essential₂materials

Each year, chemistry transforms some $75 billion in raw materials into vests that help stop bullets, carbon-fibers used in satellites, better bumpers for cars, and more effective medicines. We are unlocking the power of nature to provide the materials we need to lead healthier, more productive lives.

Did You Know

vision

American chemistry creates the substance used to make highway signs visible to motorists at night.

Featured Articles

materials

Body Worlds and the Science of Plastination

More than 30 years ago, Dr. Gunther von Hagens began to develop ‘plastination,’ a technique using liquid polymers to stabilize and preserve anatomical samples from the inside out. Today, this technology has led to the highly popular Body Worlds series of scientific exhibitions, which allow visitors around the world to see in unprecedented clarity how the human body works. » learn more

materials

Saving Energy with LEDs

Light represents progress. The incandescent bulb, for example, was once the pioneer of a global revolution in lighting. Today, it is disappearing from store shelves, superseded by a new generation of more energy-efficient sources of illumination. » learn more

materials

Fiber Optics for Communications - Around the World in 80 Milliseconds

The 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics was recently awarded to Charles K. Kao, Willard S. Boyle, and George E. Smith. The Chinese-British physicist Kao, who won half of the prize, was honored “for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication,” while Boyle and Smith were recognized for inventing semiconductor circuit technology for digital imaging. » learn more

materials

Communications in the Palm of Your Hand

While new technology is allowing wireless electrophoretic-display reading devices to emulate the simple visual appeal of a book’s printed page, other handheld communications devices are using touchscreens to enable an ever more diverse array of multimedia applications. » learn more

materials

Flying on the Rays of the Sun

On an airfield near Zurich, Switzerland, the Solar Impulse HB-SIA was recently unveiled—the first airplane designed to fly during day or night without using any fossil fuels or creating any polluting emissions. » learn more

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