Engineering Design
- Tech
Space trash could kill satellites, space stations — and astronauts
As private companies prepare to sprinkle space with tens of thousands of satellites, experts worry about the mushrooming threat of space junk.
- Animals
A new drug mix helps frogs regrow amputated legs
The treatment helped frogs grow working limbs useful for swimming, standing and kicking. It’ll be a while before people can do that.
- Physics
Wild art? No, it’s a radio image of the heart of our Milky Way
Eyelash-like radio filaments accent the brightest feature in this image — a supermassive black hole.
- Chemistry
Clothes dryers may be a major source of airborne microplastics
Scientists thought washing machines were a leading contributor of microplastics. Now it appears dryers may be an even bigger problem.
- Physics
Analyze This: Masks cut the distance that spit droplets fly
Both cloth masks and surgical masks reduced the distance spit traveled from a person talking or coughing by at least half, compared with no mask.
- Animals
DNA in air can help ID unseen animals nearby
Analyzing these genetic residues in air offers a new way to study animals. It could give scientists a chance to monitor rare or hard to find animals.
- Animals
Living mysteries: Why teeny-weeny tardigrades are tough as nails
Tardigrades often live in cool, damp moss. Their cushy life has somehow prepared them to survive the lethal radiation of outer space.
- Brain
Nodding off may turn your creativity on
In an experiment, people who fell into a shallow sleep were more likely than non-sleepers or deep sleepers to discover a sly math trick.
- Ecosystems
Recycling a climate-warming gas could make ‘greener’ farmed fish
Instead of warming the climate, methane gas can be collected to help farmers. Along the way, it may also save some fish.
- Tech
This crumb-sized camera uses artificial intelligence to get big results
Researchers have developed a camera the size of a coarse grain of salt that takes amazingly clear photos.
- Life
In blazing heat, some plants open leaf pores — and risk death
When heat waves and droughts collide, water is precious. Some thirsty plants try to cool off by opening tiny pores — only to lose water even faster.
- Physics
Explainer: Telescopes see light — and sometimes ancient history
Different kinds of telescopes on Earth and in space help us to see all wavelengths of light. Some can even peer billions of years back in time.
