Tech
- Physics
Filter lets in only the right light
Scientists have built a light filter that only permits light coming from one desired angle to pass through. Built from alternating layers of transparent materials, it could help minimize the glare in telescopes and cameras or boost the efficiency of solar cells.
- Computing
Intel STS finalist’s computer program models social life
Ajay Saini has brought together math and computer science to show how habits spread within social groups. His new computer program could help promote healthy habits.
- Tech
Branching out for safer water
Clean drinking water could be only a tree branch away, a new study finds.
- Computing
Teen wins $100,000 for flu advance
Forty talented high-school seniors competed in the 2014 Intel Science Talent Search this week, sharing $630,000 in prizes. Top prize went to a teen for his new approach to fighting flu.
- Tech
A 3-D printer prints a better life
3-D printing technology isn’t just for making toys. High school student Nick Parker is part of a group using their homemade printers to create mechanical hands for people who need them.
- Fossils
Reviving dinosaurs
With the help of computers, researchers are getting a pretty good idea of how these ancient creatures moved, walked and ate.
- Earth
Mining metals amidst seafloor animals
Miners may need to get their feet — and everything else — wet as they carefully seek out loads of copper and other valuable natural resources.
- Animals
Tag, you’re it!
Biologists now deploy a wide range of technologies to track animals. The data these experts collect reveal insights into the behavior of animals that spend much of their lives out of human eyeshot.
- Animals
Explainer: Tagging through history
What started as little metal bands have evolved into high-tech devices — some of which rely on satellites to share their findings.
- Physics
The ultimate wordfind puzzle
The world’s oldest library has books with hidden texts. Researchers are now using a high-tech approach to reveal their long-masked words.
- Computing
Wheelies: Computers help electric cars turn
Electric-car designers think they’ve found a way to replace the differential. Computer-controlled wheels and a bevy of electronic sensors now help take the place of old-school gears.
- Computing
Cool Jobs: Paid to dream
Some visionaries use science and engineering to see what our world could — and should — become
