Scientists unlock the secrets of a sixth basic flavor

Japanese scientist Kikunae Ikeda first proposed umami as a basic taste—in addition to sweet, sour, salty and bitter—in the early 1900s. About eight decades later, the scientific community officially agreed with him.

A step closer to sustainable energy from seawater

The research group led by Leiden chemist Marc Koper has discovered a catalyst that minimizes the production of chlorine gas during salt water electrolysis. The invention can enable the direct production of hydrogen from seawater. ...

Chemists develop liquid-based hydrogen storage material

University of Oregon chemists have developed a boron-nitrogen-based liquid-phase storage material for hydrogen that works safely at room temperature and is both air- and moisture-stable -- an accomplishment that offers a ...

The secrets behind a creepy photographic technique

In the 1960s, a French artist named Jean-Pierre Sudre began experimenting with an obscure 19th-century photographic process, creating dramatic black-and-white photographs with ethereal veiling effects. Sudre christened the ...

Image: Lomonosov crater on Mars

At first glance this captivating scene peering through wispy clouds and down onto a dune field is reminiscent of a satellite view of one of Earth's deserts, but this is in fact a beautiful landscape on Mars.

page 1 from 3