The new phenomenon of 15-minute lab-grown diamonds

Some synthetic diamonds are purposely made with defects for new technologies

Grown in plasma-filled chambers or reactors where pressures reach 800,000 pounds per square inch, diamonds can develop properties like electrical conductivity and magnetic field sensitivity through exposure to elemental impurities or removal of some of their carbon atoms.

Synthetic diamonds may be used to cool microchips

The strong carbon bonds in diamonds efficiently carry vibrations, allowing them to conduct heat several times faster than copper, a metal commonly used in heat sinks. AI and high-performance computing have pushed researchers to investigate alternative materials for cooling solutions.

A startup is trying to create the diamond equivalent of the gold standard

It's called the Diamond Standard Co, and it uses an algorithm to assign standard values to a variety off small diamonds, grouping them together into individual coins. Historically, diamonds haven't been able to be classified as commodities or standardized like gold because they aren't uniform—factors such as clarity, cut, color, and carat size significantly influence the value of a diamond.

How diamonds form in the deep earth

Deep within Earth's mantle, diamonds form from carbon-bearing fluids. The formation of these beautiful gemstones, the only direct samples we have of the mantle, helps scientists uncover how carbon functions deep inside our planet. Understanding this complex process aids in the exploration for new diamond deposits.

A 37.41 carat, bicolor diamond likely formed from two distinct geological processes

Discovered in a Botswana mine, half the stone is clear, having formed from carbon being squeezed under extreme heat and pressure into a tight crystal structure. The pink half formed earlier and resulted from minor bending of the crystal during tectonic activity without causing it to brown or break.

How synthetic meat is made

The future of meat is cheaper, faster, and more environmentally friendly—it will also be grown in a lab. This three-minute video breaks down how exactly lab-grown meat is made.

Diamond engagement rings were popularized via an ad campaign

In 1947, an ad agency copywriter wrote the De Beers diamond company's slogan, "a diamond is forever"—and diamond engagement rings became basically required for brides-to-be. This video tells the story of exactly how the ad campaign happened, and why it was so impactful.

Several birthstones play key roles across modern technologies

Diamonds are used in drills and quantum computing, while peridot and zircon help in steelmaking and carbon capture. Rubies, sapphires, and alexandrite enable several varieties of lasers found in medicine and advanced optics. Garnets are found in water filtration systems and radiation detectors. Sapphires are used as substrates in semiconductors.

Visualization of printing synthetic DNA

Ever wonder how synthetic DNA is made? Discover how GenScript uses innovative technology to synthesize precise, high-quality DNA at a larger scale than ever before.

How to cook food with lasers

Creative Machines Lab at Columbia Engineering have developed a system of software-controlled lasers to cook food with precision, retain moisture with the final-cooked product, brown food within its original packaging, and create an entirely new meal creation process for a consumer. Watch this three-minute video to see for yourself.

Chip-based 3D printers can be pocket-sized and involve no moving parts

Researchers have demonstrated a proof-of-concept version of a chip-based 3D printer that emits visible light onto light-sensitive resin to construct solid shapes. The technology may provide a portable, low-cost solution for future, small-scale fabrication needs.

Glass can be endlessly recycled without losing quality

Sand from specialized mines is thoroughly cleaned and melted at more than 1,600 degrees Celsius before being poured onto liquid tin and evenly spread out to form glass sheets. Some factories are designed to reprocess 100% of glass scraps created when cutting glass with diamond-tipped blades or lasers.

The surprising science behind Pop Rocks

Have you ever wondered why Pop Rocks makes tiny explosions in your mouth? Well, there’s actually pressurized carbon dioxide bubbles trapped within the sugary candy. This 19-second video shows you what Pop Rocks look like under a microscope.

As of 2024, about 77% of the world's gold reserves have been mined

About 216 million metric tons—about 0.4% of the Great Pyramid of Giza's volume—have been extracted and used primarily for jewelry. The remaining reserves are estimated based on chemical analysis of rock samples extrapolated to the entire mass of Earth's crust.

Once limited to expert studios, automated tools can create convincing deepfakes

Although the best deepfakes are engineered using generative adversarial networks where systems compete to create and assess fake data until the two cannot be distinguished, simpler tools have allowed nonexperts to develop deepfakes for financial scams, political deception, and nonconsensual pornography.

Scientists turn alchemists, transforming transform lead into gold

Fulfilling alchemists' dreams, scientists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) transmute lead into gold. While the 86 billion gold nuclei produced were short-lived, the experiment sheds light on how electromagnetic fields can play a critical role in nuclear transmutation.

Scientific advances are unlocking a wide range of alternatives to IVF

From refined artificial insemination and microsurgical sperm extraction to experimental uterine transplants, scientific innovation is rapidly advancing potential fertilization technologies. But they come along with costly trials, some ethical dilemmas, regulatory issues, and more.

