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A new mathematical approach called emulation dramatically decreases the amount of time necessary to solve equations describing key properties of atomic nuclei. The approach will help physicists run simulations far more quickly—and without the need…

Alpha particles, consisting of two protons and two neutrons but no electrons, are abundant in nature as radioactive decay products of heavy elements and familiar to us for the health risks they pose. Yet despite more than a century's-worth of…

The discovery of gravitational waves in 2015 revolutionized astronomy by opening up an entirely new way of studying extreme cosmic phenomena. Now researchers have reported the first evidence for a previously theorized but never-before-seen kind of…

Researchers searching for a hypothetical fourth type of neutrino have found no evidence for the particle, according to a new study. Very low-mass and highly abundant, neutrinos are elementary particles that barely interact with the rest of matter.…

With a miniature version of the kind of television antennas that often adorned rooftops before the advent of satellite and cable TV, researchers have demonstrated the conversion of electrical signals into light beamed in a particular direction. This…

A new study has shown that dangerous hydrogen-burning flames can persist in unexpectedly narrow spaces and with very low fuel volumes. The findings highlight potential challenges involved in the safe storage and transport of hydrogen gas, which…

Famously durable, diamond is the hardest natural substance that occurs in any significant abundance on Earth. Yet according to a new study, on the nanoscale—a scale size of just billionths of a meter—diamond can, in fact, be bent and deformed. This…

For the first time, researchers have measured a process that occurs in mere zeptoseconds, or trillionths of a billionth of a second (10-21 seconds). The process is the transit of a light particle, or photon, across the two atoms that compose a…

Physicists recently reported the first indication of asymmetry in the behaviors of neutrinos and antineutrinos—subatomic particles that have zero electric charge and interact with matter almost entirely through the weak nuclear force. This type of…

Using old data from the NASA spacecraft MESSENGER, researchers have demonstrated how to measure the average lifetime of a neutron from space. This finding is important because, despite decades of efforts, physicists still cannot definitively say how…

The supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way serves as a unique laboratory for testing predictions of general relativity. In a new study, researchers report that a long-studied star—called S2 or sometimes S-02—moves in a rosette-shaped…

Stellar explosions known as supernovae may be behind several anomalous rises in radiocarbon captured in tree rings over the past 40,000 years, according to a recent study that adds mounting evidence to the hypothesis that supernovae can impact…

A form of ultraviolet (UV) light holds promise as an innovative way to neutralize airborne SARS-CoV-2 particles and other viruses, potentially helping slow the COVID-19 pandemic that, to date, has caused over 1.3 million deaths globally. More…

Researchers from Drexel University in Pennsylvania, USA, have synthesized conductive and layered 2D materials known as MXenes (pronounced maxenes) using a water-free process. In doing so, scientists have opened up potential uses of MXenes as…

The United Nations has proclaimed 2019 the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements (IYPT2019). The same year also marks the 150th anniversary of the publication of Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev’s periodic table, containing…

Researchers recently discovered a black hole with a mass estimated at 3.3 times the mass of the Sun, which is significantly less than the lowest-mass black holes previously detected with approximately 5 times the Sun's mass. The new finding opens…

An experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world's largest particle accelerator, has revealed the first evidence for a phenomenon known as charge-parity (CP) violation in the decays of subatomic particles called charm quarks. The results…

For the first time, scientists have observed two molecules meeting and reacting to form new molecules. A team of chemists used lasers to slow down interacting molecules to temperatures far colder than outer space, enabling the team to observe a…

Superposition is a confounding yet foundational principle of quantum physics in which a quantum system—for example, a group of subatomic particles or atoms—can exist in multiple quantum states simultaneously. For example, consider a coin that is…

In a breakthrough for astronomy and physics, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) has obtained a direct image of a black hole. The first black hole captured in this manner is a supermassive one at the heart of a nearby galaxy, Messier 87. Further study…

Progress continues in the attempt to master nuclear fusion—the phenomenon that powers the stars, including our Sun—for energy production here on Earth. Recent research has identified a previously unknown kind of heat burst that causes…

For the first time, researchers have coaxed a metal in a liquid state to convert into a state of matter known as a plasma. The results offer new insights into this fourth state of matter, which has its place beside the three commonly known states of…

