Physics

Animals

Radioactive animals don’t glow — but do show the power of radiation

Wild species exposed to nuclear contamination help show how radiation affects living things — including its risks to people.

Environment

Nuclear weapons tests many decades ago have left a radioactive legacy

Decades of aboveground nuclear weapons tests, starting in the 1950s, lightly littered the planet with toxic fallout, which appears to have sickened some people.

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.

Fossils

Here’s why ammolite gems have a rainbow shimmer

The fossils’ fabulous colors arise from delicate assemblies of crystal plates.

Space

This cosmologist studies the invisible parts of the universe

Katie Mack started out building solar-powered LEGO cars as a kid. Now she studies dark matter to better understand how galaxies form and evolve.

Physics

Chopping an onion? Sharp knives can keep its juice out of your eyes

Slow and steady cuts with a sharp blade, video shows, can reduce the pain-inducing spray of tiny onion-juice droplets.

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.

Materials Science

Scientists Say: Tenebrescence

Under ultraviolet light, some minerals adopt long-lasting new hues.

Tech

Origami folds let paper support 9,000 times its weight, teen finds

Miles Wu, 14, tested the strength of different ‘Miura-Ori’ origami folds and showed they might be useful in the design of pop-up emergency shelters.

Physics

Here’s how to levitate something without magic

Levitation may seem like fantasy. But all it takes is a little physics — and sound waves, magnetism or electricity.

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.

Physics

These parachutes unfurl thanks to Japanese paper-cutting techniques

Parachutes inspired by Japanese kirigami are full of holes. When dropped, they open automatically and fall more predictably than standard parachutes.