When variations in Earth's orbit drive biological evolution

Coccolithophores are microscopic algae that form tiny limestone plates, called coccoliths, around their single cells. The shape and size of coccoliths varies according to the species. After their death, coccolithophores sink ...

Surface chemistry reveals corrosive secrets

One can easily see with the naked eye that leaving an old nail out in the rain causes rust. What does require the keen eyes and sensitive nose of microscopy and spectroscopy is observing how iron corrodes and forms new minerals, ...

Tea time gets flavor boost from thin film, impure water

Getting your day started sometimes feels like it requires magic, but making a good cup of tea requires a little science. In Physics of Fluids, researchers from ETH Zurich describe how they applied the science of rheology ...

Digging into the molecules of fossilized dinosaur eggshells

Dinosaurs roamed the Earth more than 65 million years ago, and paleontologists and amateur fossil hunters are still unearthing traces of them today. The minerals in fossilized eggs and shell fragments provide snapshots into ...

Particles at the ocean surface and seafloor aren't so different

Although scientists often assume that random variations in scientific data fit symmetrical, bell-shaped normal distributions, nature isn't always so tidy. In some cases, a skewed distribution, like the log-normal probability ...

Mixing solutions in the world's smallest test tubes

Researchers based at the University of Manchester have demonstrated a new method for imaging live chemical reactions with atomic resolution using nanoscale test tubes created using two-dimensional (2D) materials.

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