News
Flexible gel-like plastic could solve a major electronics problem
3+ hour, 16+ min ago (819+ words) Scientists have discovered that adding simple salts to a soft, gel-like plastic already used in flexible electronics causes it to grow dense networks of microscopic fibers that carry electricity far more effectively than its smooth form ever did. That structural change…...
CFC pollutant substitutes have released 335,500 tons of another 'forever chemical' into the atmosphere
1+ week, 4+ day ago (817+ words) CFC substitute gases have been linked, in a new study, to most of the forever chemical settling into rain and Arctic ice. Their breakdown products keep building up long after the original emissions. In addition, the increase is expected to…...
100-year-old chemistry rule has been proven false, now textbook updates are necessary
2+ week, 1+ day ago (859+ words) You know that feeling when everyone tells you something is impossible, so you never even try? That is what happened in chemistry for a hundred years. Students memorized a rule, one called Bredt's rule, and then everyone obeyed it. Professors…...
One simple molecular bond gives spider silk remarkable strength
2+ week, 1+ day ago (879+ words) Spider silk is famous for combining strength and flexibility in a way few materials can match, yet scientists have long struggled to explain exactly how spiders turn liquid proteins into such durable threads. A new study now points to a…...
Life’s building blocks formed in frozen space, not warm water
2+ week, 1+ day ago (1131+ words) Amino acids have turned up in a tiny pinch of rock from asteroid Bennu, and that alone is wild: it means some of the ingredients life needs were already being "cooked" long before Earth became habitable." Now a new analysis…...
Life may have learned to use oxygen long before it filled Earth’s air
2+ week, 2+ day ago (1001+ words) Oxygen feels like the most ordinary thing in the world now. We breathe it, plants make it, and most animals depend on it." But for most of Earth's history, oxygen wasn't a stable part of the atmosphere at all. Scientists…...
Silver coating makes lithium batteries much harder to crack
3+ week, 4+ day ago (807+ words) Small flaws hidden inside batteries are quietly limiting how fast they can charge and how safely they can operate. As rapid charging becomes the norm for phones, laptops, and electric vehicles, those tiny defects are turning into a big problem....
Scientists create an engine made of liquid metal
3+ week, 6+ day ago (789+ words) Motion at small scales is getting harder to engineer just as medicine, electronics, and robotics demand devices that can bend without breaking." Researchers have now shown that rotation can come from a soft, flowing material rather than rigid parts, changing…...
Scientists develop AI that designs molecules ten times faster
4+ week, 7+ hour ago (809+ words) Instead of waiting years for lucky breaks, researchers are turning to machines to sketch out entirely new potential chemical molecules on demand." That change matters now because faster, more directed discovery can cut waste, lower costs, and move useful medicines…...
Bacteria swim through spaces that stop most microbes
4+ week, 15+ hour ago (833+ words) For bacteria, squeezing through tight spaces can be a dead end. Narrow passages usually trap cells, halt their movement, and effectively filter out which microbes can go any farther. But new research from the University of Electro-Communications shows that at…...