Natural Cycles App

Apps Can Help You Get Pregnant. But Should You Use Them as a Contraceptive?

An increasing number of women are relying on apps to track their menstrual cycles. Now, there’s even an app approved as birth control.

The inaugural issue of Gernsback's Amazing Stories magazine. Young readers—in several cases the sci-fi writers of the future—could expect an exciting blend of adventure and technology in every fresh installment.

Fifty Years Later, Remembering Sci-Fi Pioneer Hugo Gernsback

Looking Back on a Man Who Was Always Looking Forward

A new tissue paper (as in, paper made from biological tissue) is so strong it can be folded into origami.

A Lab Accident Leads to Bioactive “Tissue Paper”

A spill of bioactive ink made from ovarian cells led to the creation of paper made from organs and tissues, with various potential medical uses

As author Tim Harford writes in his new book, sometimes the most important inventions are not the flashy ones.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

From Lightbulbs to Mutual Funds: Tim Harford on Inventions That Changed the Modern Economy

Paper, the gramophone, double-entry bookkeeping, and barbed wire all make the list

A TEMS device mounted on eyeglasses, with the electrical signal recorded.

Blink Once For Yes: You Can ‘Talk’ to This New Computer Interface With Your Eyes

A tiny sensor mounted to eyeglasses can track eye blinks, allowing communication from locked-in patients

This protein powder is made of bacteria that use hydrogen as their energy source. Not the most appetizing thought for some, but the researchers who developed this say using this as livestock feed could free up land for other purposes.

Scientists Make Food From Bacteria, Water, Electricity, and a Whole Lot of Patience

You may have heard that Finnish scientists had made food from electricity, but the truth is more complicated

An image of a 2013 total eclipse, which Eclipse Soundscapes will use as a reference for this year's.

What Does an Eclipse Sound Like?

A new app will allow blind and visually impaired users to experience the upcoming solar eclipse on August 21

Ampelopsis brevipedunculata, or porcelainberry originated in China, Korea, Japan and Russia, but is a vigorous invasive in the United States.

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Scientists Are Using This Collection of Wood Samples to Combat Illegal Logging

Archie F. Wilson loved wood enough to amass the country’s premiere private collection. Now scientists are using it as a weapon against illegal logging

Your eclipse glasses won't be the only tool to make this month's stellar phenomenon cool

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Use This App to Get the Most From the Coming Eclipse

With livestreams, simulations and safety guides, this Solar Eclipse app will be the key tool for the upcoming astronomical extravaganza

The ionocraft shown next to a standard U.S. quarter

The Sci-Fi Technology that Could Power Microbots

Using no moving parts, ion thrusters could propel tiny robots for long periods

A visualization of the harness.

This Robotic Harness Could Help People Relearn to Walk After Injury

Swiss researchers have developed an algorithm-backed “smart” harness to help stroke and spinal cord injury victims practice walking in a more natural way.

Salt caverns make good energy storage reservoirs as they are impermeable and don't react with oxygen.

Why Salt Is This Power Plant’s Most Valuable Asset

Compressed air energy storage can help keep the grid running and pave the way for renewables

Parisite-(La), a carbon-bearing mineral that was predicted by computer model before it was discovered.

Big Data (and You) Could Help Find 1,500 Undiscovered Minerals

Researchers are using new tools to predict where to find new minerals as well as to locate new sources of valuable resources like copper

How Colorized Historical Footage Is Painstakingly Made

Composite Films conducted 5,800 hours of research and poured over 27 miles of film to create our series America in Color

Facial recognition technology has the potential to violate privacy or just really freak people out, but it also has the potential to do good.

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Big Brother Knows What You Look Like, and That’s OK?

Some uses for rapidly-improving facial-recognition technology are more benign than scary

Robots in the "kid-size" (really around 16 inches tall) Robocup soccer league face off. These "Rhoban" bots, built by students at the University of Bordeaux, took first place in their division in the 2017 competition.

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Why Funny, Falling, Soccer-Playing Robots Matter

The 2017 RoboCup brings small changes and big competition to a broad technical challenge

The slug-inspired glue is a tough adhesive that can be used for a range of applications, like closing wounds, or making adorable slug models.

Slugs Inspire Super-Strong Glue to Seal Wounds

One day this mollusc-inspired invention might just save your life

Spider silk is stronger than steel and tougher than Kevlar, but making it in the lab has eluded scientists for decades.

New Artificial Spider Silk: Stronger Than Steel and 98 Percent Water

Researchers at Cambridge University have developed a process for making strong, stretchy threads in an environmentally friendly way

Gwen Johnson, 11, and other members of the 4-H club in Pleasant Hill, CA, planted lettuces at a public park this past spring.

The Complicated Growth of 4-H

4-H boasts a far more complicated backstory than those blue ribbons would have you believe

The Jacques Cartier Bridge in Montreal.

Canada

This Bridge Transforms Data on Weather, Traffic and Twitter Rants into a Beautiful Light Display

The Jacques Cartier Bridge in Montreal lights up the skyline with the mood of the city

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