Scientific Innovation

Environmental chemists are developing a method that could suck toxic metals out of marine environments.

How Electrified Steel Could Suck Toxic Metals From the Ocean

After a century of strip mining and deforestation, New Caldonia researchers are working to de-contaminate marine waters

Lifting an Unwieldy 75-Ton Hovercraft Out of the Water

When you're crane-lifting a giant hovercraft into a ship's hold, plenty can go wrong

Neuroscience is giving new meaning to the phrase "get on my wavelength."

Students’ Brains Sync Up When They’re in an Engaging Class, Neuroscience Shows

What does it really mean to get our brains on the same wavelength?

Unlikely savior: The remarkable properties of spaghnum moss help preserve long-dead bodies, sequester carbon and even heal wounds.

How Humble Moss Healed the Wounds of Thousands in World War I

The same extraordinary properties that make this plant an “ecosystem engineer” also helped save human lives

A NASA Valkyrie robot picks up an item with its hand.

Making Robots That Can Work With Their Hands

For robots to be most useful when working alongside humans, they'll have to literally lend us a hand when our own two are not enough

Every cupful of pond water is swirling with DNA sequences. Now, scientists are putting them to work to solve stubborn conservation mysteries.

How Scientists Use Teeny Bits of Leftover DNA to Solve Wildlife Mysteries

Environmental DNA helps biologists track rare, elusive species. It could usher in a revolution for conservation biology

Why We Need To Start Listening To Insects

You may not think of the buzz and whine of insects as musical, but the distinctive pitch of mosquito wingbeats could tell us how to fight malaria

Dismantling a Huge Howitzer for a Precarious Move

This 200-ton howitzer artillery gun is too heavy to transport in one piece. The answer is to split it in two

Reconstruction of the Tham Lod woman who lived 13,600 years ago

Researchers Work to Take the Bias Out Of Facial Reconstruction

Instead of relying on European-centric data sets, researchers used a global database to help image a 13,600-year-old woman from Thailand

This honeycomb structure was printed in fused silica glass.

You Can Now 3D Print Glass

German researchers have developed a technique for 3D printing strong, transparent glass products, such as jewelry, lenses and computer parts

Marking the centennial of the American patent system, participants gathered for a "Research Parade" in Washington, D.C., November 23, 1936.

These 20th-Century Technologists Sure Knew How to Throw a Party

To mark the centennial of the American Patent System in 1936, a group of innovators gathered to throw a deliciously creative celebration

A noninvasive brain-computer interface based on EEG recordings from the scalp.

Melding Mind and Machine: How Close Are We?

Researchers separate what's science from what's currently still fiction when it comes to brain-computer interfacing

Nanocars Will Race Across (a Very, Very Tiny Bit of) France

Ladies and gentlemen, start your molecules

Autonomous cars aren’t smarter than this.

How Understanding Animals Can Help Us Make the Most of Artificial Intelligence

A former animal trainer explains how we might usefully think about the limitations of artificial intelligence systems

The image shows a 6 mm long, 12.5 day old mouse embryo obtained with the Mesolens. The inset shows a blow-up of the eye region revealing the individual cell nuclei. It is possible to identify fine structures throughout the embryo such as the developing heart muscle fibers and fine details in the eye such as the corneal endothelium using the Mesolens.

Let Us Now Praise the Invention of the Microscope

Early scientists wielded this revolutionary tool to study the invisible world of microbes, and even their own semen

These are actually tadpoles.

Now You Can Measure Male Fertility With a Smartphone App

A new device helps men monitor their sperm count from the comfort of their own home

Joseph Lister's work was influenced by Louis Pasteur's work on fermentation.

The Idea of Surgeons Washing Their Hands is Only 154 Years Old

The world of surgery before that was much grosser and less effective

It will be quick and it will be hot.

Hot Food, Fast: The Home Microwave Oven

A serendipitous discovery helped engineers harness radar to create the now ubiquitous timesaving appliance

Daylight saving time, which has a history dating back to Benjamin Franklin, starts this Sunday.

During (and After) WWII, Some States Had Year-Round Daylight Saving Time

A 1963 'Time Magazine' article called it "a chaos of time"

Achievement unlocked: Rewritable paper.

Reprintable Paper Becomes a Reality

Coating paper with an inexpensive thin film can allow users to print and erase a physical page as many as 80 times

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