Storing data in DNA requires converting binary code into DNA's four-base system

Researchers have suggested that DNA's ability to form compact, dense structures justifies investigating its use for long-term, safe data archiving. This system could fit all of the world's data in a single shoebox, though processing each bit into a nucleotide base takes 2 minutes, as of 2024.

Artificial photosynthesis turns CO₂ into sustainable fuel

Carbon conversion focuses on a central perplexing question: if carbon dioxide is a leading driver of climate change, and fossil fuels are made of carbon-based molecules, can we devise a way to convert CO₂ into useful alternatives efficiently? This video breaks down a potential pathway using artificial photosynthesis, which uses sunlight to convert CO₂ into fuel.

How lasers have become a go-to in archaeology

Archaeological teams now have another item to pack with their trowels: Lasers. Researchers' approach to unsurveyed land has been transformed by light detection and ranging technology. LiDAR has helped archaeologists break new ground and uncover...

The extreme precision of atomic clocks highlights gravitational time dilation

Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have constructed clocks made out of stacked strontium atoms, which show differences in the passage of time across just a millimeter of height consistent with predictions from general relativity, where atoms closer to Earth's center tick off time more slowly.

The widespread need for rechargeable batteries has fueled surging lithium demand

As of 2025, the average person uses 27 times more mined lithium than they did in the 1990s, with the US ranking second globally in consumption despite producing less than 1% of global supply. However, potential alternative materials and boom-and-bust cycles have challenged the profitability of mines and future demand for the mineral.

The unexpected origin story of the snow globe

In 1900, a Vienna tradesman named Erwin Perzy I was attempting to invent an inexpensive way to improve light amplification in hospital operating rooms. After experimenting with a glass globe filled with water, the idea for the snow globe struck. Industrious as well as inventive, Perzy eventually turned his idea into a successful business. Read the full article to learn how the invention grew to become recognized globally.

Massive 3D printers have been used to build homes by stacking layers of 'concrete toothpaste,' a fire-resistant material that effectively insulates against outside noise.

Watch a crystal undergo X-ray diffraction to determine its internal geometry

In the early days of X-ray crystallography, getting photos of a single sample could take dozens of hours, followed by months of mathematical analysis. Today, automation and computer software can complete such tasks in a few hours.

NFTs can be minted using an online marketplace or directly on the blockchain

Minting, or creating, an NFT is how NFTs are added to the blockchain. The process can be simplified by using a popular marketplace.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

How fusion—which releases energy when two lighter atoms combine to form a heavier atom—differs from fission

See how fireworks are made and learn how metals like magnesium and copper are responsible for different colors.

Astronauts have repaired genetic damage in space using CRISPR—a molecular tool that can make precise changes to DNA and is used in single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses.

Bone marrow (soft tissue found inside certain bones) generates roughly 500 billion new blood cells each day

'Silent' fireworks have gained more interest in recent years as a quieter celebratory option.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

Scientists can determine Earth's past climate conditions by analyzing air trapped in microscopic bubbles within ice cores—columns of compressed snow layers that build up over hundreds of thousands of years.

Watch how deep-sea mining equipment collects and processes polymetallic nodules—metal-rich, potato-shaped rocks—from the ocean floor and creates environmentally damaging plumes of sediments.

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

Watch how algorithms can be designed to train themselves and self-improve without human input, to the point where the optimized code is too complex for programmers to understand.

Children are now three times more likely to say they want to be a YouTuber when they grow up than an astronaut, with some even attending 'YouTube camps' that teach kids how to create content for the platform.

When a Paris department store hesitated to sell Estée Lauder's perfume, she 'accidentally' broke a bottle, causing the smell to spread throughout the store and shoppers to start asking to buy the scent.

Telehealth demand for GLP-1s for weight loss is booming as consumers seek easier access.

Electrical grids worldwide must double their power delivery capacity by 2050 to meet surging demand from AI and electric vehicles.

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

To reduce wrinkles in clothing, research recommends gentle wash cycles with more water and tumble drying with smaller loads and longer times.

According to the physics of black holes, our 4D reality may be a hologram—a projection of information coded on a 2D surface on the edge of the universe.

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.

Jimmy Carter signed a 1978 bill that legalized home brewing, a move credited with kick-starting the craft beer industry.

Hear 50 years of iconic hip-hop samples, the genre's foundational looped tracks

The 2026 Ebola outbreak in the DRC is spurring new Ebola vaccine development for the Bundibugyo species.

Double world record holder Hunter Ewen helped conquer his fear of balloons, called globophobia, by training to win Guinness World Record titles for balloon inflation.

An initial public offering or 'IPO' is the process of a private company becoming public by putting shares of the company on the stock market for purchase.