MS-PS1-3
Gather and make sense of information to describe that synthetic materials come from natural resources and impact society.
- Tech
Auto-focus eyeglasses rely on liquid lenses
Engineers have designed what could be the last eyeglasses anyone would need. Right now, they’re bulky but smart. Liquid lenses are key to their adjustability — and those lenses focus automatically.
- Animals
Cool Jobs: A world aglow
Three scientists probe how the natural world makes light, in hopes of using this information to design new and better products.
- Physics
How to chill an object by sending its heat into space
Researchers have designed a device that can cool an object by radiating its energy into outer space. Think of it as a solar panel in reverse.
- Tech
How to spin synthetic spider silk
A new method for spinning artificial spider silk combines parts of proteins from two species and mimics what happens in a spider’s silk-forming gland.
- Computing
How to build computer chips only 3 atoms thick
Scientists have engineered an ultrathin material only three atoms thick. The material could be used to make extremely slender computer chips.
- Computing
LEDs offer new way to kill germs in water
Growing ultraviolet-light-emitting diodes on thin, flexible sheets of metal holds promise for water disinfection and other applications.
- Physics
Weird physics warps nearby star’s light
Scientists have observed a bizarre effect of quantum physics in light coming from a nearby neutron star.
- Tech
Fingers leave tell-tale clues about you on your phone
Analyzing chemicals on a cell phone tells researchers what the caller had been up to. That includes recent meals and where they'd been.
- Materials Science
3-D printers offer better way to make some magnets
3-D printers produced magnets as strong as conventional ones with less material wasted.
- Tech
Star Trek technology becomes more science than fiction
On Star Trek, the characters used devices that seemed wild, futuristic and impossible. But those sci-fi gadgets are inspiring real-world, useful inventions.
- Health & Medicine
Why trans fats became a food villain
Trans fats are now known as a dietary villain. But in the beginning, scientists thought they were better than butter.
- Tech
‘Smart’ sutures monitor healing
Coatings added to the threads used to stitch up a wound let researchers use electrical signals to monitor a wound’s healing — even one covered by a bandage.