Physicists have discovered a new state of matter described as a Cooper pair metal. Similar to an ordinary metal, this newfound state of matter conducts electricity with some resistance. However, the carriers of electric charge in this new state are…

An exploding fireball is a difficult phenomenon to examine given its fleeting, rapidly evolving, and hazardous nature. A specific type of laser is now offering researchers a new way to study explosions, though, at safe distances and with the…

A star encircling the supermassive black hole at the core of the Milky Way Galaxy has offered a new, precise test of general relativity. Put forth by German-born U.S. theoretical physicist Albert Einstein in 1915, the theory of general relativity…

In the journal Science (September 2018), researchers reported a method for making a coating that reflects sunlight and radiates heat. The coating can be used to cool buildings and reduce air-conditioning use, keeping surfaces painted with the…

In July 2018, researchers reported the first definitive detection of a radioactive molecule outside of the solar system. The molecule, aluminum monofluoride (AlF), contains the radioactive isotope aluminum-26, forged deep inside a star through…

For the first time, researchers have successfully accelerated electrons in a wave of plasma driven by protons. The breakthrough points to a way of constructing smaller, thriftier particle accelerators in the future. Electron Particle accelerator…

Researchers from the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Nanoscale BioPhotonics have developed a smartphone microscope that uses the camera’s internal flash as the light source. Their development, described in Scientific…

In the historical development of spectroscopy, following the fundamental studies of crude spectra of sunlight by Isaac Newton in 1672, certain contributions and achievements are especially noteworthy. The significance of using a narrow slit instead…

Traditionally, the lowest-pitched (bass) instruments have provided the rhythmic foundation in musical ensembles. Researchers from McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, reporting in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (June…

Researchers at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Switzerland have demonstrated that the proton and its antimatter doppelganger, the antiproton, are identical to a new high degree of precision. The motivation behind the…

The continuing development of quantum computing, a potentially revolutionary form of number-crunching, has reached a new milestone. Earlier this month, IBM announced the building of a prototype 50-qubit processor for the company’s quantum cloud…

A magnitude 5.1 nuclear test was detected 376 km (234 mi) NE of Pyongyang, North Korea (DPRK) on January 6, 2015 at 10:30 a.m. local time (01:30 UTC), according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The event was picked up at seismic stations around…

Spectroscopy is the study of the absorption, emission, or scattering of electromagnetic radiation, ranging from x-rays to radio waves, by atoms or molecules. The spectroscopic techniques are known as spectrometry and the instruments of spectrometry…

In an advance for soft robotics, a young technology that finds inspiration in living things, research engineers developed a promising material that imitates the extraordinary flexibility, sensitivity, and luminescence of squids, octopuses,…

Although sales will continue for as long as inventory remains, worldwide production of incandescent lights (lamps) has mostly been phased out by the push for more energy-efficient lighting and improvements in light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and compact…

On July 4, 2012, physicists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) beneath Geneva, Switzerland, the most powerful particle accelerator ever built, announced that they had detected one of the most elusive and eagerly sought prizes in all of science: the…

The very weak attractive forces between neutral atoms and molecules are known as van der Waals forces. These forces are important for holding molecules together and influencing materials properties such as boiling and melting points, solubility,…

Topological insulators are paradoxical materials: they have an electrically insulating interior and a conductive exterior, yet they have the same composition throughout. In addition, the direction in which the electrons travel through the conductive…

Loop quantum gravity is one of several concepts under development by theoretical physicists to provide a description of gravity in terms of quantum mechanics.For decades, physicists have sought to reconcile the two major pillars of modern physics…

A new polymer has a molecular structure and physical properties very similar to those of lubricin, a protein that lubricates the opposing bone surfaces in moving (articulating) joints of the body. Chemistry researchers from the University of…

An ongoing endeavor in physics for at least the past three centuries has been the attempt to unify the disparate phenomena of nature within a single theoretical framework and a single set of descriptive equations. Isaac Newton was perhaps the first…

After 35 years of flight through space, the Voyage 1 probe finally entered interstellar space on August 25, 2012, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). On that date, at a distance of approximately 12 billion miles…

