Chemistry
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
Toxic dangers lurk in LA, even in homes that didn’t burn
Urban wildfires like LA’s make harmful chemicals from burning plastics and electronics that can make indoor air dangerous for months.
- Chemistry
A new microbead proves effective as a plastic-free skin scrubber
The nonplastic polymer cleaned up eyeliner and permanent marker and broke down into molecules related to sugar and amino acids.
- Life
Sheep earwax can record a dangerous diet
Sheep that eat death camas plants record the toxic meal in their earwax, a goopy health data repository that researchers are increasingly exploring.
- Materials Science
Starchy nanofibers shatter the record for world’s thinnest pasta
The fibers, made from white flour and formic acid, average just 372 nanometers in diameter and might find use in biodegradable bandages.
- Health & Medicine
Scientists identify a long-sought by-product of some drinking water treatments
Chlorine-based water treatments create many by-products, but one has been elusive. Its identification sets the stage for studying its health effects.
- Animals
A single enzyme can alter the vibrant colors in parrot plumage
Tweaking the chemical composition of a parrot-specific pigment can shift feathers from red to yellow or green.
- Chemistry
Work on protein structure and design wins the 2024 chemistry Nobel
David Baker figured out how to build entirely new proteins. Demis Hassabis and John Jumper developed an AI tool to predict protein structures.
- Chemistry
Scientists may have an explanation for why some batteries don’t last
A long-standing idea of why lithium ion batteries die focuses on lithium movement into the cathode. Instead, hydrogen may be to blame.
- Environment
A biogeochemist is tracking the movements of toxic mercury pollution
Exposing the hidden movements of mercury through the environment can help reduce human exposure.
- Materials Science
A materials scientist seeks to extract lithium from untapped sources
Lithium is an essential ingredient for batteries in electric vehicles but getting enough will become a problem.
- Climate
Zapping sand to create rock could help curb coastal erosion
Low voltages generated minerals that help bind the sand into erosion-resistant rock, offering hope for shorelines ravaged by waves.
- Physics
The world’s fastest microscope makes its debut
Using a laser and an electron beam, the microscope can snap images of moving electrons every 625 quintillionths of a second.
