


The 2020 Olympics may have been a bit late arriving thanks to the pandemic, but there’ve been no signs of sluggishness from athletes on the track. World records have been tumbling over the past weeks, and one factor behind this could be the technology used in the track. I worked with Jess Wade on this graphic to take a closer look at the materials science behind the track surface.

The delayed 2020 Olympics are currently taking place in Tokyo, and setting a number of firsts. Obviously, it’s the first Olympics to take place without a public audience in the stadiums to watch the events. However, it’s also the first Olympics at which the medals are made entirely from recycled metals. This graphic takes a closer look at their composition and how the metals to make them were amassed.

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To breathe underwater, divers need an air supply. But this air doesn’t always have the same composition as that we breathe above water. This month’s edition of Periodic Graphics in Chemical & Engineering News looks at the reasons why. Click through to the C&EN site to view the full graphic.

If you’ve been enjoying the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang over the past few weeks, you might have wondered what the medals the winning athletes receive are made of. As this graphic shows, it’s not quite as simple as gold, silver, and bronze!

The Rio Olympics are underway, and after a build-up that’s already been marred by the Russian doping scandal, officials will be on the look-out for athletes trying to gain an edge by using performance-enhancing drugs. What types of drugs will they be looking for, and why might athletes be tempted to use them in the first place? This graphic takes a look at some of the major classes of banned substances and the reasons that they are banned.