The two Voyager space probes launched by NASA in 1977 completed their inspections of the planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune back during the 1980s, yet they have continued to contribute to science since then with their ongoing measurements…

Researchers from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) and Stanford University reported in Nature Communications on January 8, 2014 an organic thin-film transistor with the highest speed rating ever measured. For liquid crystal displays, faster…

Until recent years, the research focus on the high-energy photons known as gamma rays has been on nuclear and cosmic sources for them. Now it has moved to the cloud—the thundercloud, that is—where short bursts of gamma rays, known as terrestrial…

This animation explains how a material's chemical composition affects the wavelengths of light it absorbs and the color it displays.

This animation explains the difference between the alpha particles, beta particles, and gamma rays emitted by various radioactive materials.

Have you ever wished you could hide under an invisibility cloak, like Harry Potter did? This video explores the science behind light, sight, and invisibility. Though we can’t make ourselves invisible yet, some promising research may light the…

Helium has helped create revolutionary scientific innovations, and has industrial uses that simply cannot be replicated. Yet helium—a gas that defies gravity—is constantly being lost as it escapes Earth’s atmosphere into space. This video…

Neuroengineer Nima Mesgarani is using a form of artificial intelligence called neural network models to a develop improved hearing aids. If successful, hearing impaired individuals will be better able to identify and focus on a speaker of…

Cryogenic freezing of a dead body is possible, but reanimating that body in the future is a different story. As you will see in this video, cells themselves can be reanimated after freezing, but bringing a human back to life is not so…

This animation shows how a nuclear chain reaction works and explains how it is used in nuclear fission devices.

This animation shows how chaotic systems are unpredictable because of their extreme sensitivity to their initial conditions.

People who shave share one concern—the threat of razor-sharp metal. Luckily, aerosol-based shaving cream packs the right chemistry to protect sensitive skin, thanks in part to surfactants. Watch this video to learn more about this fantastic…

This video tracks the formation of snowflakes from their origins in bits of dust in clouds that become droplets of water falling to Earth. As each snowflake rises and falls through warmer and cooler air, it develops its own distinctive shape.…

This animation explains the phenomenon of collision and shows the difference between elastic and inelastic collisions.

This animation explains conservation of energy and shows how the total amount of kinetic and potential energy in an isolated system is constant.

This animation explains the phenomenon of conservation of momentum and shows how momentum is the product of mass and velocity and is conserved in collisions.

This animation describes how a shock absorber minimizes the effect of shock on a mechanical system.

April 22, 2015 was the 100th anniversary of the first large-scale use of chemical weapons in modern warfare. Some of the best minds in chemistry at that time, including a Nobel Prize winner, used their knowledge of science to build humanity’s…

How do astronauts survive the deadly radiation of deep space? NASA is still figuring out how to protect astronauts from cosmic radiation using plastic shielding and magnetic deflectors. Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society

This animation explains the Doppler shift and shows how the movement of a sound source relative to a listener raises or lowers the pitch.

This animation explains echoes and shows how echoes occur when soundwaves bounce off objects.

From the dinner table to the human body, crystals are everywhere. This video highlights five scientific facts about this ubiquitous solid. [Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society (www.youtube.com/acsreactions)]

We all want to be healthy, but some food myths can actually get in the way of good nutritional decisions. This video shatters one food myth that you may have heard: microwaving your food zaps its nutritional value. Watch to find out why that…

Battered and deep-fried chicken might be one of the world's most delicious foods. But what makes fried chicken so tasty? It all comes down to the chemistry of frying. In the video, learn how the delicate dance of fat at high temperatures…

This video explains how graphene's remarkable properties come from the unique arrangement of its atoms. (Correction: The video's narration incorrectly states that Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov are chemists. Both Geim and Novoselov are…

This animation shows how all objects fall at the same rate of accelleration due to the force of gravity.

This animation explains harmonic motion damping and shows how an applied force can decrease a simple harmonic motion.

