Every field of science has its favorite anniversary. For physics, it’s Newton’s Principia of 1687, the book that introduced the laws of motion and gravity. Biology celebrates Darwin’s On the Origin of ...

The periodic table has become an icon of science. Its rows and columns provide a tidy way of showcasing the elements — the ingredients that make up the universe. It seems obvious today, but it wasn’t ...

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 ...

But the periodic table didn’t actually start with Mendeleev. Many had tinkered with arranging the elements. Decades before, chemist John Dalton tried to create a table as well as some rather ...

The iconic chart of elements has served chemistry well for 150 years. But it’s not the only option out there, and scientists are pushing its limits. By Siobhan Roberts See more of our coverage in your ...

The orderly periodic table—often printed with just the chemical symbol and atomic weight of its 118 elements—doesn't quite manage to convey to nonscientists the richness of what these substances bring ...

To expand the periodic table, it might be time to go titanium. A new study lays the groundwork to expand the periodic table with a search for element 120, to be made by slamming electrically charged ...

Scientists have started a new periodic table for quantum dots, which they refer to as “artificial atoms.” Quantum dots are nano-sized particles that are made of semiconducting materials. Researchers ...