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Chemical structure of the cyclo[48]carbon [4]catenan. Image credit: Harry Anderson.

Chemists Synthesize New Carbon Allotrope

Aug 15, 2025 by News Staff

Carbon can exist in different forms — called allotropes — giving it completely different properties from color to shape to hardness. For example,...

Paestum honey: (A) underground shrine in Paestum, Italy; (B) one of the hydrias on display alongside a Perspex box containing the residue at the Ashmolean Museum in 2019; (C) graphic representation of the arrangement of the bronze jars inside the shrine; (D) sample from the core of the residue. Image credit: da Costa Carvalho et al., doi: 10.1021/jacs.5c04888.

Bronze Jars Found in Italy Contain 2,500-Year-Old Honey, Archaeologists Find

Jul 30, 2025 by News Staff

Archaeologists have re-examined a 2500-year-old residue found in bronze jars at an underground shrine in Paestum, Italy, previously identified as a wax/fat/resin...

Johnson et al. report a biocompatible Lossen rearrangement that is catalyzed by phosphate in the bacterium Escherichia coli for the transformation of activated acyl hydroxamates to primary amine-containing metabolites in living cells. Image credit: Johnson et al., doi: 10.1038/s41557-025-01845-5.

Common Gut Bacterium Can Turn Everyday Plastic Waste into Paracetamol

Jun 24, 2025 by News Staff

Paracetamol, a pain medication also known as acetaminophen, is traditionally made from dwindling supplies of fossil fuels including crude oil. Thousands...

Srinivasan et al. demonstrated that plant-based polysaccharides showed better microplastic removal efficiency than polyacrylamide, which is commercially used for water treatment. Image credit: Srinivasan et al., doi: 10.1021/acsomega.4c07476.

Fenugreek and Okra Extracts Remove Up To 90% of Microplastics from Water Sources, Study Shows

May 6, 2025 by News Staff

In a new study by Tarleton State University scientists, okra and/or fenugreek extracts attracted and removed up to 90% of microplastics from ocean water,...

To make livermorium, Gates et al. fused isotopes of titanium and plutonium. Image credit: Jenny Nuss, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Livermorium: Physicists Find Novel Way to Produce Element 116

Apr 7, 2025 by News Staff

Using Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s 88-Inch Cyclotron, an international team of physicists has successfully made two atoms of livermorium (atomic...

The purple/blue solution in this vial contains crystals of berkelocene. Image credit: Alyssa Gaiser / Berkeley Lab.

Berkelocene: Chemists Create Berkelium-Containing Organometallic Molecule

Mar 12, 2025 by News Staff

Organometallic molecules consist of a metal ion surrounded by a carbon-based framework. They are relatively common for early actinide elements like uranium...

Labrys portucalensis F11 can be potentially used for PFAS biodegradation in contaminated environments. Image credit: Wijayahena et al., doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.178348.

Rare Aerobic Bacterium Found to Break Down ‘Forever Chemicals’

Jan 27, 2025 by News Staff

Labrys portucalensis F11, a strain of aerobic bacterium from the Xanthobacteraceae family, can break down and transform at least three types of per- and...

Direct electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide capture species, i.e., carbamate and (bi)carbonate, can be promising for carbon dioxide capture and conversion from point-source. Image credit: Neves-Garcia et al., doi: 10.1021/jacs.4c09744.

Researchers Find New Way to Convert Carbon Dioxide into Methane

Nov 22, 2024 by News Staff

A new class of atomically dispersed nickel catalysts directly converts captured carbon dioxide (CO2) to methane (CH4), according to Dr. Tomaz Neves-Garcia,...

Fermium isotopes studied by Warbinek et al. are highlighted in this chart. Image credit: S. Raeder.

Physicists Measure Nuclear Properties of Fermium

Nov 13, 2024 by News Staff

Physicists at the GSI/FAIR accelerator facility have gained insights into the structure of atomic nuclei of fermium, a synthetic chemical element of the...

Cryo-EM structure of α-latrotoxin in two distinct tetrameric states. Image credit: Klink et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-52635-5.

