A new analysis of ancient Jian wares reveals that the distinctive pottery contains an unexpected and highly unusual form of iron oxide - a rare compound called epsilon-phase iron oxide which was only recently discovered and characterized by scientists and so far has been extremely difficult to create with modern techniques.

Understanding 1,000 year old synthesis conditions used by Chinese potters could lead to an easier, more reliable synthesis of epsilon-phase iron oxide, enabling better, cheaper magnetic materials - including those used for data storage.

Photosynthesis is one of evolution's great success stories. Plants, algae and bacteria capture light energy from the sun and transform it into chemical energy.

Can science improve it? Perhaps. While genetic modification is protested by anti-science groups, no one dislikes photosynthesis. And improving the photosynthetic rate is one strategy to improve plant productivity, which can be important for future food production. 

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett has announced that the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is accepting applications for projects related to  abandoned mine drainage projects .

You'll have to be a non-profit or a government agency to get government money - the groups most likely to be able to do something on budget are prohibited from applying to get a grant from taxpayers.

Carbon monoxide is known as the "silent killer" because it is imperceptible and lethal. Most homes carry detectors.

We think of it as artificial, due to car exhaust and such, but it is produced naturally in humans and animals, and some medical researchers have even evaluated the gas as a treatment for diabetes, heart attacks, sepsis, and other illnesses. Researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego have studied carbon monoxide's natural characteristics and limitations by studying the gas in one of the world's best divers: the elephant seal.

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet, which holds enough water to raise global seas by several feet, is thinning and computer models predict that the collapse may already have begun. The Thwaites Glacier could disappear in a few hundred years, raising sea levels by nearly 2 feet. That glacier also acts as a linchpin on the rest of the ice sheet, which contains enough ice to cause another 10 to 13 feet of global sea level rise. 

Discussions about science and, to a less extent medicine, often involve optimizing its representation. Various fields discuss how to increase gender or racial parity, while political and handicapped representation is dismissed as choice or even competence.