Why Artificial Intelligence Won’t Replace CEOs

An MBA’s instinct is increasingly vital in the age of information overload

University of California, Irvine chemist Shane Ardo is working to develop special plastic membranes and dyes that would enable a container to desalinate seawater.

Future of Energy

A Mission To Invent a Bottle That Takes the Salt Out of Saltwater

Scientists are exploring the potential of creating plastic containers that, with a little sun power, could desalinate seawater

A forest grows in miniature at Metrotech Commons in Brooklyn for Spencer Finch’s “Lost Man Creek."

Art Meets Science

A Miniature Living Redwood Forest Springs Up In Brooklyn

Artist Spencer Finch explores landscape by building a tiny, scale replica of a California grove

In the sparse Reykjanes peninsula on Iceland’s southwest side, investigators aim to drill down 5,000 meters.

Future of Energy

Deep in the Heart of Iceland, There’s a New Way to Tap the Earth’s Energy

The Iceland Deep Drilling Project has extended a borehole thousands of meters deep to produce geothermal power at a scale never before seen

SPS-ALPHA concept and visualization

Future of Energy

What’s Next for Solar Energy? How About Space

Scientists are closer than ever to making the far-out concept of a space-based solar collection system a reality

The Sacramento Municipal Utility District is working with dairy farms to provide on-site digesters for manure.

Future of Energy

Why Anaerobic Digestion Is Becoming the Next Big Renewable Energy Source

A food-to-electricity plant in England is just one in a string of local efforts to make waste less wasteful

The Pagani Huayra Is Faster Than a Jumbo Jet at Takeoff

The optimum effects of the Pagani-designed dual aerodynamic system are embodied by the Huayra. In just 25.8 seconds, it crosses the 185 MPH mark

Xudong Wang and his team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have invented a new type of flooring that converts footsteps into usable energy.

Future of Energy

Move Over Solar: There’s New Energy Right At Our Feet

Engineers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are turning wood pulp, a common waste material, into a flooring that generates electricity

Brian Helmuth and his lab at Northeastern University engineered the little black data loggers from polyester resin.

Robot Shellfish May Tell Us About Climate Change’s Impact on Marine Species

Climate scientists at Northeastern University have developed “robomussels” with sensors to track temperatures in mussel beds

With some seed money from her grandparents, Alina Morse started her very own business.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Meet the 11-Year-Old Who Invented a Healthy Lollipop

Made with plant-derived sugar alternatives, Alina Morse’s Zollipops help reduce the risk of cavities

Gemasolar Thermasolar Plant, 37.560755°, –5.331908° This image captures the Gemasolar Thermosolar Plant in Seville, Spain. The solar concentrator contains 2,650 heliostat mirrors that focus the sun’s thermal energy to heat molten salt flowing through a 140-metre-tall (460-foot) central tower. The molten salt then circulates from the tower to a storage tank, where it is used to produce steam and generate electricity. In total, the facility displaces approximately 30,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions every year.

Art Meets Science

These Photographs From Space Show What Humans Have Done to the Earth

In new book, vivid satellite images of the planet evoke what astronauts call “the overview effect”

Stanford's Ocean Acidification Experience uses virtual reality to help people understand in a uniquely personal way the long-term effects of climate change.

How Virtual Reality Can Help Us Feel the Pain of Climate Change

It’s hard to comprehend the concept of oceans getting more acidic. Unless you become the coral.

Maanasa Mendu, of Mason, Ohio, presents HARVEST, her prototype renewable energy-gathering device, at the 2016 Young Scientist Challenge.

Future of Energy

The Answer to India’s Energy Crisis Could Be Blowing in the Wind

The 2016 Young Scientist Challenge winner modeled her energy harvester after a tree

This golden goodness relies on a mathematical concept known as the silver ratio.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Using Math to Build the Ultimate Taffy Machine

A mathematician dives into taffy-pulling patents to achieve optimum confection creation

Bloom's mobile harvester collects algae biomass from waste streams in the United States and Asia.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

This Startup Is Harvesting Wild Algae to Make Your Next Pair of Sneakers

Co-founder Rob Falken found a way to turn algae into a foam that can be used in sneaker soles and on surfboards

The creators of SurviVR consulted with members of the FBI and the NYPD, various intelligence analysts, Navy Seals and other security, terrorism and survival experts.

Face an Active Shooter in Virtual Reality, and You May Be Better Prepared to Survive a Real-Life Encounter

A new VR program called SurviVR aims to train employees how to deal with an active shooter situation in the workplace

To make Tumor Paint, Jim Olson's team extracts molecules from the deathstalker scorpion (Leiurus quinquestriatus).

The Innovative Spirit fy17

How Scorpion Venom Is Helping Doctors Treat Cancer

When injected into the body, Tumor Paint lights up cancers. The drug could lead to a new class of therapeutics

Water drained from the tunnel will feed new aquaculture farms nearby.

Beneath a Mountain in Switzerland Lies the World’s Longest Shortcut

The massive structure, running 35.4 miles through the Alps, begins full operations this December

From top left, clockwise: male orangequit; female tungara frog; purple mort bleu butterfly; sunflower; red coral; Galapagos marine iguana

Big Data Just Got Bigger as IBM’s Watson Meets the Encyclopedia of Life

An NSF grant marries one of the world’s largest online biological archives with IBM’s cognitive computing and Georgia Tech’s moduling and simulation

The LudusScope is an open-source, 3D printed, smartphone-integrated microscope.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

With This Smartphone Microscope, You Can Play Soccer and Pac-Man With Microbes

Stanford engineer Ingmar Riedel-Kruse built a 3D-printed microscope that allows students to not only observe but also interact with tiny creatures

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