Researchers Decode Structure of Vertebrate-Specific Toxin in Black Widow Spider Venom

Oct 8, 2024 by News Staff

The venom of black widow spiders contains a cocktail of seven specific latrotoxins, but only one — α-latrotoxin — targets vertebrates, including...

In the gas phase, if once formed, sulfurous acid shows a certain kinetic stability with an estimated lifetime of at least one second for atmospheric water vapor conditions. Image credit: Berndt et al., doi: 10.1002/anie.202405572.

Chemists Demonstrate Existence of Sulfurous Acid in Gas Phase under Atmospheric Conditions

Sep 11, 2024 by Sergio Prostak

Chemists at the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research have provided experimental evidence that sulfurous acid (H2SO3), once formed in the gas phase,...

An artist’s impression of fast phosphorescence: the blue light rays come into the molecule to generate bold yellow pillars, representing the acceleration of phosphorescence through the mixing of singlet states. Image credit: YAP Co Ltd.

Metal-Free Organic Molecules Show Highly Efficient Room-Temperature Phosphorescence

Jul 4, 2024 by News Staff

Metal-free organic 3-bromo-2-thienyl diketones exhibit fast and highly efficient room-temperature phosphorescence with high color purity under various...

Conceptual art shows the rare earth element promethium in a vial surrounded by an organic ligand. Image credit: Jacqueline DeMink / Thomas Dyke / ORNL.

Scientists Determine Properties of Extremely Rare Element: Promethium

May 22, 2024 by News Staff

Promethium is extremely rare, with only about 0.5 kg naturally occurring in Earth’s crust at any given time. Conceptual art shows the rare earth element...

Uenoyama et al. improve our understanding of the mechanism of scent marking via the spraying of urine for chemical communication in cats.

New Research Explains Why Sprayed Cat Urine Emits Pungent Odor

Apr 10, 2024 by News Staff

Spraying urine on vertical objects by raising the tail is a commonly observed functional behavior for chemical communication in felids, including domestic...

This composite image, taken by JAXA’s Akatsuki spacecraft, shows Venus. Image credit: JAXA / ISAS / DARTS / Damia Bouic.

Clouds of Venus Could Be Hospitable for Some Forms of Life, New Research Suggests

Mar 20, 2024 by News Staff

Planetary scientists have long speculated about the potential habitability of Venus, not at its hot surface, but in the cloud layers located at 48-60 km...

Litman et al. show that ions and water molecules at the surface of most salt-water solutions, known as electrolyte solutions, are organized in a completely different way than traditionally understood. Image credit: Litman et al., doi: 10.1038/s41557-023-01416-6.

Water Molecules at Salt Water’s Surface Organized Differently than Previously Thought: Study

Jan 17, 2024 by News Staff

The distribution of ions at the air/water interface plays a decisive role in many natural processes. Several studies have reported that larger ions tend...

The merger of two neutron stars is among the leading candidate sites for synthesizing the heavier elements on the periodic table through the r-process. Image credit: Matthew Mumpower, Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Ancient Stars were Capable of Producing Elements with Atomic Masses Greater than 260, Scientists Say

Dec 11, 2023 by News Staff

The rapid neutron capture process, or the so-called r-process, occurs in neutron-rich environments such as neutron star mergers or certain types of supernovae....

The synthetic melanin is being applied to inflamed skin; just under the surface of the skin are green free radicals, also known as reactive oxygen species (ROS). Image credit: Yu Chen, Northwestern University.

Synthetic Melanin Cream Improves Skin Healing after Chemical and UV-Induced Injuries

Nov 2, 2023 by News Staff

In a new study, scientists at Northwestern University show that their synthetic melanin, mimicking the natural melanin in human skin, can be applied topically...

An artist’s depiction of the liquid-like layer of molecules repelling water droplets. Image credit: Ekaterina Osmekhina / Aalto University

Materials Scientists Create Most Water-Repellent Surface Ever

Oct 23, 2023 by News Staff

Omniphobic liquid-like surfaces are a new type of liquid-repellent surface that offer many technical benefits over traditional approaches. They have molecular...