MS-PS1-1
Develop models to describe the atomic composition of simple molecules and extended structures.
- Environment
Here’s one way to harvest water right out of the air
Need water but you have no access to rain, lakes or groundwater? Materials known as metal-organic frameworks could be used to slurp that water from the air, new data show.
- Chemistry
Batteries should not burst into flames
Because lithium-ion batteries power modern life, they need to store a lot of energy. Now scientists are focusing on making them safer.
- Chemistry
Converting trash to valuable graphene in a flash
Flash heating of carbon-rich wastes creates graphene, which has many commercial uses.
- Materials Science
New twist can hush — even cloak — some sounds
Swiss engineers developed clear, spiral structures to make a new sound-dampening system. Those twists block some vibrations and lets others through.
- Chemistry
Like Magneto? Microcrystals give magnets superpower over living cells
New iron-rich protein crystals could help researchers better understand the nerve cells that control movement and sensation. All they need are magnets.
- Chemistry
Chemistry’s ever-useful periodic table celebrates a big birthday
2019 is the International Year of the Periodic Table. But the traditional chart is just one of many shapes that chemists and other scientists have developed to organize the elements.
- Chemistry
Explainer: What are acids and bases?
These chemistry terms tell us if a molecule is more likely to give up a proton or pick up a new one.
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- Climate
Explainer: Why sea levels aren’t rising at the same rate globally
The ocean is rising all over the world. The rise seems speedier in some places. What gives? Many factors, it turns out, affect where — and why — the tide gets high.
- Earth
Explainer: CO2 and other greenhouse gases
Carbon dioxide is just one of several chemicals that contribute to the greenhouse effect. Nitrous oxide, methane and CFCs are other big contributors.
- Animals
In a colony, king penguins act like a liquid
Is this a living liquid? King penguins move around within their colonies, clearing out some space, and then refilling it. That behavior resembles a liquid, scientists conclude.
- Chemistry
Banana plant extract can slow how fast ice cream melts
Food scientists now show that adding these tiny plant particles to ice cream may delay the rate at which this treat melts into a soupy mess.
