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Engineering

Manu Prakesh spins his Paperfuge

New Research

How a Children’s Toy Could Help Fight Malaria

A 20-cent whirligig-like centrifuge could help doctors in remote regions diagnose disease

Was This Hidden Tunnel Used by the Knights Templar?

It’s unclear if the Knights Templar created the secret tunnel in Acre, Israel, as an escape route or a way to secretly export valuable items

A technique for implanting a 3D-printed "ear" with stem cells could revolutionize treatment for microtia patients.

New Research

Hear This, 2017: Scientists Are Creating New Ears With 3D-Printing and Human Stem Cells

Two decades after the “earmouse,” researchers have mastered a powerful technique for growing ears from fat-derived stem cells

Andreas Velten and his lab at the University of Wisconsin use this setup, complete with a fog chamber, to test their camera.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

This Camera Can See Around Corners

How a superfast, supersensitive camera could shake up automotive and exploration industries, as well as photography as we know it

Besides exceptional facial hair, what could these two gentlemen have in common?

Think Big

The Hidden Connections Between Darwin and the Physicist Who Championed Entropy

These magnificently bearded men both introduced a dose of randomness and irreversibility into the universe

Students of design at the Berlin Weissensee School of Art have prototyped a new device that tracks gestures in an amputated limb and translates them to computer commands.

This Digital Prosthesis Could Help Amputees Control Computers

Designers are developing a new device that tracks gestures in an amputated limb and translates them to computer commands, like scroll and click

The aftermath of the 1919 Great Molasses Flood

New Research

The Sticky Science Behind the Deadly Boston Molasses Disaster

Nearly 100 years after the massive molasses tank ruptured, scientists are finally sussing out how this tragedy occurred

In the team's new approach, the whole shape of the wing can be changed, and twisted uniformly along its length, by activating two small motors that apply a twisting pressure to each wingtip.

NASA’s New, Super-Efficient Airplane Wing Comes With a Twist

The agency and several universities have designed a flexible wing that could reduce the cost of building and fueling airplanes

Eric the robot stands tall once again

Cool Finds

Britain’s First Robot Lives Again

A recreation of the spark-spitting Eric the Robot is once again delighting audiences

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

Since diamonds are forever, your data could be, too.

New Research

New Method Could Store Massive Amounts of Data in Diamond Defects

Scientists use lasers to probe the gem’s flaws, creating data storage that could potentially last forever

Just look at that vampiric cutie.

How Bats Ping On the Wing—And Look Cute Doing It

Researchers reveal how bats turn echolocation signals into a 3-D image of moving prey

Silkworm cocoons

New Research

Feeding Silkworms Carbon Nanotubes and Graphene Makes Super-Tough Silk

A diet rich in graphene or carbon nanotubes causes the creatures to produce a fiber twice as strong as normal silk

New Research

Coming Soon: Otter-Inspired Wetsuits

A team at MIT has figured out exactly how otter and beaver fur keeps the animals warm in cold water

New Research

Watch This Faux Flower Bloom Thanks to Shape-Shifting Plastic

Researchers developed a new polymer that changes shape over time, which could lead to a new class of medical implants

The Innovative Spirit fy17

When the Inventor of the Diesel Engine Disappeared

Rudolf Diesel’s fate is still intriguing to this day

New Research

Watch Acoustic Holograms Create Complex Shapes and Levitate Droplets

These mesmarizing effects are created using only a plastic 3-D printed plate and speaker

Bicycle made by Raleigh in the 1980s in 893 pieces

The Innovative Spirit fy17

These Photos of Deconstructed Devices Reveal Their Hidden Beauty

Engineer-artist Todd McLellan finds marvel in blowing out the mundane

Cool Finds

After Two Years, Lost NASA Spacecraft Phones Home

Using the Deep Space Network, mission control has reestablished contact with the solar observatory STEREO-B

“Enneagon” features repeating crystalline-like shapes. “You think you understand a pattern, but if you zoom out or change your perspective, it changes,” Shlian says. Created in 2015, measures 48 x 48 inches.

Art Meets Science

These Mesmerizing Paper Sculptures Explore Nature’s Mirrored Structures

Artist Matt Shlian folds, cuts and glues paper to create faceted and curved works of art

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