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Chemistry

Your breath might be bad, but it's also amazing.

New Research

Your Breath Does More Than Repulse—It Can Also Tell Doctors Whether You Have Cancer

An artificial “nose” could be the next tool for diagnosing illnesses from cancer to Crohn’s disease

Barbara Sherwood Lollar sampling dissolved hydrogen and sulfate found in the oldest-known pool of water.

New Research

Scientists Discover the Oldest-known Pool of Water

But you wouldn’t want to drink from it

A bonfire of elephant ivory burns in Kenya's Nairobi National Park in July 1989.

Ask Smithsonian 2017

Wondering What a Bonfire Does to Your Lungs? We Answer Your Burning Questions

Setting large piles of stuff aflame can have significant environmental and human health impacts

Besides exceptional facial hair, what could these two gentlemen have in common?

Think Big

The Hidden Connections Between Darwin and the Physicist Who Championed Entropy

These magnificently bearded men both introduced a dose of randomness and irreversibility into the universe

How Chemicals Left Behind on Your Phone Could Identify You

Mass spectrometry is finding a new role in forensic science

The Nobel Prize, named after the repentant creator of dynamite, has been awarded nearly every year since 1901.

What Does It Take to Win a Nobel Prize? Four Winners, in Their Own Words

Some answers: Messiness, ignorance and puzzles

Tamara Schwent and Kevin Curtis, PhD from Sirenas bringing in samples from the deep sea. This was a joint expedition with Chapman Expeditions and the Carmabi Research Station.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Will the Next Big Cancer Drug Come From the Ocean?

A California startup “bioprospects” for sponges, algae and other organisms whose chemistry may be useful to the world of medicine

Radiocarbon dating has been used to determine of the ages of ancient mummies, in some cases going back more than 9000 years.

Age of Humans

Thanks to Fossil Fuels, Carbon Dating Is in Jeopardy. One Scientist May Have an Easy Fix

If only there were such an easy fix for climate change

Ahead of her time: Foote first identified the greenhouse effect, now a seminal concept in climate science.

This Suffrage-Supporting Scientist Defined the Greenhouse Effect But Didn’t Get the Credit, Because Sexism

Eunice Foote’s career highlights the subtle forms of discrimination that have kept women on the sidelines of science

How does a bear catch a break around here?

New Research

Decades-Old Chemicals May Be Threatening Polar Bear Fertility, As If They Didn’t Have Enough to Worry About

A new study sheds light on how today’s pollutants could become tomorrow’s threats to wildlife and humans

The Best Books About Science of 2016

Take a journey to the edge of human knowledge and beyond with one of these mind-boggling page-turners

Trending Today

The Four Newest Elements Now Have Names

Chemistry governing body officially approves names for the four newest additions to the Periodic Table

Latrines in Bangladesh

New Research

This “Perfume” for Toilets Could Help Improve Sanitation Around the World

The odor-masking scent could help convince people to choose latrines and prevent pollution of waterways with waste

Trending Today

Homeopathic Remedies Now Require Disclaimers Saying They’re Not Scientific

The FTC recently announced a policy requiring alternative treatment labels to acknowledge the lack of scientific founding of their claims

The puffin is one of the many species of birds that contribute to the massive amount of poop covering the arctic every year.

New Research

How Bird Poop Could Help Keep the Arctic Cool

Researchers have discovered that ammonia produced from tons of seabird guano helps form low lying clouds that can partially block sunlight

New Research

What Cell Phone Grime Reveals About Lifestyle

Chemical traces left on cell phones show what people eat, what drugs they take and even what cosmetics they use

Mustard gas from wars past is decaying in the world's oceans—but scientists don't yet know how dangerous it could be. Here, U.S. Navy ship prepare for scheduled deployment in the Pacific Ocean in 2014.

Chemical Weapons Dumped in the Ocean After World War II Could Threaten Waters Worldwide

How worried should we be? Chemists are racing the clock to find out

Artist concept of a binary system similar to the one that originated the nova Sagittarii 2015 N.2.

New Research

Most Lithium in the Universe Is Forged in Exploding Stars

The recurring explosions of white dwarf stars produce the vast majority of this important element

In search of distinctly American beer hops.

Wacky, Wonderful, Wild Hops Could Transform the Watered-Down Beer Industry

The diversity of hops reflects a diversity of tastes and traditions that are part of an extraordinary evolution in beer

Trending Today

Countries Agree to Cut Harmful Refrigerants: What You Need to Know

Over the weekend, nearly 200 nations agreed to phase out hydrofluorocarbons, a super greenhouse gas used in air conditioners and refrigerators

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