Chemistry | smithsonianmag.comhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/tag/chemistry/RSS feed for ChemistryenWed, 30 Sep 2026 18:00:14 +0000Could Saturn's Moon Enceladus Host Alien Life? Earth Microbes Can Live in Its Simulated Environment, Boosting Its Potential Habitabilityhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/could-saturns-moon-enceladus-host-alien-life-earth-microbes-can-live-in-its-simulated-environment-boosting-its-potential-habitability-180989589/Enceladus is covered in ice, but that layer might hide a subsurface ocean. Researchers have long wondered if the salty body of water has the right conditions to host life, and now, a team suggests that an Earthly, heat-loving organism could thrive thereWed, 30 Sep 2026 18:00:14 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/could-saturns-moon-enceladus-host-alien-life-earth-microbes-can-live-in-its-simulated-environment-boosting-its-potential-habitability-180989589/Tyrannosaurus Rex Was a Warm-Blooded Dinosaur, With a Body Temperature Similar to That of Humans, Study Suggestshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/tyrannosaurus-rex-was-a-warm-blooded-dinosaur-with-a-body-temperature-similar-to-that-of-humans-study-suggests-180989519/A tooth analysis hints that the fearsome predator ran at a toasty 97 degrees Fahrenheit. Maintaining that internal temperature may have allowed it to inhabit a range stretching from modern-day Alaska to Mexico during the Cretaceous periodFri, 18 Sep 2026 15:59:36 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/tyrannosaurus-rex-was-a-warm-blooded-dinosaur-with-a-body-temperature-similar-to-that-of-humans-study-suggests-180989519/Peptides Are All the Rage, Promising Miracle Cures and Makeovers Delivered by Injection. How Did We Get Here?https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/peptides-are-all-the-rage-promising-miracle-cures-and-makeovers-delivered-by-injection-how-did-we-get-here-180989454/Experts say the peptide craze is part of a broader phenomenon, as patients look beyond the regulated health system to address problems that doctors have struggled to treatWed, 09 Sep 2026 18:28:15 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/peptides-are-all-the-rage-promising-miracle-cures-and-makeovers-delivered-by-injection-how-did-we-get-here-180989454/Why Does Rain Eat Through Protective Coatings on Metal Structures? Researchers Propose a New Idea: Electrically Charged Dropletshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-does-rain-eat-through-protective-coatings-on-metal-structures-researchers-propose-a-new-idea-electrically-charged-droplets-180989434/Scientists long attributed rain damage to physical abrasion and chemical degradation from acidic substances. A new study offers a third idea, which could help researchers develop longer-lasting coatings and preserve important objectsFri, 04 Sep 2026 14:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-does-rain-eat-through-protective-coatings-on-metal-structures-researchers-propose-a-new-idea-electrically-charged-droplets-180989434/Would You Eat a Cookie Made From Upcycled Plastic? Scientists Propose a New Way to Deal With Waste and Provide Food in Extreme Environmentshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/would-you-eat-a-cookie-made-from-upcycled-plastics-scientists-propose-a-new-way-to-deal-with-waste-and-provide-food-in-extreme-environments-180989413/A team of researchers programmed yeast to turn broken-down plastic and agricultural waste into sweet treats called µBites. They might come in handy during deep-space missions or in disaster zones, although some critics say the food is impracticalMon, 31 Aug 2026 15:42:33 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/would-you-eat-a-cookie-made-from-upcycled-plastics-scientists-propose-a-new-way-to-deal-with-waste-and-provide-food-in-extreme-environments-180989413/Historical Pollution, Not Current Industrial Emissions, Damaged the World's Largest and Oldest Collection of Ancient Rock Art, Study Suggestshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/historical-pollution-not-current-industrial-emissions-damaged-worlds-largest-oldest-collection-ancient-rock-art-180989416/Researchers say that past exposure to sulfur dioxide is likely to blame for the increased porosity of the Murujuga rock art created by the Ngarda-Ngarli people tens of thousands of years agoFri, 28 Aug 2026 18:04:36 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/historical-pollution-not-current-industrial-emissions-damaged-worlds-largest-oldest-collection-ancient-rock-art-180989416/Snails Can Make Their Slime Sticky, Slippery, Foamy or Hard Depending on Their Needs. Here's How They Tweak Their Multipurpose Mucushttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/snails-can-make-their-slime-sticky-slippery-foamy-or-hard-depending-on-their-needs-heres-how-they-tweak-their-multipurpose-mucus-180989361/The critters can alter the proportions of calcium and collagen in the versatile substance, which