U.S. government scientists have discovered a new family of zinc compounds that can be manipulated to acquire some physical properties of other materials. The researchers -- Paul Canfield and Sergey Bud'ko of the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory, in collaboration with Iowa State University graduate student Shuang Jia -- have discovered the new family of zinc compounds can assume some physical properties and behaviors of other materials, including copper and palladium. The versatility makes the new zinc compounds ideal for basic research efforts to observe and learn more about the origins of phenomena such as magnetism, said Canfield. For the full story: Click Here.

DA Morgan