Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
- Tech
Think of this new tech as sunglasses for our windows
Keeping buildings cool can use a lot of energy. Thanks to quantum computing, engineers designed a coating to cut the warming light that enters windows.
- Climate
Creating less new stuff could greatly help Earth’s climate
Instead of throwing unneeded things away, scientists recommend moving to a cycle of reducing, reusing, repairing and remaking old things into new ones.
- Materials Science
Let’s learn about piezoelectric materials
Piezoelectric materials turn mechanical energy into electrical energy — and vice versa.
- Tech
New robot can pick up a single drop of liquid
The new device, which looks like a pair of plastic pinchers, is the first to be able to pick up individual droplets of liquid.
- Materials Science
Scientists Say: Hydrogel
Tangled polymer chains help hydrogels hold their shape despite being full of water.
- Environment
For a better brick, just add poop
Sewage sludge. Cow dung. They’re not just waste — scientists are finding uses for processed poop in construction materials.
- Physics
How salty does the sea have to be for an egg to float?
Some objects float on top of the ocean, and other objects sink to the bottom. Why? Try this eggs-periment to find out!
- Tech
Insect-inspired drones work together to 3-D print structures
For the first time, flying drones have 3-D printed structures. In the future, such drones might be able to build in hard-to-reach places.
- Tech
Underwater cameras get a new power source — sound!
Needing no batteries, a new digital camera can run almost continuously to offer new, deeper insights into the ocean world.
- Animals
Tiny bumps on polar bear paws help them get traction on snow
Super-small structures on the Arctic animals’ paws might offer extra friction that keeps them from slipping on snow, a new study concludes.
- Physics
Explainer: What is friction?
The force of friction always acts to slow things down. It depends on just two factors: the surfaces and how hard they press together.
- Plants
Why dandelions are so good at widely spreading their seeds
Individual seeds on a dandelion release most easily in response to winds from a specific direction. As the wind shifts, this scatters the seeds widely.
