Science
Discover facts about science. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Science
Why strychnine causes violent spasms
Muscles need both a go signal and a signal to ease off. Strychnine blocks glycine, one of the spinal cord’s calming messages, so the body loses part of its…
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Nitric acid aggressively destroys organic material
Nitric acid can damage proteins while also changing some of their components into yellow compounds. That’s why protein-rich biological material may turn…
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Aerogel is solid—but mostly gas
An aerogel’s solid skeleton is a delicate three-dimensional web, with gas filling most of the gaps. The web is enough to hold a shape even though there’s very…
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The noble gas used as a luxury anesthetic
Xenon can switch off consciousness by acting on several targets in the brain, rather than flipping one neat neural switch. Scientists still don’t have the…
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Red phosphorus is mostly harmless on standard matchboxes
A matchbox keeps red phosphorus on the striking strip and oxidizing chemicals in the match head, so the ingredients stay apart until you strike. Rubbing them…
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Fentanyl is entirely synthetic and fatal in minute quantity
Fentanyl doesn’t have to come from a poppy: it can be made entirely in a lab. In the body, it acts on opioid systems that help regulate breathing, and can…
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Carbon dioxide is completely fatal at high indoor levels
At high indoor levels, carbon dioxide is dangerous for more than the space it takes up. Too much can impair the brain and disrupt the body's control of…
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Radiation gave some dark fungi a growth boost in the lab
A 2007 study found enhanced growth in certain melanin-containing fungi exposed to ionizing radiation, alongside changes in the pigment's electronic…
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Mustard gas can injure you before it starts to hurt
Sulfur mustard damages cells soon after contact, while pain and obvious burns may take hours to develop. That delay is part of what makes the blister agent…
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Why soft furniture can burn like gasoline
A foam-filled sofa may look harmless, but its polyurethane foam is made from petroleum-based material and can burn fast. The fire can produce thick smoke and…
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Bakelite was the first totally synthetic commercial plastic
Warm Bakelite could be pressed into a shape, then it set permanently instead of softening again when heated. It also resisted heat and blocked electricity,…
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The “safe” sedative that changed drug testing
A medicine can pass an initial sense-check and still cause devastating harm during fetal development. Thalidomide caused severe limb malformations in…
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Scopolamine can disrupt the machinery of memory
The drug blocks certain receptors for acetylcholine, a chemical messenger involved in attention and memory. It can cause confusion and difficulty forming or…
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The imaginary substance once blamed for fire
The phlogiston theory treated burning as something leaving a material. But when metal burns, oxygen from the air joins it and forms an oxide, so the metal can…
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The anesthetic invented to replace addictive drugs
Procaine, sold as Novocain, blocks pain messages in nearby nerves, numbing a small area so doctors can work without numbing the whole body. It offered a local…
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Polyethylene terephthalate refuses to naturally decay
PET lasts because its long molecular chains are hard for most microbes to snip apart. Without those smaller pieces, the organisms that normally recycle dead…
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Fungi digest dinner from the outside
Fungal threads spread over food and release enzymes that break it down from the outside. Once the nutrients dissolve into small enough pieces, the threads…
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Why lye can dissolve organic matter
Lye breaks down organic material by attacking fats and damaging proteins. When it reacts with fat, it splits it into soap and glycerol—a soap-making reaction…
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When Victorian aristocrats used laughing gas for fun
Nitrous oxide briefly changes signaling in the brain, which can bring on laughter, euphoria, and a feeling of detachment. Victorian aristocrats inhaled it at…
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This acid can injure you before the pain starts
Dilute hydrofluoric acid can penetrate skin before severe pain becomes obvious. Fluoride then binds calcium and magnesium, so the danger can extend beyond the…
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Graphene consists of a single layer of carbon atoms
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms linked in a honeycomb pattern, like chicken wire made of atoms. That sturdy-looking network is only one atom thick,…
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Catching a yawn is something children grow into
Contagious yawning often starts around age four, but there’s no birthday when a child suddenly catches it. Researchers are still figuring out whether it…
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A burn treatment that could explode when dry
The bright substance was safe enough to use while wet, but drying changed the risk: it became highly sensitive to impact and could explode. A treatment that…
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Can garlic change the flavor of amniotic fluid
Garlic doesn't have to reach a fetus as a piece of food to leave a trace. Some of its compounds pass into the pregnant person's blood and then into the…
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