Assembling Life
A new technique may help scientists find out more about how life on Earth began.
Space Molecules
Space is not empty. In fact, there are some pretty surprising molecules floating around up there.
Stradivari’s Secret
Stradivari may have unknowingly relied on chemistry to make his violins sound great.
Vitamin C Plastics
Adding vitamin C could make molecule-by-molecule plastics manufacturing commercially viable.
Caffeine Test
Llamas may soon help you test whether that decaf your server just poured is really decaf.
Testosterone and MS
The "male hormone" may hold a key for treating one chronic brain disease.
Podcast
A parasite from cats, how comets kick the bucket, the next best thing to dino DNA, helping disabled kids find their voices, and using lasers in medicine.
Dirty Bacteria
More and more disease-causing germs are becoming resistant to antibiotics. To learn more about the problem, some scientists may literally have to do some digging.
Pheromone Perfume
In honor of Valentine's Day, we explore some modern-day love potions that claim science on their side.
Cocoa Chemical
While a box of Valentine's Day chocolates won't do much for your sweetie's health, a new study has identified a heart-healthy chemical in some kinds of raw cocoa.
Addiction Blocker
A promising chemical may counteract the brain changes that go hand-in-hand with addiction.
Podcast
Pushing the boundaries of maps, how the space station makes oxygen, body image in the brain, how noise affects the heart, and why the narwhal has a tusk.
Podcast
Watching memories in the brain, how to make new element, a cure for the afternoon slump, what makes a swallow sexy, and new research on nutrition.
New Elements
In high school chemistry, everybody learns about the periodic table of the elements. Many of them are recognizable--gold, lead, oxygen--but the tail end is full of strange laboratory creations.
Spoonful of Sugar
Most people wouldn't think of water as being sticky. But chemists do.
Bleach Crystals
What's left when bleach evaporates? A listener asked, and science reporter Bob Hirshon has the answer.
Cocaine and Cigarettes
One listener asks: What do two very different drugs have in common?
Leaf Chemical
The trees are starting to put on their spectacular autumn show. Why and how do they do it?
Green Stain-Resistance
The race is on to find environmentally friendly alternatives to commonly used chemicals. Science Reporter Bob Hirshon tells us about one of the newest advances.
Boiling Noise
Why does water make noise before it boils? (Collapse of small bubbles that form.)
Skunk Removal – rerun of #3316
What can get a skunk smell out of the house?(Washing objects with bleach and airing it out.)
Unpopped Popcorn
Heat affects the outer coating of popcorn kernels, making some easier to pop.