Chemistry
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It’s a fundamental principle of physics that particles with opposite charges attract each other, while those with the same charge repel. Scientists have now discovered that under certain conditions, particles can attract those of the same charge.
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We’ve all accidentally tied knots that we can’t untangle – but we don’t expect to win any world records. Now scientists have done exactly that, accidentally tying the world’s smallest and tightest knot in a tiny structure made of just 54 atoms.
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Saturn’s moon Enceladus continues to climb the list of best places to look for life beyond Earth. New NASA data has detected a molecule thought to be key to the origin of life, and suggests there’s more chemical energy for life to chow down on.
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A team of scientists from China's Northeast Normal University has developed an electrochemical method for extracting uranium from ordinary seawater that has the potential to supply humanity with an effectively unlimited energy source.
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Phosphorus – a key ingredient for life as we know it – was thought to be relatively rare in space. But now, astronomers have detected a surprising amount of the stuff on the fringes of the galaxy, suggesting life may be more common in the cosmos.
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This year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to three different scientists who advanced the development of quantum dots – nanoscale particles that exhibit unusual characteristics thanks to their diminutive size.
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Scientists in Australia have used quantum computers to observe something usually too fast for the eye to see. The team managed to slow down a molecular interaction by 100 billion times to see what’s really going on in a common chemical reaction.
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Scientists have detected the first evidence of a phenomenon called “quantum superchemistry.” Long predicted but never confirmed, this effect could speed up chemical reactions, give scientists more control over them, and inform quantum computing.
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As climate change, market demand and other variables impact vino supply and quality, winemakers have turned to using ultrasound on grapes to get a better drop. Now, for the first time, scientists have studied its effects on the increasingly popular rosé.
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A bright red waterfall isn’t something you’d expect to see on the icy landscape of Antarctica, but that’s what’s pouring out from the foot of Taylor Glacier. Scientists now claim to have solved the mystery behind the crimson waters of Blood Falls.
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One of the most profound mysteries facing science is how exactly life arose from non-living matter. Now, scientists have pinpointed a particular peptide that potentially kickstarted life – and it could all be nickelback’s fault.
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A new study suggests natural selection was at work before life itself existed on Earth. By recreating the primordial soup, scientists identified how a cocktail of specific amino acids informed the genetic code of every single lifeform on the planet.
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