Matter and Its Interactions
- Materials Science
Beetles offer people lessons in moisture control
Taking tricks from a beetle, researchers are designing surfaces that collect water from the air or resist frost buildup.
- Archaeology
The first farmers were two groups, not one
The humans that began farming 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent may have been two cultures living side-by-side.
- Environment
Something in plastics may be weakening kids’ teeth
The body can confuse some pollutants for a natural hormone. Researchers in France now find such pollutant exposures in childhood may lead cells to make defective tooth enamel.
- Earth
Helium discovery blows away shortage worries
Fears that the world may soon run out of helium have been set aside for now by the finding of a huge reservoir of the gas in East Africa.
- Chemistry
Gasp! At the movies, your breaths reveal your emotions
Researchers took air samples as they screened movies. What people exhaled were linked to film scenes’ emotional tone, they found.
- Tech
Clear, stretchy sensor could lead to wearable electronics
Researchers have combined plastics and metal to make a transparent, stretchable sensor. It could soon find use in touchscreens, wearable electronics and more.
- Chemistry
Scientists Say: Cyanide
Cyanides are poisonous. But they are more than that. This group of compounds is used in everything from mining to capturing fish.
- Chemistry
The newest elements finally have names
Nihonium? Tennessine? These aren’t body parts or medicines. They’re among the names just given to the four newest superheavy elements.
- Archaeology
Neandertals: Ancient Stone Age builders had tech skills
Neandertals built stalagmite circles in a French cave 176,500 years ago. These structures show that these ancient human cousins had social and technical skills.
- Chemistry
Scientists Say: Acidification
When a solution becomes more acidic, it’s acidifying. And that’s not always a good thing.
- Physics
Scientists Say: Absolute zero
Even when we think it’s cold out, most molecules are moving. Only at absolute zero will all of their motions stop.
- Materials Science
Nanowires could lead to super-long-lived battery
Scientists have long been looking for ways to make rechargeable batteries that last forever. They now may be close. Their solution: gel-dipped nanowires.
