Chemistry

  1. Chemistry

    Self-forming envelope holds fluids

    These plastic-laced water molecules can create their own protective shell. That can make capsules for holding drugs or for hosting chemical reactions.

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  2. Chemistry

    Grape scents repel mosquitoes

    Safer than DEET, the new compounds could lead to insect repellents that would be affordable even in poor regions where mosquitoes carry malaria.

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  3. Chemistry

    Cyberspace chemistry earns a Nobel

    The achievements behind the 2013 Nobel Prize in chemistry relied on a lot of complex physics. But the computer techniques pioneered by these three men are now saving chemists a lot of work.

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  4. Chemistry

    Vitamin can keep electronics ‘healthy’

    Vitamin E is among cheap materials that can avoid the zap of static electricity — a discharge that risks destroying sensitive electronic circuitry.

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  5. Chemistry

    Cool Jobs: Repellent chemistry

    Chemistry is just one way to repel water in nature. Structure, or the shape of things, is another. To excel at water repellency, the lotus leaf relies on both.

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  6. Animals

    Preventing frog-sicles

    Wood frogs avoid becoming frogsicles with natural antifreeze.

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  7. Chemistry

    A penny for your health?

    Copper is best known as the reddish metal used to make pennies, electrical wiring and weather vanes. But two teen scientists think copper should find its way into medical settings as well. Their data suggest the metal — in bandages or on surfaces — could play a major role in killing some types of bacteria responsible for serious infections.

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  8. Chemistry

    New bag keeps food fresh longer

    Invention harnesses oxygen-trapping power of iron.

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  9. Chemistry

    A warming life jacket

    New liner contains a substance that helps fight heat loss in chilly water.

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  10. Chemistry

    Building a better battery

    Researchers develop a way to make batteries that hold more charge and don’t weaken with age.

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  11. Chemistry

    A plant enemy’s enemy

    Plants use chemicals to recruit help in fighting off pests.

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  12. Chemistry

    Secret signals

    Animals respond to chemical messages they may not even realize they’re swapping

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