Some parents cut a cake, while others release pink or blue balloons from a box.

What Does the Gender Reveal Fad Say About Modern Pregnancy?

A new ritual speaks to anxieties surrounding the medicalization of childbearing

Art Meets Science

See the Sounds of the Amazon in This Mesmerizing Video

Artist Andy Thomas helps people experience nature in a new way

Researchers have devised a new way to monitor sleep stages without sensors attached to the body.

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This Device Uses Radio Waves To Track How You’re Sleeping

Scientists think it could help them better understand progression of chronic diseases like Parkinson’s

Tuna isn't always what it claims to be.

What’s Really in That Tuna Roll? DNA Testing Can Help You Find Out

This rapidly evolving tech aims to empower consumers and shine a light on the food industry

The smart bin prototype

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A Smart Recycling Bin Could Sort Your Waste for You

It’s sometimes difficult to know where to put different types of plastic, but computer vision could remove any confusion

Developers are breathing new life into indoor shopping malls.

The Transformation of the American Shopping Mall

Headlines claim malls are dying, and some are. But many others are having second lives as churches, schools, hospitals, even farms

A new startup is making it easy for customers to shop their local family farmers—right from their homes.

New Startup WildKale Lets Farmers Sell Directly to Customers Through an App

Yes, it’s like “Uber for farmer’s markets.”

Rebecca Richards-Kortum was named a MacArthur Foundation Fellow of 2016.

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The Professor With a Genius For Global Health

Rebecca Richards-Kortum and her students at Rice University are designing low-cost devices that can help mothers and babies in a big way

Bullwinkle J. Moose. © Jay Ward Productions

How Bullwinkle Taught Kids Sophisticated Political Satire

Culture critic Beth Daniels argues the cartoon moose even allowed viewers to reckon with nuclear war

Could this brace alleviate "crouch gait?"

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This Robotic Exoskeleton Helps Kids With Cerebral Palsy Walk Upright

Children with cerebral palsy often walk in a crouched position, which is difficult to maintain over long distances. A robot suit can help.

The National Design Awards honor 11 individuals and organizations described by Cooper-Hewitt director Caroline Baumann as having “elevated our understanding of what great American design is and what it can do to improve the world.”

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These Design Champs Are Having Their Moment in the Sun

Three Cooper-Hewitt award winners share secrets and stories with design critic Owen Edwards

Pharmacists once used chocolate syrup to mask the bitter flavor of their remedies—and make a little money on the side.

The Unlikely Medical History of Chocolate Syrup

How the sundae staple went from treatment to just treat

Connexus Energy's SolarWise garden in Ramsey provides habitat for pollinators.

Solar Power and Honey Bees Make a Sweet Combo in Minnesota

The Pollinator Friendly Solar Act has solar companies and commercial beekeepers working together

Water water everywhere, and not a day to think.

How Coastal Cities Are Evolving to Deal With Extreme Rain

Facing the specter of more and worse rainstorms, these vulnerable areas are turning to innovative urban design

SoftBank's humanoid robot "Pepper" can lead funerals.

Nine Tasks Robots Can Do That May Surprise You

Machines can cook your dinner, fill your prescriptions, make your shoes and much, much more

Printed graphene supercapacitor

Future of Energy

Flexible Batteries May Soon Be Printed Right On Your Clothes

Graphene supercapacitors, printed directly on textiles, could power medical devices, wearable computers, even phone-charging shirts

A member of the Myrmoteras genus of trap-jaw ants, with mandibles deployed.

Prying Apart the Mighty Bite of a Malaysian Trap-Jaw Ant

Its mandibles strike in a fraction of a blink of an eye, but how does it do it?

Costa Rica's Guanacaste region is among the country's many beautiful ecological zones—and the waste from local juice company is helping keep it that way.

Costa Rica Let a Juice Company Dump Their Orange Peels in the Forest—and It Helped

How a controversial experiment actually bore fruit

Made of sugar, these milk pods could someday replace traditional creamer cups.

Milk and Sugar Pods That Dissolve in Coffee Could Replace Single-Serve Containers

Why use plastic when you can use sugar?

Robots can also lend a hand of sorts.

How Robots Could Help the Elderly Age in Their Homes

But these helpful machines won’t be the humanoid butlers of science fiction

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