Matter and Its Interactions
- Animals
Great white sharks may be partly to blame for the end of megalodons
Zinc levels in shark teeth hint that megalodons and great whites competed for food — and great whites won.
- Chemistry
Scientists Say: Proton
These positively charged particles are important building blocks in atoms.
- Physics
You might someday ‘wallpaper’ your bedroom with this loudspeaker
This thin, flexible and lightweight loudspeaker could reduce noise in loud spaces. It also might enable listeners to experience sound in new ways.
- Chemistry
Simple process destroys toxic and widespread ‘forever’ pollutants
Ultraviolet light, sulfite and iodide break down these PFAS molecules faster and more thoroughly than other methods.
- Chemistry
Let’s learn about diamond
Diamond is born under extreme heat and pressure inside Earth and elsewhere in the universe.
- Earth
Tiny gemstones show when Earth’s crust first started moving
Chemical hints observed in zircons suggest when the important process of plate tectonics first took off.
- Animals
Orb-weaving spiders use their webs like external eardrums
Scientists discover that orb-weaving spiders listen with their legs, detecting sound vibrations that travel through their silken webs.
- Materials Science
Scientists Say: Silicone
Silicone is a generic term for a whole slew of humanmade polymers with many different forms and applications.
- Brain
Warning! Nicotine poses special risks to teens
Even a single dose of nicotine during early teen years can start a life-long cycle of nicotine use and addiction.
- Chemistry
Reusable plastic bottles release hundreds of pollutants into water
Data show the plastic ends up tainting drinking water. For now, scientists don’t know what health risks downing these pollutants might pose.
- Health & Medicine
Patches and robotic pills may one day replace injections
Instead of a shot in the arm, a light-activated patch or robotic pill may one day deliver your medicine.
- Chemistry
Let’s learn about cellulose
The world’s most abundant natural polymer is finding all kinds of new uses, in everything from ice cream to construction.
