The Mysterious State of Matter That Powers Our Digital Displays   The three states of matter to which every foundational chemistry class introduces us — solid, liquid, and gas — turn out not to be quite so clearly delineated as they might seem. Liquid crystals represent a sort of mixed state, not quiteRead More

 Photo credit: CSIRO

Photo credit: CSIRO

The Molecular Structure That Causes Enthralling Light Effects in Soap Bubbles   Soap bubbles, peacock feathers, and CDs all have one notable feature in common: all three are iridescent, they appear to change color when viewed from different angles. In the case of soap bubbles, this quality stems from the structure of a bubble’s surface.Read More

Photo credit: Ryan Hagerty, USFWS

Photo credit: USGS

  If it can be produced on a large scale, graphene might be the backbone of the next revolution in electronics, building materials, medical devices, and much more. First isolated in 2004 by Professor Sir Andre Geim and Professor Sir Kostya Novoselov of the University of Manchester, graphene is one of the first two-dimensional materials discovered, composed of aRead More

Photo credit: CSIRO

Photo credit: USGS