Special Report

Innovation for Good

A look at the researchers, inventors and community leaders who are bringing creativity and ingenuity to today's biggest challenges

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Benjamin Choi was one of the top 40 finalists of this year's Regeneron Science Talent Search, the country's oldest and most prestigious science and math competition for high school seniors.

This High Schooler Invented a Low-Cost, Mind-Controlled Prosthetic Arm

Reseachers tested out the backpack dubbed KNaCK in a volcanic field in New Mexico, and are hoping the tech can support astronaunts on future lunar missions.

Lunar Backpack Could Aid Astronauts on Future Missions to the Moon

Black-legged ticks, also called deer ticks, carry a variety of diseases that can be passed to humans.

Scientists Edit Tick Genes for the First Time

Health

Taste testers involved in a recent study preferred chocolate that shattered in their mouth.

Have Scientists Designed the Perfect Chocolate?

Aseel Rawashdeh's innovation won sixth place in this year's Regeneron Science Talent Search, the country's most prestigious and oldest science and math competition for promising young scientists in their senior year.

This Teenager Found a Way to Control Mosquitoes Using Essential Oils and Baker's Yeast

Elizabeth Gamillo

Biotech firm Oxitec is genetically modifying mosquitoes in the hopes of curbing the overall population. The company completed its first open-air release of the bugs in Florida.

First U.S. Open-Air Test of Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Deemed a Success

Environment

Zeolite, a clay material found in kitty litter, may be the next tool to help reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Minerals Used in Kitty Litter Could Help Fight Climate Change

Margaret Osborne

The cyanobacteria system runs using sunlight and water.

Researchers Use Algae to Power a Computer for Months

Margaret Osborne

The plants in lunar soil were compared to a control group of plants grown in volcanic ash and a lunar soil simulant known as JSC-1A. The lunar samples on the right do not appear as developed as the control samples grown in volcanic ash on the left.

Scientists Prove That Plants Can Grow in Soil From the Moon

Elizabeth Gamillo

Education

Oreo cookies helped inspire a new field of study coined "Oreology" by researchers at MIT.

Why MIT Researchers Are Studying Oreos

Archaeologists and members of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe worked together on the project, which revealed the longstanding genetic roots of the region's Native peoples.

This Native American Tribe Wants Federal Recognition. A New DNA Analysis Could Bolster Its Case

It’s shocking how many everyday inventions we use without acknowledging the inventors that helped bring them to us.

Five Women Inventors You Didn't Learn About in History Class

Carmen Borca-Carrillo