Science

Fusion, the energy that powers the stars, might one day provide abundant energy here on Earth.

In a nuclear fusion reactor, the hot, charged gas known as plasma reaches out …
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High-temperature alloys, often used in power plants and automobile engines, are valued in engineering because they can withstand temperatures that are a high fraction of their melting point. Operating power …
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Often, researchers aim for a distant horizon with respect to their research goals. When they get there, they plot their course for the next far-off landmark.

Throughout the 20th century, …
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Despite the grand diversity among living organisms, the molecule used to store and transmit energy within aerobic, or oxygen-using, cells is remarkably the same. From bacteria to fungi, plants, and …
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Few jobs are more massive than that of building a nuclear power plant, a project that takes years and billions of dollars to complete. But once a new plant is …
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Photosynthesis, the method plants use to convert energy from the sun into food, is a ubiquitous process many people learn about in elementary school. Almost all plants use photosynthesis to …
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Because of Earth’s layered composition, scientists have often compared the basic arrangement of its interior to that of an onion. There’s the familiar thin crust of continents and ocean floors; …
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With the advent of laser technology in the 1960s, materials scientists gained a new tool to both study and modify materials. Today, lasers allow researchers to manipulate materials on atomic …
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It’s no surprise that Rudolph Diesel became a millionaire only 6 short years after he patented the first diesel engine in 1892. When used in cars and trucks, diesel engines …
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Barely wider than a strand of human DNA, magnetic nanoparticles—such as those made from iron and platinum atoms—are promising materials for next-generation recording and storage devices like hard drives. …
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At its core, the aim of science is to explain and understand. Each year, the world’s largest multidisciplinary scientific society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), elects …
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Snow falls in winter and melts in spring, but what drives the phase change in between?

Although melting is a familiar phenomenon encountered in everyday life, playing a part …
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