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Chemistry Nobel prize awarded for building ordered polymers with metal

Three researchers share prize for structured polymers called metal-organic frameworks. The polymers around us are basically a disordered mess, with long chains of atoms tangled around each other. But starting around 1990, chemists began developing techniques that allow us to build polymers with precisely defined structures. These polymers, called…

Floating electrons on a sea of helium

Yes, it’s another potential qubit. But it’s also some very cool physics. By now, a handful of technologies are leading contenders for producing a useful quantum computer. Companies have used them to build machines with dozens to hundreds of qubits, the error rates are coming down, and they’ve largely…

Tesla’s standard-range Model 3, Model Y join the lineup

​A smaller battery and less standard equipment cuts prices, but not by enough.  Today, Tesla announced a new variant of the Model Y crossover for North America. Tesla fans have long-awaited a cheaper entry-level model; this was supposed to be the $25,000 Model 2. But the development of that…

Natural disasters are a rising burden for the National Guard

New Pentagon data show climate impacts shaping reservists’ mission. This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy, and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here. The National Guard logged more than 400,000 member service days per year over the…