Engineering Design
- Physics
Famous physics cat now alive, dead and in two boxes at once
Splitting Erwin Schrödinger’s famous — and fictitious — cat between two boxes brings scientists one step closer to building quantum computers from microwaves.
- Brain
Teen drinking may damage ability to cope with stress
Teens are often tempted to drink alcohol. Drinking too much — and repeatedly — can hurt their ability to manage stress, a study in rats indicates.
- Climate
Zapping clouds with lasers could alter Earth’s climate
Scientists zapped ice crystals in a lab. They were exploring whether this approach might be used to break those crystals in clouds — potentially as a way to cool Earth’s fever.
- Space
Biologist Kate Rubins is headed to space
Molecular biologist and astronaut Kate Rubins has spent 7 years preparing for a mission to the International Space Station. She blasts off this month.
- Computing
‘Couch potatoes’ tend to be TV-energy hogs
Many government programs urge people to save electricity by using more efficient TVs. Here’s why these programs should target “couch potatoes.”
- Planets
The ultimate getaway — visiting the Red Planet
At a recent summit, experts discussed the challenges of a human mission to Mars — and how to land a crew there within 20 years.
- Tech
Helping MS patients get a grip on things
An Irish teen has invented a device that helps people with multiple sclerosis address the “clenched fist” symptom that afflicts most such patients.
- Tech
Teen offers technology that could help brain surgeons
It can reproduce plastic models of the precise faulty vessels that need fixing. Now doctors can see them, hold them and practice on them long before they pick up a scalpel.
- Health & Medicine
Common plant could help fight Zika virus
A teen discovered that extracts from leaves of the San Francisco plant (Codiaeum variegatum) kill larvae of the mosquito that helps spread the Zika and dengue fever viruses.
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Teen gymnast finds how best to keep her grip
Unsatisfied with anecdotal opinions on which type of gymnastics chalk was best, a teen used science to find out for herself.
- Health & Medicine
Bed bugs have favorite colors
Bed bugs change their color preferences as they get older. Adults like red and black, which may help the dark bugs avoid predators.
- Tech
Where did that turbine blade get smacked?
A new technique can help engineers figure out where a bird or other object collided with a wind turbine or other whirling blade.
