In this video excerpt from NOVA's "Hunting the Elements," New York Times technology columnist David Pogue investigates chemical reactions involving sodium. Find out how the electron configuration of ...

Carbon is often referred to as "the bedrock of life" because the element appears in all known life forms. This is because the sixth entry on the periodic table has the unique ability to form the ...

Chemists studying how life started often focus on how modern biopolymers like peptides and nucleic acids contributed, but modern biopolymers don't form easily without help from living organisms. A ...

Compound libraries form a foundational element of modern drug discovery—the process of identifying new chemical or biological compounds that can become safe and effective medicines. Compound libraries ...