Engineering Design
- Tech
A shape-shifting robotic tooth-cleaner might one day brush for you
A swarm of billions of magnetic, bacteria-killing nanoparticles can be shaped into bristles to fit any surface, including between teeth.
- Chemistry
Could we make vibranium?
The ‘perfect’ metal may belong to the fictitious Marvel world of Wakanda, but scientists hope to one day mimic some of its key traits.
- Materials Science
These fabrics change color as they stretch
Stretchy, color-shifting cloth may lead to new art, fashions and sensors. A century-old Nobel-prize-winning invention served as its inspiration.
- Animals
Sea creatures’ fishy scent protects them from deep-sea high pressures
TMAO’s water-wrangling ability protects a critter’s critical proteins — including muscle — from crushing under deep ocean pressures.
- Life
Let’s learn about modern Frankensteins
Modern scientists are creating strange new combinations of living tissue and trying to give dead things new life.
- Tech
Can computers think? Why this is proving so hard to answer
In 1950, Alan Turing proposed a test to tell a human from a computer. Today, that Turing test may tell us more about ourselves than about machines.
- Chemistry
Lego-like way to snap molecules together wins 2022 chemistry Nobel
This so-called ‘click chemistry’ allows scientists to build complex molecules in the lab and in living cells.
- Animals
Science is just starting to understand what animals feel
Animal-welfare researchers are studying the feelings and experiences of horses, octopuses and more.
- Physics
Experiments on ‘entangled’ quantum particles won the physics Nobel Prize
Three pioneers in quantum physics share the 2022 Nobel Prize in physics.
- Health & Medicine
Examining Neandertal and Denisovan DNA wins a 2022 Nobel Prize
Svante Pääbo figured out how to examine the genetic material from these hominid ‘cousins’ of modern humans.
- Fossils
Bizarre ancient critter has spines but no anus
The spiny discovery moves this minion lookalike off a distant limb on the human family tree.
- Tech
No trees were harmed to 3-D print this piece of wood
How clever! Scientists used print-speed adjustments to control how flat, 3-D printed shapes morph into complex wooden objects.
