A butterfly’s wing viewed through an optical microscope (left) and the scanning helium microscope (right).
University of Newcastle
A new scanning helium microscope offers the potential for capturing images with finer resolution than optical microscopes, but without damaging samples as with electron microscopes.
Is there any science in that?
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Just a few awkward questions.
Big questions.
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Does it have a formula?
Salt seems common enough, but it has some astounding properties.
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That salt on your table can do amazing things chemically, and to the flavour of your favourite food. But don’t eat too much!
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Scientists have found a way to encrypt messages using common chemicals such as cola and mouthwash.
Nano-architects design materials that can work together at very tiny scales, like these interlocking gears made of carbon tubes and benzene molecules.
NASA
One of the great technological challenges of this century is to design novel items and then make them – and have the results match the intent.
Chemicals or a spice rack? Or both?
Hans Splinter/Flickr
Chemicals have a bad rap these days. But the fact is that everything is made of chemicals. Here are some of the chemicals at work in your kitchen.
Chilli: not nice for mice.
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Discover the chemical wonders in your kitchen cupboard.
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Scientists have discovered the first easy-to-grow bacteria that can break down plastics.
Chemistry is all around us.
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Our civilisation is built on chemistry, and the science has a bright future, with the launch of a new Decadal Plan that will steer the science into the future.
The Pantheon dome - made entirely out of concrete.
MatthiasKabel/wikimedia
Think atomic theory was invented in the 19th century? Try 5th century BC.
Shaken not stirred …
StudioVin
Getting tellurium and phosphorus to form a molecule is stupidly hard and not very glamorous. Here’s why it’s worth the effort.
New elements were discovered in early thermonuclear bomb tests.
Pixabay
New elements found in the reactions of nuclear tests during World War II sparked the hunt for additions to the periodic table.
The expanding periodic table of elements.
Shutterstock/Olivier Le Queinec
They might only last for a fraction of a second but four new elements have finally won their place in the periodic table. The hunt is now on to find even more.
H2 O H2 O H2 O!
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The science behind the sensory feast of Christmas explained.
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From making renewable energy practical to revolutionising farming, the chemicals industry could make a huge contribution to the environment.
The savory tastes so closely associated with Thanksgiving recall umami, which was ‘discovered’ more than 100 years ago by a Japanese chemist.
mr_t_in_dc/flickr
When you enjoy the delicious, savory foods of Thanksgiving, you’re experiencing umami, the fifth taste, with a little-known history rooted in Japan.
CH3 C(O)CH2 CH2 CO2 H? Eureka!
Reuters
Levulinic acid is derived from plants and can be used to make everything from pharmaceuticals to plastics.
Viagra rendered in Minecraft.
The online building game offers a way to explore the world of molecules like no other.
You’d be in bad shape if your cells couldn’t fix DNA issues that arise.
redondoself
Cells must repair the thousands of bits of DNA damage they incur every day. These cellular mechanisms fend off cancerous tumors, and cancer researchers are working to harness their power.