Matter and Its Interactions
- Chemistry
Newfound ‘anti-spice’ compounds tame chili peppers’ heat
Five compounds make some chili peppers taste less spicy than others. Scientists are still figuring out why.
- Physics
Scientists Say: Tauonium
No protons, neutrons or electrons. And yet, based on what scientists know about fundamental particles, this variety of atom just might exist.
- Chemistry
Scientists Say: Chiral
Many biological molecules come in a left- and right-handed form — and biology plays favorites.
- Chemistry
Experiment: Blow the best homemade bubbles
What’s the best recipe for blowing the most impressive bubbles? Let’s find out.
- Chemistry
A new map of Africa sheds light on the origins of enslaved people
Mapping the element strontium across the continent is helping track down the birthplaces of enslaved Africans brought to the Americas.
- Physics
Scientists Say: Lepton
Leptons are a quirky class of particles. Besides electrons, they include ghostly neutrinos and hefty muons and tauons.
- Earth
Let’s learn about the carbon cycle
The total amount of carbon on Earth doesn’t change. But what form those carbon atoms take is constantly changing.
- Physics
This weird ice may exist on alien planets
Scientists used high pressure and heat to create plastic ice, which has qualities of both ordinary ice and liquid water.
- Chemistry
Scientists Say: Nucleosynthesis
For this nuclei-forging cosmic process, the Big Bang was just a way to get started.
- Math
Scientists Say: Dimension
The simple concept of dimensions has inspired sci-fi creators to wrinkle time and launch into hyperspace.
- Math
His love of math led to a career in quantum computing
James Whitfield began his career when quantum computing was still in its infancy. Today, he’s helping to make it more accessible to educators, researchers and others.
- Chemistry
Let’s learn about chocolate
Humans have been making chocolate for millennia. Now scientists are investigating how to make this tasty treat more abundant and nutritious.
