Chemistry
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Chemistry
New champions among corrosive microbes
Newly discovered strains of bacteria have developed a metabolic shortcut for eating away iron with great efficiency.
- Chemistry
Clean hydrogen fuel from corn?
A new reactor can convert ethanol from corn into hydrogen fuel with enough efficiency to make the process economical.
- Chemistry
Radical molecule could produce plastic magnets
A team of chemists has synthesized an unusual organic molecule that could lead to cheaper and lighter magnets.
- Chemistry
Nitrogen Unbound: New reaction breaks strong chemical link
Researchers have developed a new way to turn nitrogen into ammonia that could improve upon an energy-intensive, 90-year-old method used to make fertilizers.
- Chemistry
Nature’s tiniest rotor runs like clockwork
By manipulating a tiny protein found in most living cells, researchers created a molecular rotor that can convert mechanical motion into chemical energy.
- Chemistry
Nobel prize recognizes future for plastics
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry went to three researchers for the discovery and development of plastics that conduct electricity.
- Chemistry
Moonlighting: Reflective protein causes squid to shimmer
Squid can manipulate light in amazing ways to camouflage themselves at night, and researchers have unveiled a bizarre set of reflective proteins in the animals' tissues that underlie this trait.
- Chemistry
The March of History: Terra-cotta warriors show their true colors
As archaeologists continue to excavate the famous Chinese terra-cotta warriors, a new restoration technique could preserve the figures' paint coats, which normally peel off when exposed to the elements.
- Chemistry
Clays catalyze life?
Clay minerals at the bottom of the ocean may have played a crucial role in assembling the very first cells on Earth billions of years ago.
- Chemistry
The Nature of Things
An earth scientist's proposed alternative periodic table of elements is emblematic of the growing desire among scientists to recast this 130-year-old chart.
- Chemistry
Nobel Prize in Chemistry Opens Channels: Research reveals vital function of tiny pores in cell membranes
The 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry honors two researchers for their pioneering work on the structure and mechanisms of cell membrane channels, tiny pores that regulate the flow of ions and water molecules across cells.
- Chemistry
Mollusks point way toward better drugs
Growing drug crystals on different polymer surfaces may lead to improved medicines.
