Composite image of Dmitri Mendeleev, a periodic table, and the Milky Way galaxy

How Far Does the Periodic Table Go?

Efforts to fill the periodic table raise questions of special relativity that “strike at the very heart of chemistry as a discipline.”
Airships and Flying Machines

The Natural Resources You Didn’t Know You Needed

Fossil fuels might get all the attention, but a recent discovery in Tanzania is a reminder of the other, less-heralded natural resources that we use.
An updated periodic chart divided into a cube bookcase

What’s in a Name (Of An Element)?

Chemists recently announced the names of four newly discovered elements. Naming elements is serious business, and not without controversy.
Francis Crick

How Francis Crick Almost Didn’t Make His Huge DNA Discovery

British biologist Francis Crick co-published a paper on the helical structure of DNA some fifty years ago. He followed a convoluted route to this discovery.
alchemist

Inside the Alchemist’s Workshop

What tools would an alchemist use in the quest to transmute other elements into gold?
Periodic elements

The Ever-Evolving Periodic Table of Elements

Four new elements--113, 115, 117, and 118--have been added to the periodic table. But the search for new elements hasn't always been so systematic.