Chemistry for a New Era

Gas, liquid or solid, radioactive or stable, reactive or inert, toxic or innocuous, see what makes your favorite element unique

A Mad Science Room activity from Crazy Aunt Lindsey

Listen to the announcement of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, to Daniel Shechtman of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. Then hear comments from the president of the American Chemical Society, Nancy Jackson, of Sandia National Laboratories

Many of the most profound scientific questions—and some of humanity's most urgent problems—pertain to the science of atoms and molecules

2011 is the International Year of Chemistry—a well-deserved celebration of that science's profound power

Although we are usually unaware of it, we communicate through chemical signals just as much as birds and bees do

Exposure to the chemicals in everyday objects poses a hidden health threat

Ten years later, what exactly residents and rescue workers were exposed to remains at least a partial mystery

ARPA-e funds potential breakthrough work to make energy-dense batteries that enable long distance travel

So-called rare earths are not rare, but with no current domestic source the essential trace elements can be harder to come by than U.S. makers of wind turbines, hybrid cars, weapon systems and other technology would prefer

Chemists are usually asked to invent a solution, but without considering hazardous by-products. Green chemists now are doing both with success, but will it take regulations to enforce the approach broadly?

A screening of hundreds of metabolites in the blood plasma of people at rest and after exercise paints a newly detailed picture of changes within the body--and reinforces links with metabolic and cardiovascular diseases

Congress needs to give federal agencies greater authority to test and regulate chemicals

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Deborah Blum talks about her new work, The Poisoner's Handbook, a look at how easy it used to be to kill someone with poison and the researchers who made poisoning much harder to get away with. Plus, we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Web sites related to this episode include blog.deborahblum.com

The Food and Drug Administration and other federal health agencies now share a growing concern about bisphenol A--and are undertaking more research

Toxic chemicals created by human activity reach unusual concentrations in the Arctic, among other places

The government knows just about as much as you do about what you're putting on your skin—that is to say, not much

From liquid coal to biofuels, military and commercial aviators are searching for domestically sourced, cost-effective and clean alternatives to petroleum-derived jet fuel

Buying chemical weapons material through the mail is quick and easy