All Stories by Stephen Ornes
- Physics
Raindrops break the speed limit
Raindrops shouldn't be able fall faster than what is known as their terminal velocity. But no one told the rain. Researchers have found droplets breaking that speed limit.
- Tech
Drones put spying eyes in the sky
From keeping tabs on changing landscapes to protecting animals from poachers, scientists are using drones to push their fields forward.
- Physics
Escape from a lab-built black hole
In the 1970s, physicist Stephen Hawking suggested that some particles could escape a black hole. An experiment now shows how, using a lab-made black hole ‘made’ from sound.
- Environment
Cleaning with greens
Cleaning up toxic waste is a big and expensive problem. Scientists have tinkered with the genes in some plants. Now those greens can take on this dirty work. Still, they're not quite ready for prime time.
- Humans
Stone Age stencils: Really old art
Scientists thought that cave art started in Europe. New analyses now dash that assessment. Stencils in an Indonesian cave are every bit as old as the better-known drawings in caves in France and Spain.
- Chemistry
Sunlight might have put oxygen in Earth’s early air
High-energy bursts of ultraviolet light can break apart carbon dioxide, yielding oxygen gas. The experiment may mimic what happened on Earth billions of years ago.
- Health & Medicine
Strong body helps the mind
Study finds new link between the body and brain in mice and may help explain how exercise heals.
- Chemistry
Space cloud may hold clue to life’s origins
Scientists probing a cloud of dust and gas some 26,000 light-years away found a chemical with a structure resembling molecules critical for all life on Earth.
- Health & Medicine
Artificial sweeteners may evict good gut microbes
People use saccharin and other artificial sweeteners to try to stay healthy. A study now suggests such sweeteners might actually cause harm by encouraging the wrong bacteria to grow in our guts.
- Tech
Squishy robot propelled by ka-pow!
This is not your average robot. It flies through the air, propelled by an explosion in one of its arms. It could prove useful in disaster areas or war zones.
- Fossils
Early dino-era start for modern mammals
Fossils of an extinct group of rodent-sized mammals suggest they were related to modern mammals. These ancient remains push back the origin of mammals by many millions of years.
- Computing
3-D printers are making cars!
3-D printing technology makes it possible to print anything — even a car. A team of engineers designed the Strati and then printed the electric cars at events in Chicago and New York.
