chemistry (Page 3)

Latest in chemistry

Soy sauce, cilantro, broth, and other umami foods on a pink and purple background

What is umami? No, really.

By Elana Spivack

The technology behind Shrinky Dinks can make better robots

The technology behind Shrinky Dinks can make better robots

brave-robot-ice-cream-scoop

This could be the milkiest vegan ice cream ever

By Stan Horaczek

The world’s worst conductor could be a game changer in the climate crisis

The world’s worst conductor could be a game changer in the climate crisis

A fibrous black diamond.

Diamonds contain remnants of Earth’s ancient atmosphere

Crushed single-use plastic water bottle in hand.

Adding enzymes to bioplastics can make them disappear

By Shaena Montanari

A man walks beneath a shooting star.

5,000 tons of ancient ‘extraterrestrial dust’ fall on Earth each year

By Leto Sapunar

person's hand with silver rings

Go full silver alchemist and clean your jewelry with science

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

An exploded view of Callaway's golf balls.

Callaway designed its Supersoft golf balls to spin, but not break

By Stan Horaczek

cleaning stain on carpet

How to remove stains of any kind

White bowls of white sugar, brown sugar, cane sugar, and unrefined sugar

High-fructose corn syrup vs. sugar: Which is actually worse?

By Sara Chodosh

A reimagined prehistoric bird chasing a dragonfly over plants

Were rocks on the menu for these ancient birds?

By Erin Fennessy

bananas in cast iron pan

How to season a cast iron pan

By Sara Chodosh

Mona Chalabi fermented food chart

See the wonderful world of fermented foods on one delicious chart

A running water faucet

Hackers accessed a Florida water treatment plant’s system and tried to make a dangerous change

By Stan Horaczek

An orange truck spreading salt on a snowy airport runway

Fish blood could hold the answer to safer de-icing solutions during snowstorms

By Monika Bleszynski/The Conversation

Bridgestone Blizzak tire packed.

Everything you thought you knew about winter tires but didn’t

Masha Krasnova-Shavaeva illustration

Learn your sourdough starter’s funky secrets

By Eleanor Cummins

How to make perfect pie crust with the power of science

How to make perfect pie crust with the power of science

By Rachel Feltman

Shipwreck on shore

How scientists keep ancient shipwrecks from crumbling into dust

By Sara Kiley Watson

This image of the Moon was created with images taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.

The moon is (slightly) wet, NASA confirms. Now what?

By Charlie Wood

two people doing fondue with a bunch of food and using forks to dip potatoes in a pot of melted cheese

The scientific way to make perfectly creamy fondue

By Pat Polowsky/Saveur

The blast at the Port of Beirut from August 4 seen on a rendered satellite map.

Why the Beirut blast created a mushroom cloud

A cup of pistachio gelato

How to make creamy, authentic-tasting gelato at home

By Max Falkowitz/Saveur

The Cahokia Mounds in Collinsville, Illinois, mark the site of one of the biggest pre-Colombian civilizations in the US.

Colonial bias gave us an incorrect history of North America’s Indigenous people

By Sturt Manning/The Conversation

Almost everything you know about cheese is wrong

By Stan Horaczek

A ball of homemade Silly Putty

Stay-at-home science project: Two-ingredient Silly Putty

By Purbita Saha

Beer bottles stacked on top of each other

How to brew beer at home in a week

By Martha Harbison

Chipotle queso blanco

Inside Chipotle’s two-year process of reinventing its queso

By Stan Horaczek

A methane and ethane lake on Titan's surface.

If life exists on Titan, it’s even weirder than we thought

By Charlie Wood

espresso being made

For better coffee, start with fewer beans

A stack of cut-out knife blanks waiting to be finished.

A deep dive into how knife blades are made

By Matt Foster/Field & Stream

A food scientist breaks down the thermodynamics between marshmallows and hot chocolate

Impossible Pork recipes.

Impossible Foods unveiled its new plant-based pork replacement. Here’s what it tastes like.

