Engineering Design
- Plants
Plant and fungi parts help robots level up
Fusing machines with plants and fungi isn’t just sci-fi. A new generation of biohybrid devices could someday help in agriculture or energy production.
- Computing
Explainer: What is the internet?
The internet is a massive structure made up of cables, routers, exchange points, data centers, cell towers, antennas and more. All sorts of devices share data using this network.
- Tech
Did builders of Egypt’s first pyramid use a water-powered elevator?
A controversial study suggests that ancient people might have used one to hoist the stones used to assemble into King Djoser’s pyramid.
- Space
Sci-fi inspired spacesuit recycles pee into drinking water
A spacesuit that collects and filters urine could prove a boon to future remote workers — even on Earth. Like the idea? Thank Dune.
- Physics
Aerodynamics involved in shooting hoops can make vehicles greener
Some ships host tall spinning cylinders that act like sails. Roughing the cylinders’ surface will greatly boost fuel efficiency, teen scientists find.
- Materials Science
A bit of electricity can glue hard metals to soft materials
Using this method to stick and unstick metals from soft materials could one day create new types of batteries.
- Genetics
A protein in sweat may protect people from Lyme disease
That protein stopped the disease-causing bacterium from growing in lab dishes or infecting mice.
- Tech
Bioelectronics research wins top award at 2024 Regeneron ISEF
Three grand-award winners each took home at least $50,000. Hundreds more teens shared more than $9 million in prizes at the international competition.
- Brain
Herbal medicine could help recovery after concussion
A finalist at Regeneron ISEF found that a plant native to China could supplement a common pain reliever that comes with unwanted side effects.
- Physics
The movie Frozen inspired the icy, 3-D printing of blood vessels
Ice guides a 3-D printing method to make realistic, artificial blood vessels. One day, such vessels could be used in lab-grown organs.
- Environment
To limit pollution, new recipe makes plastic a treat for microbes
Microplastics made from fossil fuels take centuries to disappear. But the plant- and algae-based plastic can break down in weeks to months.
- Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence is making it hard to tell truth from fiction
Experts worry that by making it harder to tell what’s true, AI can threaten people’s reputations, health, fair elections and more.
