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  1. Materials Science

    A Hard Little Lesson: Squeezed nanospheres grow superstrong

    A substance not known for its hardness—silicon—becomes one of the hardest of materials when formed into ultrasmall spheres.

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  2. Earth

    Dioxin Dumps: Burning exposed trash pollutes soil

    The practice of burning refuse in the open in many underdeveloped countries creates prodigious quantities of harmful polychlorinated compounds.

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  3. Earth

    Clean Casualties: Everyday chemicals may shift ecosystems

    Trace amounts of the chemical concoctions used to battle bacteria in kitchens and bathrooms may kill off algae, an effect that researchers say may have far-reaching consequences.

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  4. Animals

    Secret Signal: Fish allurement that predators don’t see

    In a rare demonstration of secret messaging in animals, a swordtail fish uses ultraviolet courtship signals that are invisible to a predator.