Innovation

What Scientists Now Know About Repairing Memories

Recent research suggests that the brain rebuilds a memory every time it is recalled. And that creates a window of opportunity for changing it

June 21, 2013

How Guerrilla Gardening Can Save America’s Food Deserts

Ron Finley’s L.A. Green Grounds brings fresh fruit and vegetables to urban neighborhoods dominated by fast food, liquor stores and empty lots

June 19, 2013

Where Are the 50 Most Populous Refugee Camps?

Millions of people worldwide flee their homes to escape violence, persecution or natural disasters. Here’s where they live

June 19, 2013

How One Day Everything Could Be Recycled

Mix 3-D printers and biomimicry and what do you get? Products that are as strong, resilient, versatile—and biodegradable—as most things in nature

June 19, 2013

10 More Things We’ve Learned About Dads

Scientists keep finding reasons why fathers matter. They also think it’s not a bad idea for dads to ask their kids, “How am I doing?”

June 14, 2013

Energy Innovation

Document Deep Dive: The Patent for the First Practical Solar Cell

See how three scientists at Bell Laboratories in 1954 invented the silicon solar cell that became the model for converting sunlight into electricity today

June 11, 2013

How Swarming Drones Can Explore a Hurricane

A University of Florida engineer is building a squadron of hand-sized drones that he says will be able to gather data as they ride on hurricane winds

June 7, 2013

Powering the 21st Century

The Path to Being a Scientist Doesn’t Have to Be So Narrow

A radical new college model could change the rigged obstacle course of the world’s education system, expanding opportunity for millions of students

June 6, 2013

How Kids’ Television Inspires a Lifelong Love of Science

Television shows for preschoolers are teaching a whole new audience about science—their parents

June 5, 2013

VIDEO: This Helicopter is Controlled Entirely By A Person’s Thoughts

A new device can read your brain patterns to steer a toy helicopter—the mere thought of clenching your right fist veers the chopper right

June 4, 2013

Why Navy Scientists Want to Mimic Cicadas

No, it’s not about learning to live underground for 17 years. It’s all about the noise.

June 4, 2013

Can Starbucks Do for the Croissant What it Did for Coffee?

The company is betting that it can replicate baking the pastry on a massive, industrial scale

June 2, 2013

Michael Pollan and Ruth Reichl Hash out the Food Revolution

Be a fly in the soup at the dinner table with two of America’s most iconic food writers

June 2013

Is a Lack of Water to Blame for the Conflict in Syria?

A 2006 drought pushed Syrian farmers to migrate to urban centers, setting the stage for massive uprisings

June 2013

How You Use Your Phone May Tip Off Health Problems

Among the new technology geared to preventive health care is an app that tracks your social behavior and has been described as a human “check engine” light

May 30, 2013

Interactive: Mapping Renewable Energy Around the World

Which countries are leading the way in transitioning away from fossil fuels?

May 24, 2013

8 Things We’ve Learned Lately About Thunder and Lightning

Such as, storms can make your head hurt. And we should expect more turbulence on transatlantic flights

May 24, 2013

Educating Americans for the 21st Century

Is Coding the New Second Language?

Kids may know their way around a computer, but in order to get a job in the new economy, they will have to know how to write a program, not just use one

May 23, 2013

The Unclear Fate of Nuclear Power

Two years after the accident at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi, can the nuclear renaissance regain its momentum?

May 22, 2013

Good-bye, Gas Guzzlers

What will it take for automakers to deliver a fleet of fuel-sippers?

May 22, 2013