The Chemistry Behind the Different Colors of Autumn Leaves

The Chemistry Behind the Different Colors of Autumn Leaves

At some point when you were a wee child, your parents or teachers probably gave you a simple—but incomplete—explanation of why leaves change color in the fall: green chlorophyll fades to reveal the yellows and oranges that have been there all along. That’s true, but that’s not the whole chemical story.

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Physicists Are Backing Away From the Biggest Discovery of This Century

Physicists Are Backing Away From the Biggest Discovery of This Century

Back in March, a group of physicists announced the first direct evidence of the Big Bang
in a splashy press conference followed by Nobel prize forecasts and champagne
. But scientists have since questioned the discovery, and a new paper suggests the signal detected was not evidence of the Big Bang but instead largely, if not entirely, from interstellar dust. Oops.

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Foolish Scientists Have Just Created Shape-Shifting Metal

Foolish Scientists Have Just Created Shape-Shifting Metal

Most movies are works of fiction, but the plots are based on real-world ideas. Including, apparently, the nightmarish future put forth in Terminator 2. A team of researchers from North Carolina State University decided the world would be a better place with terrifying shape-shifting T-1000s, and so have developed a way to control and manipulate liquid metals. Maybe they didn’t watch the whole movie?

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