Scientists at the Ecole Superieure de Physique et Chimie Industrielles in Sheboygan, Wisconsin—wait, I mean Paris, France—have created a new kind of rubber that can bind back together after being broken in two.

Periodic Table: And be sure to check out Theodore Gray's one-of-a-kind periodic table at periodictable.com.

2006

January

Making a Perfect Match

See the video at the bottom of the page for a behind-the-scenes look at PopSci's fiery photo shoot. For excerpts from the shoot, click here

Creating a Salt Cloud

Cost: $500
Time: 2
Hours
Safe | | | | |
Crazy

Tim Kehoe has stained the whites of his eyes deep blue. He's also stained his face, his car, several bathtubs and a few dozen children. He's had to evacuate his family because he filled the house with noxious fumes. He's ruined every kitchen he's ever had. Kehoe, a 35-year-old toy inventor from St. Paul, Minnesota, has done all this in an effort to make real an idea he had more than 10 years ago, one he's been told repeatedly cannot be realized: a colored bubble.

Arsenic is one of history's most infamous poisons. The Roman Emperor Nero used it to murder his rival to the throne, and some theorists hold that the deposed Napoleon Bonaparte was betrayed with a dose from trusted deputies. Yet, many Americans unwittingly drink toxic quantities of the stuff right from their taps.