For decades scientists have been trying to solve Feynman’s Sprinkler Problem: How does a sprinkler running in reverse—in which the water flows into the device rather than out of it—work? Through a series of experiments on custom-designed sprinklers with different shapes, a team of mathematicians arrived at a clear answer and, more generally, have determined how flowing fluids exert forces and move structures.

Using computer simulations, a team led by engineers at Penn State found that adjusting subtle atomic arrangements — even in identical baseline chemical compositions — can affect the metal corrosion rate and extent caused by the extreme chemical environment in advanced nuclear reactors can start to corrode the metals comprising the reactor. 

Using a groundbreaking imaging technique, a University of Houston chemist is uncovering how copper imbalances in the body may contribute to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and ALS.

Melting and breaking icebergs in the far-off Pacific Ocean can weaken a massive current system in the Atlantic Ocean, a UC Davis study finds.

Engineers have developed a new way to pull carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere using a process similar to charging and discharging a battery — an advance that could help address the planet’s excess CO2 problem.

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and Southern Methodist University (SMU) are collaborating to advance solid-state battery technology. Solid-state batteries are safer, longer-lasting, and more efficient alternatives to traditional lithium-ion batteries, offering faster charging and greater energy storage potential. They are especially promising for powering electric vehicles, but current designs are held back by electrodes and interfaces that degrade over time. SwRI and SMU will address this bottleneck and work together to develop a more stable solid-state battery design architecture. 

Progress in chemistry is often gradual, with some of its most important advances taking years – sometimes decades – to unfold. A case in point is the discovery of a novel ‘ferrocenophane’ from the class of compounds known as ‘sandwich molecules’ – so named because of their particular structure. In a ferrocenophane, the ‘bread slices’ are two carbon rings that enclose an iron atom as the sandwich ‘filling’. A team of chemists at Saarland University has now succeeded in developing a highly unusual bent sandwich molecule that opens up new possibilities for designing iron-containing materials.