Engineering Design
- Animals
Spidey sense: They can hear you!
Surprise! At least some spiders can hear us. Even without eardrums, jumping spiders can still detect airborne sounds from across the room.
- Oceans
Creative ways to help coral reefs recover
Coral reefs are under siege from threats ranging from climate change to explosives. But scientists are developing ways to rebuild reefs before they disappear.
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Teen gets fired up about Christmas tree safety
A deadly Christmas tree fire inspired one teen to study how a tree’s moisture level affects how easily it will ignite and burn.
- Tech
Water sensor quickly detects algal poison
A new sensor can detect poisons from harmful algae within minutes so that drinking-water plants can start timely treatments.
- Climate
Cool Jobs: Wet and wild weather
How’s the weather? Forecasts rely on scientists and engineers who collect and interpret data gathered on the ground, in the sky and way up in space.
- Brain
Cool Jobs: Video game creators
Meet an engineer who worked on StarCraft II, an expert building a new kind of reality and a neuroscientist who uses games as brain therapy.
- Chemistry
Chemistry Nobel honors pioneers of world’s smallest machines
Three chemists are being honored with a Nobel Prize for their pioneering work creating itty bitty machines, including a microscopic ‘nanocar.’
- Tech
Hot, hot, hot? New fabric could help you stay cool
A plastic fabric can let body heat escape efficiently, if the material is filled with tiny bubbles of just the right size
- Health & Medicine
Why trans fats became a food villain
Trans fats are now known as a dietary villain. But in the beginning, scientists thought they were better than butter.
- Plants
Houseplants suck up air pollutants that can sicken people
Certain indoor air pollutants can sicken people. But some houseplants can remove those chemicals from a room’s air, new data show.
- Tech
One day, computers may decode your dreams
Scientists are learning how to translate brain activity into words and thoughts. This may one day allow people to control devices with their minds.
- Brain
Explainer: How to read brain activity
Electricity underlies the chattering of brain cells. Here’s how scientists eavesdrop on those conversations.
