Electricity

Purdue University's INSPIRE Research Institute for Pre-College Engineering tests toys for how well they develop STEM skills in kids.

Gift Guides

Engineers Pick the Ten Best STEM Toys to Give as Gifts This Year

These expert-approved gifts teach robotics, coding and engineering thinking through stories and play

Franklin believed a turkey killed with electricity would be tastier than one dispatched by conventional means: decapitation.

When Benjamin Franklin Shocked Himself While Attempting to Electrocute a Turkey

The statesman was embarrassed by the mishap—no doubt a murder most fowl

The Van Gogh bike path in Eindhoven is inspired by the artist’s painting The Starry Night. Similar glow-in-the-dark paths and roads could eventually save energy for lighting while cooling cities.

Will Glow-in-the-Dark Materials Someday Light Our Cities?

Substances that persistently luminesce could be used in streets, sidewalks and buildings

LifeLab Design's WarmLife vests are 30 percent warmer than clothing of comparable weight and bulk.

Innovation for Good

This Apparel Company Wants to Have a Profound Effect on Your Energy Use

LifeLabs Design was founded by a pair of Stanford professors who have developed fabrics capable of cooling and warming the wearer

Poland's coal-fired Belchatow Power Station released 38 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in 2018.

New Research

Just 5 Percent of Power Plants Release 73 Percent of Global Electricity Production Emissions

Targeting the world's worst emitters could offer disproportionate benefits when it comes to fighting climate change

This wearable sensor harvests sweat from the fingertips to generate the electricity it needs to measure things such as heart rate and blood-sugar.

Innovation for Good

New Wearable Medical Sensors Run on Fingertip Sweat

The slim, flexible device could measure blood glucose or heart rate without the need for batteries

Researchers simulated how colliding dust particles imitating a dust storm on the red planet may emit tiny violet flickers of electricity known as triboelectrification, or static charges.

Dust Storms on Mars May Sparkle and Glow at Night

Martian dust clouds may create miniature statically-charged sparks, which could help researchers further understand the planet's atmosphere

The "jaws" of the carnivorous Venus flytrap plant are actually modified leaves.

New Research

Magnetic Fields Detected in Venus Flytraps

Researchers used sensitive instruments to measure weak magnetic fields when the flytrap's 'jaws' closed up

New high-speed footage settles a controversy over how electric charges make the connection that leads to bolts of lightning.

New Research

Super High-Speed Footage Captures the Moment a Lightning Bolt Forms

The video shows the electricity reaching from the sky and up from a lightning rod until a thin connection appears

Artist's rendering of blue jet lightning blasting from a storm cloud towards space. The International Space Station solar panels can be seen in the foreground.

New Research

Mysterious Blue Jet Lightning Seen From Space

Researchers captured an instance of this poorly understood type of lightning using instruments aboard the International Space Station

Lightning strikes over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida.

Why Are Lightning 'Superbolts' More Common Over the Ocean?

Salt seems to be the reason why bolts are brighter over seas than over land

Jack Yoast, Ambler, Pennsylvania

Eight Elaborate Christmas Displays Across America—and the People Behind Them

In her new book, photographer Danelle Manthey captures a distinct type of American folk art: Christmas light decoration

Let your off-grid home take shape in whatever form best fits your new, adventurous lifestyle.

How to Set Up an Off-the-Grid Getaway

Need a change of scenery? A quiet spot away from crowds? Here are some tips for rigging a remote escape with the bare necessities

Common wisdom tells us that lightning strikes the tallest thing in an open area—so are giraffes at a greater risk of lightning strikes than other animals?

Are Giraffes Doomed to Be Struck by Lightning Because of Their Height?

A recent pair of giraffe deaths sparked the question

Death Valley National Park saw a record-breaking 130 degrees Fahrenheit on August 16. The measurement might be the hottest temperature recorded on Earth since at least 1913, according to the National Weather Service.

Coalition Calls for Naming Heat Waves Like Hurricanes

The group’s climate and health experts say naming and categorizing extreme heat events could save lives

Isle au Haut thoroughfare

A Tiny Island Off the Coast of Maine Could Be a Renewable Energy Model for the Rest of the World

Remote Isle au Haut is integrating time-tested technology with emerging innovations to create its own microgrid

Rust film could be used to cover buoys to generate power for scientific equipment at sea, or on bridges to create electricity for nearby structures.

Could a Rusty Bridge Generate Electricity?

New research shows that water flowing over thin layers of rust can generate power

Trending Today

This Company Is Using Vintage Seaplanes in Their Quest to Become the First All-Electric Airline

Vancouver-based Harbour Air will soon outfit its classic seaplanes with battery-powered aviation motors

The night sky from the Upper West Side of Manhattan glows blue after mishap at Queens facility run by Con Edison.

Electric Arc Caused New York Skyline to Glow Blue

No, it wasn’t an alien invasion

The Patents Behind Christmas Lights

This Christmas, take a moment to appreciate the many innovations that make holiday light displays and the strand of bulbs on your tree possible

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