For centuries, researchers have puzzled over how oysters grow stunningly symmetrical, perfectly round pearls around irregularly shaped grains of sand or bits of debris. Now a team has shown that…
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Lithium-ion batteries made with recycled materials can outlast newer counterparts
Lithium-ion batteries with recycled cathodes can outperform batteries with cathodes made from pristine materials, lasting for thousands of additional charging cycles, a study finds. Growing demand for these batteries —…
These colorful butterflies were created using transparent ink
You’ve heard of disappearing ink. Now get ready for suddenly appearing ink. Using a clear liquid, researchers can print a full rainbow of colors on transparent surfaces. The trick is…
These weird, thin ice crystals are springy and bendy
Try to bend an icicle and it’ll snap in two. With its tendency to crack into shards, ice’s reputation for being stiff and brittle seems well-established. But thin, pristine threads…
The teeth of ‘wandering meatloaf’ contain a rare mineral found only in rocks
The hard, magnetic teeth of a leathery red-brown mollusk nicknamed “the wandering meatloaf” possess a rare mineral previously seen only in rocks. The mineral may help the mollusk — the…
Scientists can’t agree on how clumpy the universe is
The universe is surprisingly smooth. A new measurement reveals that the universe is less clumpy than predicted, physicists report in a series of papers posted July 30 at arXiv.org. The…
‘The End of Everything’ explores the ways the universe could perish
The End of EverythingKatie MackScribner, $26 Eventually, the universe will end. And it won’t be pretty. The universe is expanding at an accelerating clip, and that evolution, physicists expect, will…
Despite a new measurement, the debate over the universe’s expansion rages on
When it comes to the expansion rate of the universe, physicists have apparently agreed to disagree. Two types of measurements clash over how fast the cosmos is expanding (SN: 7/30/19).…
This is the most comprehensive X-ray map of the sky ever made
A new map of the entire sky, as seen in X-rays, looks deeper into space than any other of its kind. The map, released June 19, is based on data…
Half the universe’s ordinary matter was missing — and may have been found
At long last, all of the universe’s ordinary matter seems to be present and accounted for. Astronomers have taken a new census of matter in the universe by examining how…
