Matter and Its Interactions

  1. Physics

    Sunlight + gold = steaming water (no boiling needed)

    Nano-gold is the new black, at least when it comes to absorbing heat. When tiny gold particles get together, they become energy super-absorbers — turning them black.

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  2. Earth

    Carbon dioxide could explain how geysers spout

    A new study overturns 150 years of thinking about Yellowstone’s geysers. Carbon dioxide, not just hot water, may be driving those spectacular eruptions.

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  3. Chemistry

    Smash hit: Making ‘diamond’ that’s harder than diamonds

    Scientists had suspected extreme meteorite impacts might turn graphite into an unusual type of diamond. Now they’ve seen it happen — in under a nanosecond.

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  4. Plants

    Explainer: Some supplements may not have what it takes

    Dietary supplements made from plants may not contain all of the chemicals that usually make a particular plant healthy for humans.

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  5. Health & Medicine

    Food supplements can make you sick

    Drugs must past safety testing before they can be sold. But food supplements don’t have to meet the same standards.

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  6. Chemistry

    Olive oil untangles plastic

    Vegetable oils can make plastic fibers stronger. And the process is safer and better for the environment than other detanglers.

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  7. Brain

    Males and females respond to head hits differently

    Men and women are playing sports equally — and getting concussions in comparable numbers. But how their brains respond may differ greatly.

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  8. Fossils

    Clues to the Great Dying

    Millions of years ago, nearly all life on Earth vanished. Scientists are now starting to figure out what happened.

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  9. Physics

    Stephen Hawking says his group has solved a black hole puzzle

    Physicist Stephen Hawking says light sliding along the outside of a black hole holds the key to understanding what’s inside.

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  10. Materials Science

    Long-sought subatomic particle ‘seen’ at last

    Physicists have finally caught a brief glimpse of massless subatomic particles that were first predicted to exist 85 years ago. It’s the elusive Weyl fermion.

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  11. Brain

    To protect kids, get the lead out!

    Lead poisons hundreds of thousands of children. In Chicago, experts show how the toxic metal hurts test performance in school.

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  12. Materials Science

    Keeping roofs cooler to cut energy costs

    Cool it! A cheap paint-on coating for roofing shingles could help reduce a home’s heating bills and might even trim urban ozone levels, a teen shows.

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