Nucleus-nucleus collisions at RHIC produce high temperature and high energy density matter which exhibits paxtonic degrees of freedom. We will discuss measurements of nuclear modification factors for light hadrons and non-photonic electrons from heavy quark decays, which reflect the flavor dependence of energy loss of high momentum partons traversing the dense QCD medium. The dense QCD medium responds to energy loss of high momentum patrons in a pattern consistent with that expected from a hydrodynamic fluid. The hadronization of bulk partonic matter exhibits collectivity with effective partonic degrees of freedom. Nuclear collisions at RHIC provide an intriguing environment, where many constituent quark ingredients are readily available for possible formation of exotic particles through quark coalescence or recombinations.