Chemistry

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We summarize the week's science breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Chemistry

    Pit vipers’ night vision explained

    A new study finds the protein responsible for snakes’ sense of heat.

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  2. Chemistry

    Polymer shifts shape with changing temperature

    Common material’s ‘memory’ could be exploited for smart fabrics or other gadgets.

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  3. Physics

    Aluminum superatoms may split water

    Metal clusters could create hydrogen for fuel, simulations suggest.

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  4. Chemistry

    Plasticizers kept from leaching out

    ‘Chemicals of concern’ may be made safer in new materials.

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  5. Chemistry

    Naming an atomic heavyweight

    More than a decade after its debut in a German lab, element 112 is officially named copernicium.

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  6. Chemistry

    Tiny molecules walk the track

    Researchers design synthetic “walking” molecules that may one day haul cargo in artificial micromachines.

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  7. Materials Science

    A charge for freezing water at different temperatures

    Experiments use positive and negative forces to control ice formation at temperatures well below the normal freezing point.

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  8. Chemistry

    Self-stirring liquids

    Chemistry, not force, leads to fluid flow, mixes solution.

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  9. Chemistry

    New material sops up radioactive cesium

    Isotope catcher could safely store waste from power plants.

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  10. Materials Science

    Breakup doesn’t keep hydrogel down

    Scientists create a new material that is strong, soft and self-healing.

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  11. Life

    Snail in shining armor

    A deep-sea gastropod’s natural shield may offer ideas for human protection.

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  12. Earth

    BPA is regulated . . . sort of

    Food and Drug Administration officials “say they are powerless to regulate BPA” because of a quirk in their rules, according to a story that ran Sunday in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. It comes from a reporter who has made an award-winning habit of documenting the politics that have helped make the hormone-mimicking bisphenol-A a chemical of choice for many manufacturers.

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