“Forever chemicals” have made the news recently, with new EPA rules limiting the amount of some types that can be in drinking water. Here, Carla Ng, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering, explains what these chemicals are, where they’re found, and what’s being done...

A first-ever stretchy electronic skin could equip robots and other devices with the same softness and touch sensitivity as human skin, researchers report. The e-skin opens up new possibilities to perform tasks that require a great deal of precision and control of force and solves a major bottleneck in the emerging technology. Existing e-skin technology...

In this episode of the Big Brains podcast, James Doty explains the scientific research on how to train our brain to achieve our goals. We’ve all heard the phrase “Manifest Your Destiny” when it comes to wanting that new promotion, figuring out a new career path, or just trying to achieve that long-term goal. It turns out that the act of manifestation...

Chemists and pharmacists should be key players in species conservation efforts, researchers urge. Their new paper comes as the world faces the loss of a staggering number of species of animals and plants to endangerment and extinction. “Medicinal chemistry expertise is desperately needed on the front lines of extinction,” says Timothy Cernak, assistant...

Working with human breast and lung cells, scientists say they have charted a molecular pathway that can lure cells down a hazardous path of duplicating their genome too many times, a hallmark of cancer cells. The findings, published in Science, reveal what goes wrong when a group of molecules and enzymes trigger and regulate what’s known as the “cell...

Health care costs, including medical and dental care, medications, insurance, and nursing homes, weigh heavily on the minds of older Americans of all backgrounds, a new poll suggests. Asked to rate their level of concern about 26 different health-related topics for people over 50 in their community, five of the six issues that the most people cited...