News
- Tech
Device fingers chemical thugs at scene
A compact, new instrument exploits quantum mechanics to rapidly identify illegal drugs, pollutants, and other chemicals, on the spot.
- Tech
Robosaur roams with spring in its step
The novel dinosaur robot Troodon takes two-legged walking machines onto new terrain.
- Tech
Polymer takes dim view of explosives
By spraying surfaces with a light-emitting polymer, researchers have taken a step toward making new sensors for traces of common explosives.
- Paleontology
Sahara yields second-largest dinosaur
Excavations near an Egyptian oasis have unearthed the fossils of an animal that probably ranks as the second-most-massive dinosaur known.
- Paleontology
Fossil footprints could be monumental
Trace fossils found in a vacant lot in a small town in Utah, including the footprints of meat-eating dinosaurs, could soon be protected as part of a new U.S. national monument.
- Chemistry
Hassium holds its place at the table
Researchers have performed the first ever chemical studies on the element hassium.
- Chemistry
Chemists make hard-to-catch molecules
Chemists have devised a new way to stabilize highly reactive molecules called carbenes.
- Physics
New probe zooms in on midgets of magnetism
A new microscope for peering at magnetic materials provides the first glimpses of how such materials behave on a scale of only tens of atoms.
- Earth
Alaska’s coastal permafrost is eroding
Aerial photographs taken over the past 50 years show that Alaska's coastlines of permafrost aren't that permanent after all.
- Earth
More acid rain in East Asia’s future
Large increases in Asian industrial emissions of nitrogen oxides in the next 30 years could lead to a tripling of the acid rain there due to those pollutants.
- Earth
Midlatitude bogs store carbon best
Sediments in lakes and bogs along the eastern coast of the United States show that midlatitude bodies of water have sequestered higher amounts of carbon than others since the last ice age.
- Earth
Seismic simulations help track tanks
New computer models developed to analyze how seismic vibrations travel through uneven terrain can also be used to identify and track heavy vehicles such as tanks and trains.
