Gallium is one of the few metals that turns into a liquid at room temperature. When that happens, its surface oxidizes, forming a "skin" over the fluid, almost like a water balloon or a water bed. Years ago, scientists often ...
Condensed Matter
Aug 27, 2014
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Desalination has come a long way, baby. On Aug. 3, some 330 years ago, a certain Captain Gifford of His Majesty's Ship Mermaid, was asked to conduct onboard his 24-gun Royal Naval vessel what may have been the first government-sponsored, ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 4, 2014
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In the Namib Desert of Africa, the fog-filled morning wind carries the drinking water for a beetle called the Stenocara.
Nanomaterials
Jul 24, 2014
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When Elisa Teipel, and her collaborators began their research several years ago, their goal was to take an agricultural waste product of little value—in this case, fibers extracted from coconut husks—and turn it into ...
Materials Science
Jul 23, 2014
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Superbugs, they're called: Pathogens, or disease-causing microorganisms, resistant to multiple antibiotics. Such antibiotic resistance is now a major public health concern.
Materials Science
Jul 18, 2014
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By the end of 2014, Earth will be home to more mobile electronic devices than people. Smartphones, tablets, e-readers, not to mention wearable health and fitness trackers, smart glasses and navigation devices—today's population ...
Energy & Green Tech
Jul 2, 2014
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Sometimes breakthrough materials with important benefits to society pose environmental risks that aren't apparent until decades later. In the growing field of nanotechnology—the creation of materials or processes at the ...
Bio & Medicine
Jun 30, 2014
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While electric vehicles offer many advantages—including reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the country's dependence on imported petroleum—at least one barrier stands in the way of their large-scale adoption: "range ...
Energy & Green Tech
Jun 30, 2014
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The vast majority of the stars in our galaxy are known as "red dwarfs," small, cool bodies visible only through a telescope.
Astronomy
Jun 16, 2014
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What if we could make the Great Pacific Garbage Patch just disappear? What if plastics didn't accumulate in our landfills? What if we could reduce greenhouse gas emissions while replacing up to 30 percent of the world's plastics ...
Materials Science
May 28, 2014
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