Matter and Its Interactions

  1. Brain

    Explainer: What are opioids?

    Opioid drugs can kill pain, but they can also kill people. Here’s how.

    By Bethany Brookshire
  2. 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.

    By Sid Perkins
  3. 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.

    By Stephen Ornes
  4. Chemistry

    Scientists Say: Catalyst

    Sometimes a chemical reaction can take a while. If speed is needed, a catalyst can help.

    By Bethany Brookshire
  5. 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.

    By Ashley Yeager
  6. Climate

    Ancient Arctic ‘gas’ melt triggered enormous seafloor explosions

    Methane explosions 12,000 years ago left huge craters in bedrock on the Arctic seafloor. Scientists worry more could be on the way today as Earth’s ice sheets melt.

    By Beth Geiger
  7. Chemistry

    To test pill coatings, try a stomach in a flask

    Which pain reliever should you buy? The tablet, gel tab or compressed caplet? A teen did an experiment to find out.

    By Bethany Brookshire
  8. Chemistry

    BPA-free plastic may host BPA-like chemical, teen finds

    Something has to replace the BPA in ‘BPA-free’ plastics. A teen has been probing what that is.

    By Bethany Brookshire
  9. Health & Medicine

    Adding ice to medics’ kits could help patients survive blood loss

    Placing an ice bag on the face should increase blood pressure — and oxygen to the brain — in people who have experienced life-threatening blood loss, a new study finds.

    By Meenakshi Prabhune
  10. Health & Medicine

    Cooking can alter a food’s vitamin C content

    Scurvy plagued pirates and sailors on the high seas. It also inspired a teen to find out more about the vitamin C in her veggies.

    By Bethany Brookshire
  11. Chemistry

    Cool Jobs: Counting calories

    Do calories count? A nutrition label doesn’t tell the whole story. Meet three researchers working to shed light on the complex connections between food and health.

    By Kathryn Hulick
  12. Health & Medicine

    Explainer: All about the calorie

    Calories are a measure of how much energy is in a food. But when it comes to powering our bodies, not all calories are equally available to the body.

    By Kathryn Hulick