacuum
Heat can move across a vacuum if the span is small enough. As in really, really small. In a new experiment, the gap was only a few hundred nanometers.
- Materials Science
The future of crystal-based solar energy just got brighter
Researchers have upped the efficiency of layered solar cells that could be printed or painted onto surfaces. Now they are working to make them more rugged.
- Chemistry
Like Magneto? Microcrystals give magnets superpower over living cells
New iron-rich protein crystals could help researchers better understand the nerve cells that control movement and sensation. All they need are magnets.
- Chemistry
Chemistry’s ever-useful periodic table celebrates a big birthday
2019 is the International Year of the Periodic Table. But the traditional chart is just one of many shapes that chemists and other scientists have developed to organize the elements.
