Mercury, as a topic in scientific discourse, most commonly refers to the chemical element with atomic number 80 (symbol Hg), a dense, silvery liquid metal at standard conditions. It exhibits unique physicochemical properties, including high surface tension, significant vapor pressure at room temperature, and formation of amalgams with many metals. Mercury exists in multiple oxidation states, primarily 0, +1, and +2, and participates in complex environmental cycling through elemental, inorganic, and organic (especially methylmercury) species. It is studied for its toxicological impact, atmospheric transport, biogeochemical transformations, and roles in industrial processes, analytical chemistry, and materials science.
Mercury is a small, rocky planet about which researchers know relatively little. Two missions, taking readings as they passed over the planet, have revealed that Mercury is covered by an iron-poor and sulfur-rich crust. It ...
Planetary Sciences
Apr 19, 2026
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Mercury released into the oceans affects marine environments worldwide. Traditionally, its distribution and quantity have been estimated using marine biogeochemical simulation models.
Environment
Apr 10, 2026
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The planet Mercury is the closest planet to the sun, and also the most difficult for spacecraft to visit and explore. This is because as spacecraft get closer to Mercury, the sun's enormous gravity pulls in the spacecraft, ...
Planetary Sciences
Apr 1, 2026
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A study published in The Journal of Wildlife Management found varying risks to species due to mercury pollution across the United States' National Wildlife Refuge System, the world's largest network of lands and waters conserved ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 25, 2026
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What do many baked goods and the planet Mercury have in common? They shrink as they cool. Evidence suggests that since it formed about 4.5 billion years ago, Mercury has continuously contracted as it has lost heat. And somewhat ...
Planetary Sciences
Aug 13, 2025
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The alchemist's dream is to make gold from common metals, but can this be done? The physics needed to explain how to change one element into another is well understood and has been used for decades in accelerators and colliders, ...
Plasma Physics
Jul 28, 2025
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90
A startup energy company, called Marathon Fusion, may soon be living out the dream of alchemists from the Middle Ages. In a recently released paper posted to the arXiv preprint server, the company outlines a method to turn ...
Using a cutting-edge magnetic wave detection technique, a new study in Nature Communications has identified lithium in Mercury's exosphere for the first time.
Researchers from the Federal University of Alagoas (UFAL) and the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil have found high levels of mercury in the blood and urine of people living on the shores of the Mundaú Lagoon ...
Environment
Jun 25, 2025
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Mercury doesn't give up its secrets easily. The smallest planet in our solar system is also one of the most extreme—a sun-scorched, metal-rich world with a puzzling magnetic field and lavas unlike anything found on Earth.
Planetary Sciences
Jun 18, 2025
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