8+ hour, 46+ min ago  (1520+ words) The inner channel of the nuclear pore complex in all its messy glory. Far from a simple pore, the complex is filled with dynamic proteins that move molecules into and out of the nucleus. In this computer model, green strands…...

3+ week, 5+ day ago  (925+ words) Water molecules flow together; electrons usually do not. Myriam Wares for'Quanta Magazine If you were asked to picture how electrons move, you could be forgiven for imagining a stream of particles sluicing down a wire like water rushing through a…...

3+ mon, 1+ day ago  (597+ words) Solids don't usually have such slick surfaces. The reason we can gracefully glide on an ice-skating rink or clumsily slip on an icy sidewalk is that the surface of ice is coated by a thin watery layer. Scientists generally agree…...

6+ mon, 3+ week ago  (977+ words) How can atoms assemble into quasicrystals? Scientists seek to understand both for curiosity's sake and in hopes of putting the materials to work. DVDP for Quanta Magazine "Quasicrystals are one of those things that as a materials scientist, when you…...

9+ mon, 2+ day ago  (237+ words) Most organic molecules have a mirror-image twin. This concept is known as chirality. Yet life only uses one chiral molecule, not the other. The reason for this asymmetry is one of the greatest mysteries of biology. Mathematician Maggie Miller explores…...