Materials Science
- Materials Science
High-tech cloth could make summer days a breeze
A plastic material like kitchen cling wrap may be the next big thing in high-tech clothing. The fabric lets heat pass through, but blocks visible light, making it opaque enough to wear.
- Physics
The pressure is on to make metallic hydrogen
Scientists are getting close to turning hydrogen into a metal — both in liquid form and maybe even solid form. The rewards, if they pull it off, are worth the effort.
- Environment
New desalination tech could help quench global thirst
Designed with better, more energy-efficient materials, next-generation desalination plants may offer a way to meet the world’s growing need for freshwater.
- Materials Science
Shark jelly is strong proton conductor
A jelly found in sharks and skates, which helps them sense electric fields, is a strong proton conductor.
- Health & Medicine
Tight spaces cause spreading cancer cells to divide improperly
Researchers are using rolled-up transparent nanomembranes to mimic tiny blood vessels and study how cancer cells divide in these tight spaces.
- Materials Science
Butterfly-inspired nanostructures can sort light
Scientists re-created a nanostructure found on butterflies that can separate out circularly polarized light, a characteristic that may be useful for telecommunications.
- Physics
Turning water to steam, no boiling required
A new material can convert water into steam with sunlight alone, and could be useful for making fresh water from salty.
- Oceans
Readers question ocean health
Ocean plastics, ant behavior, pollution solutions and more in reader feedback.
- Physics
New type of catalyst could aid hydrogen fuel
A substance that can switch states might make an efficient catalyst for extracting hydrogen from water.
- Materials Science
Playing with building blocks for metamaterial design
Legos show promise as a low-cost method to assist scientists in developing novel metamaterials.
- Materials Science
New process encourages ice to slip, slide away
Researchers discover new process for making durable ice-phobic materials.
- Materials Science
New carbon cluster has high storage capacity
A new carbon structure could store gases or liquids in honeycomb-shaped cells.
