All Stories by Carmen Drahl
- Chemistry
Why once-gold ceilings in Spain’s Alhambra palace have purple stains
Moisture infiltrated flawed gilding at the iconic palace, leading to corrosion that deposited gold nanoparticles of the right size to appear purple.
- Chemistry
Luis Miramontes helped enable the sexual revolution. Why isn’t he better known?
By synthesizing norethindrone, one of the first active ingredients in birth control pills, Luis Miramontes helped usher in the sexual revolution.
- Chemistry
A sweet father-son bond inspires tasty new molecule models
New edible models of proteins could spark students’ interest in the world of chemistry, especially students who are blind.
- Chemistry
A new technique could make some plastic trash compostable at home
Embedding enzymes inside biodegradable plastics makes them truly compostable, which could mitigate the plastic waste problem.
- Environment
This moth may outsmart smog by learning to like pollution-altered aromas
In the lab, scientists taught tobacco hawkmoths that a scent changed by ozone is from a favorite flower.
- Tech
Methanol fuel gives this tiny beetle bot the freedom to roam
A new robot insect uses energy-dense methanol as fuel, not batteries. It could be a blueprint for future search-and-rescue bots with long run times.
- Chemistry
Beets bleed red but a chemistry tweak can create a blue hue
A new blue dye derived from beet juice might prove an alternative to synthetic blue dyes in foods, cosmetics or fabrics.
- Chemistry
Droplets of these simple molecules may have helped kick-start life on Earth
Simple molecules called alpha hydroxy acids form cell-sized structures in conditions mimicking early Earth chemistry.
- Chemistry
How seafood shells could help solve the plastic waste problem
Chitin and chitosan from crustacean shells could put a dent in the world’s plastic waste problem.
- Chemistry
Here’s how long the periodic table’s unstable elements last
Most elements on the periodic table have at least one stable form. But some don’t. Here’s how long those unstable members endure.
- Chemistry
Zapping substances with electrons can quickly map chemical structures
Speedy molecular identification originally developed for proteins might benefit crime lab researchers and drugmakers.