Four elements were added to the periodic table in 2016, completing the seventh row. However, these new elements are not naturally occurring. Scientists had to create them and overcome a number of challenges to do so. This video explains some…

Nerve agents have a surprising history, and it’s just as morbid as you might expect. Although they were not invented as chemical weapons, nerve agents such as sarin have been in use since World War I, and unfortunately are still in use…

To beat the heat, many people turn to air conditioning. That sweet, cool relief isn’t magic, it’s the science of heat transfer and the chemistry of refrigerants. This video explains the science and chemistry of air conditioning. Credit:…

Since ancient Greek times, philosophers and scientists have tried to figure out what an atom looks like. It wasn't until the 1980s that chemists could see individual atoms. In this video, bestselling author Sam Kean discusses the nearly…

If you’re in an automobile accident, you want to be sure the vehicle's airbags protect you. Airbags work because of chemistry, with some physics thrown in. This video explores the science of airbags. And remember, airbags are meant to work in…

A large snowstorm could produce trillions of tiny snowflakes. Through advances in crystallography, scientists have learned much about the structure of this form of precipitation. Although snowflakes all start out similarly, once they begin…

What's the difference between fluorescence and bioluminescence? This video illuminates the biochemical distinctions. Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society

Have you ever wondered what makes a fluorescent color stand out so brightly from other colors? This video digs into what makes those colors pop, and highlights some of the brilliant applications of fluorescence coming out of nanotechnology.…

This video explores the chemistry behind how clouds develop and how they stay aloft in the sky, despite their tremendous weight. Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society

When Thanksgiving comes around, many people think about taking their turkey preparation to the next level. But before you whip out that deep fryer, you're going to want to watch this video. This video brings you the do's and don'ts of turkey…

New smartphones are slimmer and faster than ever. But like most new generations of smartphones, their battery has pretty much stayed the same over the years. Short of carrying an external battery all the time, is there any way to extend the…

Do you have a special someone you want to impress? This video might help. Learn how to turn white flowers into fluorescent masterpieces. Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society

The scientific definition of slime is a liquid slurry of very fine solids with a mud-like appearance. Using only a few ingredients—including PVA glue, iron filings, water, borax, and food coloring—you can make colored magnetic slime and, in…

This video examines some novel proposals for combating climate change—including space mirrors, seeding the ocean with iron, and feeding cows seaweed. In reality, these ideas may or may not be feasible, but they are all supported by valid…

This animation explains the phenomenon of laminar flow and shows how the movement of air past a moving vehicle creates laminar flow and boundary flow.

This animation shows how lasers result from the light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation and explains why laser beams are sharply focused.

Have you ever seen a drop of water navigate a maze? It’s possible, thanks to an unusual phenomenon called the Leidenfrost Effect. Understanding this effect—first described more than 200 years ago—helped engineers make more efficient steam…

This animation explains the concept of a lever and shows how the amount of force a lever exerts depends on the distance between the fulcrum and the end of a lever.

If there’s one man in Hollywood who knows the value of chemistry, it’s Michael Bay. He’s taught society that, in the face of a half-baked plot and thin script, big-budget explosions can cause box office success. This video explains the…

This animation shows how a pulley applies the concept of mechanical advantage to make it easier to lift heavy objects.

This animation shows how the behavior of quantum mechanical systems differs from that of classical systems and allows phenomena that would be impossible in classical mechanics.

This animation shows how light moving into a denser medium is both reflected and refracted.

This animation explains how the reverberation of sound results from the echo bouncing off the walls of a room.

This video explores the chemistry and physics behind the disastrous explosion of the former Soviet Union’s Chernobyl Power Complex nuclear reactor 4 on April 26, 1986. The Chernobyl disaster was the only accident in the history of commercial…

This animation shows how the sound of a complex tone depends on the sum of the waveforms of the simple tones contributing to it.

This animation explains how stereophonic sound results from recording and playing back multiple microphone tracks simultaneously.

This video does a deep dive on the surprisingly complex chemistry behind many people's favorite morning beverage: coffee. The chemistry of the universe is, in a way, in your morning cup of coffee—from the evolution of caffeine as a defensive…

There’s a new trend in agriculture called vertical farming. When humans first learned to farm, we arranged plants outside in horizontal fields, and then invented irrigation and fertilizers to grow crops. But with modern technology and…

This video explores the basics of isotopes, including what they are and why they are important. Credit: Reactions/American Chemical Society