Engineering Design
- Health & Medicine
Do school-shooter drills hurt students more than they help?
There’s no set standard for shooter drills held at most U.S. schools. Experts are beginning to ask whether certain drills might hurt students more than they help.
- Chemistry
New spray gel moves drugs deep to treat frostbite
New gel spray sends healing ingredients deep into frostbite injuries to promote healing.
- Archaeology
3-D printing helps resurrect an ancient Egyptian mummy’s voice
A 3-D printed mold of a mummy’s vocal tract reveals what the mummy may sound like today.
- Physics
How to temporarily ‘fossilize’ a soap bubble
Here’s how to freeze a soap bubble in midair. Warning: The environment needs to be frosty, and even then it can take a certain amount of trial and error.
- Animals
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.
- Health & Medicine
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.
- Chemistry
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.