By Stan Horaczek

a meteorite in space

Meteorite-eating microbes could help us look for alien life

By Charlie Wood

Enceladus imaged by Cassini

Mysterious stripes on Saturn’s moon Enceladus may have a new origin story

By Charlie Wood

sugar-covered jelly candiies

Why don’t fake flavors taste like real fruit?

By Sara Chodosh

Here’s how life could thrive on a planet orbiting a black hole—and other alternative suns

Here’s how life could thrive on a planet orbiting a black hole—and other alternative suns

By Charlie Wood

An experiment hinted at Martian life in the ’70s. So why did we stop looking?

An experiment hinted at Martian life in the ’70s. So why did we stop looking?

By Charlie Wood

Super rodents, atomic math, and Marilyn Monroe: everything you need to know about moles

Super rodents, atomic math, and Marilyn Monroe: everything you need to know about moles

By Tom McNamara

The Nobel Prize for Chemistry just honored something you actually care about—your phone’s battery

The Nobel Prize for Chemistry just honored something you actually care about—your phone’s battery

By Sara Chodosh

We might run out of these elements

We might run out of these elements

By Sara Chodosh

Before there was a periodic table, there was chaos

Before there was a periodic table, there was chaos

By Paul Strathern

Before there was a periodic table, there was chemical chaos

Before there was a periodic table, there was chemical chaos

By Paul Strathern

Snow plow Spraying salt onto roads

How winter salt actually works

By Julie Pollock/The Conversation

woman holding nose

Fitness & Exercise

Here’s why gym clothes smell so rank—and how to freshen them up

By Jessica Boddy

The best science jokes to make you laugh, groan, and Google

The best science jokes to make you laugh, groan, and Google

By Popular Science Team

These elite chemical weapons detectives can prove who’s behind deadly attacks

These elite chemical weapons detectives can prove who’s behind deadly attacks

By Bryan Gardiner

This year’s Nobel Prize in chemistry ‘rewards a revolution based on evolution’

This year’s Nobel Prize in chemistry ‘rewards a revolution based on evolution’

By Jillian Mock

the statue of liberty

The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week

The weirdest things we learned this week: Lady Liberty’s big secret, the ultimate exercise hack, and a penis in a bottle

By Rachel Feltman

Shooting portraits on photo paper is a mixture of chemistry and a dying art

Shooting portraits on photo paper is a mixture of chemistry and a dying art

By Stan Horaczek

underwater swimming pool

The complicated, century-long relationship between swimming pools and chlorine

By Eleanor Cummins

Robotic noses could be the future of disaster rescue—if they can outsniff search dogs

By Eleanor Cummins

Not even geckos can stick to Teflon (and other slippery facts)

Not even geckos can stick to Teflon (and other slippery facts)

By Sara Chodosh

Chocolate cake in a mug with a spoon

Add a dash of chemistry for the best microwave mug cake of your life

By Jason Lederman

DIY film developing

You should develop your own black-and-white film. Here’s how.

By Stan Horaczek

Make these tiny, exploding hydrogen bubbles

Make these tiny, exploding hydrogen bubbles

By William Gurstelle

A super chill microscopy method just nabbed a Nobel prize

A super chill microscopy method just nabbed a Nobel prize

By Ellen Airhart

Archive Gallery: A Century of Weather Control

Archive Gallery: A Century of Weather Control

By Colin Lecher

Make DIY cold brew coffee—without fancy equipment

Make DIY cold brew coffee—without fancy equipment

By Cassidy Mayeda

You’re throwing away the healthiest part of the avocado

You’re throwing away the healthiest part of the avocado

By Sara Chodosh

Scientists are solving the mystery of Earth’s thermostat

Scientists are solving the mystery of Earth’s thermostat

By Jeremy Deaton

Chemists confirm that whiskey really does taste better with a splash of water

Chemists confirm that whiskey really does taste better with a splash of water

By Kendra Pierre-Louis

fireworks over the water

The explosive science of fireworks, explained

By Aparna Nathan