Engineering Design
- Physics
A contrast between shadows and light can now generate electricity
A new device exploits the contrast between bright spots and shade to produce a current that can power small electronics.
- Animals
Toxic germs on its skin make this newt deadly
Bacteria living on the skin of some rough-skinned newts make tetrodotoxin. This paralyzing poison is also found in pufferfish.
- Health & Medicine
Common drug, dexamethasone, appears first to cut COVID-19 deaths
A drug used for decades to treat inflammation now appears useful in saving the lives of severely ill COVID-19 patients — ones who have trouble breathing.
- Health & Medicine
Deadly heat: Expected by century’s end, it’s here already
Instances of hot and humid conditions that threaten human lives are on the rise.
- Materials Science
Silk-based microneedles may help treat diseased plants
Engineers have invented silk microneedles to inject medicines into plants. One day farmers might use drones to dart their sick plants with meds from the air.
- Materials Science
Astronauts may be able to make cement with their own pee
Lunar dust and a compound found in urine might one day be used to build future dwellings on the moon, a new study finds.
- Health & Medicine
Waiting for a ‘smart’ toilet? It’s nearly here
With every bathroom visit, we flush away important health data. Scientists hope to change that with 'smart toilets' that analyze your body’s output.
- Health & Medicine
Coronavirus lockdowns may have avoided 531 million infections
Studies find big benefits from global coronavirus lockdowns. More than a half a billion of the potentially deadly infections appear to have been avoided.
- Animals
This tube worm’s glowing slime may help sustain its own shine
Snot oozed by a marine tube worm can glow for up to 3 full days. The secret of how this works might lead to long-lasting lights that glow on and on.
- Science & Society
A first: Commercial rocket takes humans into space
Two NASA astronauts aboard the privately built Crew Dragon capsule are the first to be sent into orbit from U.S. soil since 2011.
- Life
Planets with hydrogen skies could harbor life
Microbes can live in a hydrogen atmosphere. This points to new space worlds that host alien life.
- Earth
Fossil fuels appear to release far more methane than we thought
Ice cores reveal less methane than expected. This suggests today’s fossil fuel industry is responsible for nearly all of the methane emissions from natural sources today.
