Recently, a team of scientists was able to detect metastable helium in the upper atmosphere of an exoplanet. This was quite an accomplishment considering it had never been done before. The formation ...

A research team led by the GRASP—Group of Research and Applications in Statistical Physics—at the University of Liège (Belgium), demonstrates how to manipulate the mesh, shape and symmetry of floating ...

Among genetically identical "agouti viable yellow" (A vy) mice, some are brown and lean while others are yellow and obese. These differences are due to epigenetics, a system of molecular tags—such as ...

The National Academies' Condensed Matter and Materials Research Committee (CMMRC) hosts an annual workshop. In 2026, an ad hoc planning committee will organize a public workshop that presents a ...

A metastable liquid may exist under supercooling, sustaining the liquid below the melting point such as supercooled water and silicon. It may also exist as a transient state in solid–solid transitions ...

Transcriptional riboswitches modulate downstream gene expression by a tight coupling of ligand-dependent RNA folding kinetics with the rate of transcription. RNA folding pathways leading to functional ...

A dry material makes a great fire starter, and a soft material lends itself to a sweater. Batteries require materials that can store lots of energy, and microchips need components that can turn the ...