Engineering Design
- Health & Medicine
Immune arms-race in bats may make their viruses deadly to people
An overactive immune system may help bats avoid being sickened by many viruses. This may viruses becoming stronger — and deadlier — when they hit other species.
- Health & Medicine
New success in treating allergies to peanuts and other foods
Nearly 8 million U.S. children have food allergies, about two per classroom. The good news: Better ways to treat them are emerging.
- Humans
Testing the power of touch
We pet dogs with our fingers, not our arms or backs. Our fingers are more sensitive to touch. But how do we know? Here's how you can test that.
- Materials Science
New twist can hush — even cloak — some sounds
Swiss engineers developed clear, spiral structures to make a new sound-dampening system. Those twists block some vibrations and lets others through.
- Animals
Drones might one day capture a dolphin’s breath in midair
High-speed footage of dolphin spray reveals that droplets blast upward at speeds close to 100 kilometers per hour.
- Math
Color-changing fibers help unravel a knotty problem
Experiments with colorful fibers helped scientists discover a few simple rules on why the strength of various types of knots differs.
- Health & Medicine
Your most urgent questions about the new coronavirus
Researchers have more questions than answers right now about 2019-nCoV. They’re racing to understand and stop the coronavirus and the health crisis it poses.
- Earth
Help for a world drowning in microplastics
Microplastic pollution in our oceans and lakes is a problem. Scientists are testing solutions — from more biodegradable recipes to nanotechnology.
- Materials Science
Here’s how to hide some objects from heat-sensing cameras
A special coating that conceals temperature information from heat-detecting cameras might someday be used as a privacy shield.
- Science & Society
A first: Kids advise hospital researchers on their medical studies
When the Mayo Clinic realized it was missing key voices, the hospital recruited kids to advise doctors about their research.
- Materials Science
Self-powered surface may evaluate table-tennis play
Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology built a 'smart' surface on which to play table tennis. It can track the location, speed and direction of the ball.
- Physics
Giving Notre Dame back her unique voice
A 2019 fire robbed Paris’ Notre Dame cathedral of more than her roof. She also lost her voice. Now scientists are using acoustics to return her unique soundscape.