changes the protein structure. The different textures can help snails glide, climb or protect themselvesThu, 27 Aug 2026 20:04:47 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/snails-can-make-their-slime-sticky-slippery-foamy-or-hard-depending-on-their-needs-heres-how-they-tweak-their-multipurpose-mucus-180989361/This Deadly Shellfish Poisoning Has No Antidote. A Protein Found in American Bullfrogs Could Change Thathttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-deadly-shellfish-poisoning-has-no-antidote-a-protein-found-in-american-bullfrogs-could-change-that-180989365/A study in mice found that a protein called saxiphilin acts like a sponge against a deadly toxin produced by algal blooms. The harmful agent, which accumulates in certain seafood, can cause a life-threatening illness called paralytic shellfish poisoningWed, 26 Aug 2026 15:39:43 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-deadly-shellfish-poisoning-has-no-antidote-a-protein-found-in-american-bullfrogs-could-change-that-180989365/A New Telescope Still Under Construction Accidentally Reveals How a Dying Star Returns Matter to Spacehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-new-telescope-still-under-construction-accidentally-reveals-how-a-dying-star-returns-matter-to-space-180989349/Researchers captured an unprecedented image of the stellar recycling process while calibrating a Chile-based instrument called MOTHRA, which is expected to be complete by the end of 2026Wed, 26 Aug 2026 14:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-new-telescope-still-under-construction-accidentally-reveals-how-a-dying-star-returns-matter-to-space-180989349/This Rock Art in China Has Remained Bright Red for Nearly 2,000 Years. How? The Secret Ingredient Might Be Bloodhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-rock-art-in-china-has-remained-bright-red-for-nearly-2000-years-how-the-secret-ingredient-might-be-blood-180989389/A new study offers clues about how the Luoyue people created rock paintings in what’s now southern China. The murals have somehow been durable enough to withstand rain, heat, wind and humidity for centuriesTue, 25 Aug 2026 14:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-rock-art-in-china-has-remained-bright-red-for-nearly-2000-years-how-the-secret-ingredient-might-be-blood-180989389/Archaeologists Have Found Thousands of Intact Ancient Human Brains. Scientists Say They've Figured Out Why the Organs Don't Always Rothttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-have-found-thousands-of-intact-ancient-human-brains-scientists-say-theyve-figured-out-why-the-organs-dont-always-rot-180989370/Under the right conditions—wet and oxygen-deprived—the same chemical reactions that cause tissue to break down can instead have the opposite effect, according to a new studyThu, 20 Aug 2026 14:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-have-found-thousands-of-intact-ancient-human-brains-scientists-say-theyve-figured-out-why-the-organs-dont-always-rot-180989370/The Hiroshima Atomic Bombing Birthed a Strange, Never-Before-Seen Material, According to a New Studyhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-hiroshima-atomic-bombing-birthed-a-strange-never-before-seen-material-according-to-a-new-study-180989249/The devastating blast vaporized buildings, metal, glass, soil and water. When the substances cooled and condensed, the process created spherical glassy grains—and some of them seem to contain a previously unknown metal alloyMon, 10 Aug 2026 14:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-hiroshima-atomic-bombing-birthed-a-strange-never-before-seen-material-according-to-a-new-study-180989249/Neptune May Have Once Witnessed a Lunar Massacre That Turned Its Original Moons 'Inside Out'https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/neptune-may-have-once-witnessed-a-lunar-massacre-that-turned-its-original-moons-inside-out-180989266/A new study identifies an unexpected mineral in two of the planet’s inner moons, pointing to a destructive past in which a large object got pulled into the system and obliterated the former, larger satellitesWed, 05 Aug 2026 20:51:47 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/neptune-may-have-once-witnessed-a-lunar-massacre-that-turned-its-original-moons-inside-out-180989266/A New Study Points to Two Origins of Life on Earth by Tracing Early Chemical Reactions in Single-Celled Organismshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/a-new-study-points-to-two-origins-of-life-on-earth-by-tracing-early-chemical-reactions-in-single-celled-organisms-180989260/The work challenges the assumption that all life descended from one free-living cell. Instead, it suggests that two microbial lineages, the bacteria and archaea, evolved independently from a primordial, nonliving ancestorWed, 05 Aug 2026 19:13:11 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/a-new-study-points-to-two-origins-of-life-on-earth-by-tracing-early-chemical-reactions-in-single-celled-organisms-180989260/