All Stories

Materials Science

Teen’s invention could help light up bikes at night

A teen researcher from Georgia has developed a light that could replace reflectors on bike wheels. Flexing tires provide all the power it needs.

Animals

Toss and slap — how dolphins disarm a dangerous meal

Octopus can be a deadly meal, especially if you don’t have hands to cut it up. But dolphins in Australia have figured out how to eat octopus without choking to death.

Brain

Analyze This: Sleep patterns vary widely across the world

Data on four very different groups of people show that sleep patterns vary based on the local environment, the culture and daily schedules.

Health & Medicine

This mix turns pink when sunscreen wears thin

Many people know to put on sunscreen. Remembering to put more on is harder. A teen invented an indicator that glows pink when it’s time to reapply.

Earth

Plastic trash rides ocean currents to the Arctic

Ocean currents can carry plastic trash far from the cities that shed it. Some plastic debris has made it all of the way to the Arctic Ocean, new data show.

Microbes

Tweaked germs glow to pinpoint buried landmines

Finding landmines could become much safer with a new technology. It uses genetically modified bacteria that glow under laser light.

Life

Scientists Say: Mitochondrion

Mitochondria are structures inside cells that converts certain chemicals into adenosine triphosphate — a molecule cells use as energy.

Tech

Teens garner some $4 million in prizes at 2017 Intel ISEF

Hundreds of teens collectively took home about $4 million in awards from the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair this week.

Materials Science

A better way to stop a bullet?

A teen researcher's tests suggest that fabric body armor might stop bullets better if it were woven using a three-fiber, triangular mesh instead of the typical two-fiber-mesh configuration.

Health & Medicine

Teens take on science in the age of smartphones

With nearly every teen using a smartphone, it’s no surprise teen scientists are studying them. Two teams do science with smartphones, one on procrastination, the other on self-esteem.

Earth

Some food-packaging pollutants mess with the thyroid

Chemical pollutants may hurt the ability of the thyroid gland to make an important hormone. Teens may be most at risk.

Agriculture

Sheep poop may spread poisonous weed

Fireweed is a poisonous plant in Australia. Sheep can eat it without hurting themselves. But a teen found those sheep may be spreading more weeds.