Fresh from the plasma chamber, a wood sample has a thin coating of white powder that, once removed, reveals an ultra-black surface.

The wood sample is from the original tree from which an apple fell, leading Newton to devise his theory of gravity. The sample, which is normally held in the Royal Society's archives, has been lent to ...

The model’s ability to pinpoint a wood sample’s origin varied country by country. For example, it managed to flag 82 percent of the wood originating in Russia (and disguised as originating ...