Tracing the remnants of Andromeda's violent history

A detailed analysis of the composition and motion of more than 500 stars has revealed conclusive evidence of an ancient collision between Andromeda and a neighboring galaxy. The findings, which improve our understanding of ...

Early Earth: Evolution in the abiotic world

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich chemists have shown that organocatalysts go through an evolution and could have played an important role in the emergence of life.

The fundamental chemistry behind electrocatalytic water splitting

Transitioning to a sustainable energy economy requires electrocatalytic methods to convert electrical energy to chemical energy and feedstocks. A team of researchers from TU Berlin, ETH Zurich, the National Research Council—Institute ...

How a mint became catmint

Catmint, also known as catnip, is well-known for its intoxicating effect on cats. The chemical responsible for the cats' strange behavior is nepetalactone, a volatile iridoid produced by catmint. An international team of ...

Analyzing the world's oldest woody plant fossil

Mapping the evolution of life on Earth requires a detailed understanding of the fossil record, and scientists are using synchrotron-based technologies to look back—way, way back—at the cell structure and chemistry of ...

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