Chemistry

Chemistry

New polish could turn long nails into touchscreen styluses

It registers nails' touch by disrupting the touchscreen’s electric field. But this high-tech varnish isn’t ready to hit store shelves yet.

Humans

Let’s learn about adrenaline

In short bursts, this hormone can help you face your fears. But in the long run, too much of it can be unhealthy.

Health & Medicine

Meet CLA, a naturally ‘healthy’ fat in burgers, ice cream and more

Solid at room temp, the natural trans fat conjugated linoleic acid resembles saturated fats — except that it appears good for the body in many ways.

Physics

Scientists Say: Entropy

To understand the universe, we must look to entropy — the chaos engine of the cosmos.

Climate

Rockin’ farm fields suck up tons of CO₂

Called enhanced rock weathering, spreading crushed basalt on crop lands can deliver farmers yet another bonus: bigger harvests.

Fossils

Prehistoric ‘sea’ monster also lurked in rivers, data show

A 66-million-year-old fossil tooth turned up alongside remains of a T. rex and ancient crocodile. This shows some mosasaurs roamed into rivers.

Health & Medicine

You need to eat protein — but the right mix really matters

All proteins are not equal, research is showing. So while most Americans get plenty of protein, they might not be eating the most nutritious blend.

Chemistry

Explainer: What is chirality?

Chiral molecules are mirror images of each other. They might not seem all that different — but can have drastically different effects in medicine, materials and more.

Climate

As winters warm, athletes must cope with harder snow and tricky ice

Ice arenas and artificial snow now dominate the winter Olympics. Athletes there — and everywhere — may need to adjust how they train and perform.

Materials Science

‘Stenciling’ tiny gold particles gives them new properties

Decorating nanoparticles with other chemicals could give them useful properties for medicines, textiles and more.

Chemistry

Scientists finally know why ice is so slippery

It’s not because ice heats up and then partially melts. Rather, ice changes at the molecular level — a process scientists have finally modeled.

Animals

Rudolph’s red nose could glow through bioluminescence

Simple chemistry could give the reindeer his iconic red snout. But physics would make it look different colors to anyone who spied Rudolph from the ground.