Chemistry

Agriculture

Nanoscale nutrients can protect plants from fungal diseases

Applied to the shoots, nutrients served in tiny metallic packages are absorbed more efficiently, strengthening plants’ defenses against fungal attack.

Earth

Lightning may be an important source of air-cleaning chemicals

Airplane observations show that thunderstorms can directly generate vast quantities of atmosphere-cleansing chemicals called oxidants.

Chemistry

A new technique could make some plastic trash compostable at home

Embedding enzymes inside biodegradable plastics makes them truly compostable, which could mitigate the plastic waste problem.

Physics

Can room-temperature superconductors work without extreme pressure?

The next generation of materials that conduct electricity with no resistance could shrug off the need for high pressure and low temperatures.

Earth

Phosphorus for Earth’s earliest life may have been forged by lightning

Lightning strikes can supply one of life’s essential elements, long thought to be delivered by meteorites billions of years ago.

Quantum Physics

‘Designer molecules’ could create tailor-made quantum devices

Scientists are making molecules suited to a variety of quantum tasks by building them up, atom by atom.

Chemistry

Chemists are reimagining recycling to keep plastics out of landfills

Recycling plastics is really hard, and usually creates low-quality materials that aren’t good for much. Chemists are trying to change that.

Chemistry

This weird chemical bond acts like a mash-up of hydrogen and covalent bonds

Chemistry students are taught that hydrogen bonds and covalent bonds are distinct, but a new study shows they exist on a continuum.

Chemistry

Zinc-air batteries are typically single-use. A new design could change that

Swapping out the electrolyte in zinc-air batteries helps these next-gen power sources last longer.

Earth

Plastic drinking water pipes exposed to high heat can leak hazardous chemicals

Lab tests exposing commonly used water pipes to wildfire-like heat show damaged pipes can leach the carcinogen benzene and other chemicals.

Chemistry

A new iron-based catalyst converts carbon dioxide into jet fuel

Jet fuel made from carbon dioxide could one day reduce pollution from air travel.

Planetary Science

50 years ago, scientists caught their first glimpse of amino acids from outer space

In 1970, scientists detected amino acids in a meteorite. Fifty years later, a variety of chemical ingredients for life have been found in other space rocks.