Articles

A Breathalyzer Test for Bacterial Infections

A new approach to detecting lung infections could be faster and less invasive

January 11, 2013

Video: Tiny Artificial Muscles Dance Like Mexican Jumping Beans

MIT scientists have created thin polymer sheets that expand and contract when in contact with water, lifting several times their weight

January 10, 2013

How Hot is That Pepper? How Scientists Measure Spiciness

How does the Scoville Scale rate the relative spiciness of a chili pepper?

January 10, 2013

Beautiful Artwork Cut Out of Feathers

A clever artist uses a scalpel and tweezers to cut beautiful bird silhouettes out of feathers

January 10, 2013

The Gadgets of the Future From the Electrical Shows of Yesterday

Decades before the debut of the Consumer Electronics Show, early adopters flocked to extravagant high-tech fairs in New York and Chicago

January 10, 2013

No Place Compares to the Unrelenting Lifelessness of Peru’s Sechura Desert

From tropical mountains, we descended into a landscape of flailing-armed cacti, spiny succulents like giant artichokes and sand dunes as high as mountains

January 10, 2013

Drill, Baby, Drill: Sponges Bore Into Shells Twice as Fast in Acidic Seawater

In acidic water, drilling sponges damage scallops twice as quickly, worsening the effects of ocean acidification

January 10, 2013

Events January 11-13: Civil Disobedience, Farm-Fresh Foods and Arabic Calligraphy Lessons

This week, protest racial segregation in the 1960s, discover DC’s “slow food” movement and learn to write in Arabic

January 10, 2013

Australia is Burning, And It’s Only Going to Get Worse as the World Warms

Across Australia wildfires are raging. And yes, there is a climate connection

January 9, 2013

Is Climate Change Strengthening El Niño?

New research on Pacific corals that trace climate patterns back 7,000 years shows how recent El Niños compare with those of the past

January 9, 2013

The Novice’s Guide to Venturing Into the World of Craft Beer

From food pairings to the best brews for beginners, Dan Koester presents a comprehensive guide to craft beer

January 9, 2013

Proven: Pruney Fingers Give You a Better Grip

A new study shows that when our fingers get wrinkly, they’re better at gripping wet objects

January 9, 2013

Could Diet Soda Cause Clinical Depression?

A new study suggests a link, but it’s important to remember the difference between causation and correlation

January 8, 2013

President Obama’s Autopen: When is an Autograph Not an Autograph?

When the President signed the fiscal cliff deal from 4,800 miles away, he did it with the help of a device that dates back to Thomas Jefferson

January 8, 2013

The Candor and Lies of Nazi Officer Albert Speer

The minister of armaments was happy to tell his captors about the war machine he had built. But it was a different story when he was asked about the Holocaust

January 8, 2013

What’s Inside a 2,000-Year-Old, Shipwreck-Preserved Roman Pill?

Ancient Roman pills, preserved in sealed tin containers on the seafloor, may have been used as eye medicine

January 7, 2013

Blind Baby Rhino Rescued After Bumping Into Trees

The rescued baby is bringing attention to Lewa’s efforts to protect its ailing rhino populations that are being picked off by poachers

January 7, 2013

At Auction: A 1766 Copy of ‘Aristotle’s Masterpiece,’ a Best-Selling Sex Guide Banned in England Until 1961

Banned in England until 1961, a copy of this 17th-century text is going up for auction

January 7, 2013

Determined Fish Climb Waterfalls With Special Sucker Mouths

One goby species in Hawaii uses its suction-cup mouth for both feeding and scaling walls, presenting an evolutionary chicken-or-egg conundrum

January 7, 2013

From the Slums of Lima to the Peaks of the Andes

After unpacking and assembling his bicycle at the airport terminal, the author heads north on the Pan-American Highway toward the mountain town of Canta

January 7, 2013