On World Rabies Day – which is also the anniversary of French microbiologist Louis Pasteur’s death – a virologist reflects on the achievements of this visionary scientist.
An unusual folded shape in a meteorite prompted scientists to dive deep into a rabbit hole – discovering a potential new way to make specially shaped diamonds in the lab.
Emma Kast, University of Cambridge; Jeremy McCormack, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, and Sora Kim, University of California, Merced
Megalodon, the world’s largest known shark species, swam the oceans long before humans existed. Its teeth are all that’s left, and they tell a story of an apex predator that vanished.
TRAPPIST-1e is a rocky exoplanet in the habitable zone of a star 40 light-years from Earth and may have water and clouds, as depicted in this artist’s impression.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Wikimedia Commons
Life on Earth has dramatically changed the chemistry of the planet. Astronomers will measure light that bounces off distant planets to look for similar clues that they host life.
Introductory science classes typically require students to memorize facts, rather than teaching them the basis of scientific thinking.
Maskot via Getty Images
The US Environmental Protection Agency is reexamining the health effects of bisphenol A. A chemist explains why BPA is in plastics and why it’s hard to find a safe replacement.
Figuring out what makes some proteins glow requires an understanding of chemistry.
eLife - the journal
The AI AlphaFold can figure out the three-dimensional protein structure any string of amino acids will become. It has now exceeded its training by figuring out what makes some proteins glow.
Cooking food over an open flame produces unique flavors thanks to some interesting chemistry.
Lars Szatmari / EyeEm via Getty Images
Barbecued food has unique and often delicious flavors. A food chemist explains how the process of grilling over an open flame can produce flavors unattainable through other cooking methods.
Plastic trash accumulates in trees and shrubs along the Los Angeles River.
Citizen of the Planet/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Plastic is made from oil and natural gas, which started out as fossilized plant and animal material. But buried deep underground for millions of years, those materials changed in important ways.
Maple syrup contains bioactive molecules whose benefits go far beyond the simple pleasure of a sweet treat.
(Shutterstock)
Researchers have long suspected that an ingredient in sunscreen called oxybenzone was harming corals, but no one knew how. A new study shows how corals turn oxybenzone into a sunlight-activated toxin.
Pan-assay interference compounds, or PAINS, often come up as false positives when researchers screen for potential drug candidates.
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It’s too hot for bare feet, but that doesn’t mean you can cook a fry-up on the path outside your house. A frying pan is a much better tool for the job, because it conducts heat far more efficiently.