Our modern lives depend on rare earth elements, and someday soon we may not have enough to meet growing demand. Because of their special properties, these 17 metallic elements are crucial ingredients ...

They’re gorgeous, dazzling, passionately pursued, and worth billions.

Long before there was a periodic table of the elements, there was no need for a table — just four chairs. From ancient through medieval into early modern times, natural philosophers could count the ...

Darleane Hoffman, an Iowa State University graduate, went on to become a renowned nuclear chemist before passing away at 98.

A century and a half ago, a Russian chemistry professor published a classification of all the known elements, organized by atomic weight. Today, the system that he created for his students — plus some ...

For years, theoretical models have struggled to explain why these odd-Z elements appear in far greater quantities across the ...

There are 17 rare earth elements on the periodic table, but a better name for them would be the "troublesome earths." Here's why. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate ...

At the far end of the periodic table is a realm where nothing is quite as it should be. The elements here, starting at atomic number 104 (rutherfordium), have never been found in nature. In fact, they ...

The Nobel-winning author, whose newest book is out this week, discusses work by a few of her favorite writers.

“LA république n’a pas besoin de savants ni de chimistes.” With that curt dismissal a court in revolutionary France cut short the life of Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier, argued by some to be the ...