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A watercolor drawing of the durian (Durio zibethinus), c. 1819-1823. The drawing is one of 477 natural history drawings of plants and animals of Malacca and Singapore commissioned by William Farquhar.

Chemists Identify Key Compounds Responsible for Durian’s Pungent Odor

Jan 19, 2017 by Natali Anderson

A team of researchers in Germany has analyzed a set of stinky and fruity chemical ingredients and found that the overall odor of durian pulp could be mimicked...

Crystals of cesium platinide hydride 4Cs2Pt*CsH. Image credit: Ames Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy.

Researchers Synthesize First Intermetallic Double Salt with Platinum

Nov 28, 2016 by News Staff

A team of researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory has synthesized and accurately characterized cesium platinide hydride (4Cs2Pt*CsH),...

Discovery and screening of the humimycins. Top: the humimycins were predicted from closely related gene clusters found in two Rhodococcus spp. cultured from human subjects. Center: chemical structures of humimycin A and B; the two antibiotics differ only at the fourth (F or Y) and sixth (V or I) residues. Bottom: MIC values for the humimycins against a panel of human commensal and pathogenic bacteria; the humimycins were particularly active against bacteria in the Staphylococcus and Streptococcus genus. Image credit: John Chu et al.

Humimycins: Scientists Discover Two New MRSA-Active Antibiotics

Nov 17, 2016 by News Staff

Using a novel approach called syn-BNP (synthetic-bioinformatic natural product) approach, scientists from the Rockefeller and Rutgers Universities have...

This image shows a pellet of plutonium-238 dioxide. The pellet is glowing red because of the heat generated by the radioactive decay (primarily alpha) of the fuel. Such pellets were used in radioisotope thermoelectric generators that powered NASA’s Galilleo and Cassini spacecraft on missions to Jupiter and Saturn, respectively. Image credit: Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Plutonium Acts Like Ions in a Salt, New Study Shows

Sep 16, 2016 by News Staff

Plutonium, a heavy, silvery metal with 15 isotopes that is produced by the neutron irradiation of natural uranium, is formidably complex element that does...

Top and side views of 136-atom (upper row) and 374-atom (lower row) silver nanoclusters: the metal cores of these clusters have a diameter of 2 and 3 nm, respectively; silver atoms in the metal core are denoted by large orange sphere; the core is protected by a silver-thiol layer (green: silver; yellow: sulfur; carbon: gray. Image credit: Huayan Yang et al.

Researchers Create Record-Breaking Silver Nanoparticles

Sep 13, 2016 by News Staff

An international team of researchers has synthesized and characterized two diamond-shaped nanoclusters of 136 and 374 silver atoms. Top and side views...

A colorized scanning electron micrograph of human hair. Image credit: Scanning Electron Microscopy Laboratory, University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Scientists Develop Forensic Method to Identify Humans Using Hair Proteins

Sep 12, 2016 by News Staff

A Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory-led interdisciplinary research team has developed the first-ever biological identification method that exploits...

A false-color photomicrograph of the first isolated bulk (1.7 micrograms) sample of berkelium. Image credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Chemists Unlock Secrets of Element Berkelium

Aug 26, 2016 by News Staff

In the latest edition of Science, an international team of chemists from the United States and Germany captures the fundamental chemistry of berkelium. A...

Blue whirl. Image credit: University of Maryland.

Blue Whirl: Scientists Discover New Type of Fire Tornado

Aug 10, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of scientists at the University of Maryland has discovered a beautiful, swirling flame phenomenon, the ‘blue whirl,’ which evolves from a fire...

Left: schematic of vitamin-driven lithium-ion battery showing the direction of lithium-ion diffusion under charging and discharging conditions. Right: photograph of a red LED powered by the battery. Image credit: Tyler B. Schon et al.

Canadian Scientists Develop Vitamin-Driven Battery

Aug 4, 2016 by News Staff

A team of researchers at the University of Toronto, Canada, has created a battery that stores energy in a biologically derived unit. The team’s paper...

Solar cells. Image credit: Airman 1st Class Nadine Y. Barclay / U.S. Air Force.

Photosynthetic Solar Cell Converts Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide, Sunlight into Fuel

Aug 1, 2016 by News Staff

An international team of researchers and engineers from South Korea and the United States has developed a solar cell that efficiently converts carbon dioxide...

Crystal structure of beta-Ti3Au (blue – titanium, red – gold). Image credit: Rice University.

New Biocompatible Alloy is Four Times Harder than Pure Titanium

Jul 25, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new biocompatible alloy has been developed, and it’s about 3-4 times harder than most steels and pure titanium. Crystal structure of beta-Ti3Au (blue...

The new compound emits a broadband spectrum of light upon excitation with an infrared laser. Image credit: Nils Wilhelm Rosemann.

New Compound Can Transform Infrared into Visible Light

Jun 10, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of scientists in Germany has developed a compound that can transform infrared into warm, white-colored light. The new compound emits a broadband...

Periodic table of the elements. Image credit: International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry / Sci-News.com.

Nihonium, Tennessine, Oganesson, Moscovium: Four New Chemical Elements Get Names

Jun 9, 2016 by News Staff

Nihonium (Nh), moscovium (Mc), tennessine (Ts) and oganesson (Og) are the new names of chemical elements 113, 115, 117 and 118 on the periodic table. Periodic...

Reversible assembly of light-powered nano-engines. pNIPAM - poly(N-isopropylacrylamide). Image credit: Tao Ding et al / University of Cambridge.

Researchers Develop Light-Powered Nano-Engine

May 4, 2016 by Natali Anderson

A team of researchers at the University of Cambridge, UK, has developed a nanoscale engine — just a few billionths of a meter in size — which...

Scientists in Canada have developed DNA-based thermometers that allow to measure temperature at the nanoscale. Image credit: Kotkoa.

Researchers Use DNA to Create World’s Smallest Thermometer

Apr 27, 2016 by News Staff

A team of scientists at the University of Montreal, Canada, has created a DNA-based nanothermometer that is 20,000 times smaller than a human hair. Scientists...

Schematic representation of confined ultra-long acetylenic linear carbon chains inside different double-walled carbon nanotubes. Image credit: Lei Shi / University of Vienna.

Route to Carbyne: Scientists Create Ultra-Long 1D Carbon Chains

Apr 9, 2016 by News Staff

An international team of researchers, led by Dr. Thomas Pichler from the University of Vienna, has presented a novel method to grow stable, ultra-long...

Scientists inserted a small molecule named coralyne into the DNA and were able to create a single-molecule diode, which can be used as an active element in future nanoscale circuits. Image credit: University of Georgia / Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

Researchers Create World’s Smallest Diode

Apr 5, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A single-molecule diode, the world’s smallest, has been created by a team of researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and the University of...

A close-up look at the transparent wood created by Dr. Lars Berglund and co-authors. Image credit: KTH Royal Institute of Technology.

Swedish Scientists Develop Optically Transparent ‘Wood’

Mar 31, 2016 by News Staff

A team of scientists at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, has developed transparent wood that could be used in building materials...

An illustration of the ice XVII’s molecular configuration. Image credit: Yingying Huang / Chongqin Zhu.

Ice XVII: Chemists Predict Existence of New Form of Ice

Feb 15, 2016 by News Staff

An international team of scientists, led by Xiao Cheng Zeng from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Jijun Zhao from the Dalian University of Technology,...