Chemistry

Among the colorful characters immortalized in the colorless daguerreotype medium are (clockwise from upper left): writer Henry Thoreau, Seneca leader Blacksnake, Navy Commodore Matthew Perry, mental health crusader Dorothea Dix, showmen P.T. Barnum and Tom Thumb, and actress Charlotte Cushman.

How Daguerreotype Photography Reflected a Changing America

The National Portrait Gallery brings the eerie power of a historic medium into focus

How a Copper Coin Mummified a Baby's Hand

The preemie was buried in a jar in an medieval cemetery with a coin to "pay" for passage into heaven

How to Calculate the Danger of a Toxic Chemical to the Public

The risk of any toxin depends on the dose, how it spreads, and how it enters the body

The Nazi atomic effort relied on work done in this remote lab.

How a Sneak Attack By Norway's Skiing Soldiers Deprived the Nazis of the Atomic Bomb

Seventy-five years ago, in Operation Gunnerside, a stealthy group of commandos took out a crucial Nazi chemical plant

At La Pasiega in Spain, the scalariform, or ladder shape, composed of red horizontal and vertical lines (center left) dates to older than 64,000 years.

Were Neanderthals the Earliest Cave Artists? New Research in Spain Points to the Possibility

Archaeologists pushed back the date of cave paintings at three sites to 65,000 years ago—20,000 years before the arrival of humans in Europe

Material scientist Liangbing Hu (left) holds wood stronger than titanium and tougher than steel after a two-step process. Mechanical engineer Teng Li (right) holds an untreated block of the same wood.

New Super Wood Beats Metals in Feats of Strength

A new method combining chemical, pressure and heat treatments can create ultra-dense material that is stronger than steel

Perhaps all this little bug needs is a few good swats.

Swatting May Teach Mosquitoes to Avoid Your Scent

Though it won't work for all species, <em>Aedes aegypti</em> mosquitos seem to have a memory for near-death experiences

Have Scientists Found a Greener Way to Make Blue Jeans?

An engineered strain of <em>E. coli</em> bacteria can produce a precursor to synthetic indigo using fewer nasty chemicals than traditional methods

Electric Eels Inspire a New Type of Battery

Researchers took a cue from the electric eel to create a soft, foldable battery that could one day power devices like pacemakers

An artist's rendering of the CP-1 nuclear reactor.

How the First Man-Made Nuclear Reactor Reshaped Science and Society

In December 1942, Chicago Pile-1 ushered in an age of frightening possibility

An apiarist tends to beehives at Hastings Urban Farm in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

Can Honeybees Monitor Pollution?

The tiny pollinators are useful sentinels of what’s going on in an ecosystem, and might just be environmentalists’ best asset

For the first time, human beings harnessed the power of atomic fission.

The Science Behind the First Nuclear Chain Reaction, Which Ushered in the Atomic Age 75 Years Ago

That fateful discovery helped give us nuclear power reactors and the atomic bomb

Spandex, under the brand name Lycra, quickly took off after it was introduced in 1962. This ad was published in Good Housekeeping in October of that year.

Thank(?) Joseph Shivers For Spandex

From Spanx to space suits, spandex has shaped modern garments

The Ozone Hole Is the Smallest It's Been in 30 Years—But We Can't Take Credit

Warming in the stratosphere has kept away ozone-killing chemicals, reducing annual thinning for the last two years

Watch the Winners of the 2017 Dance Your Ph.D. Competition

From sea stars to mathematical braids, scientists translate their work into hot moves and killer choreography

Mole Day celebrates the mole unit of chemistry, not these guys, as cute as they are

Chemistry Nerds Rejoice—It's Mole Day

Named for a unit of atomic particles, this decades-old quirky holiday seeks to raise enthusiasm for chemistry with cakes, crafts and a lot of bad jokes

Over Three Quarters of Flying Insects Disappear From German Nature Preserves

A combination of habitat loss, pesticide use and climate change may be behind the dramatic three-decade decline

Eight hundred pounds of dynamite exploding.

The Man Who Invented Nitroglycerin Was Horrified By Dynamite

Alfred Nobel–yes, that Nobel–commercialized it, but inventor Asciano Sobrero thought nitroglycerin was too destructive to be useful

A graphic showing the high image resolutions achieved with cryo-electron microscopy

Method for Capturing the Smallest Details of Life Nabs Chemistry Nobel

With cryo-electron microscopy, tiny living molecules can be seen in their natural states

What can you do to ensure a more perfect brew?

The Chemistry and Physics Behind the Perfect Cup of Coffee

How science helps your barista brew your espresso perfectly every time

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