Engineering Design
- Health & Medicine
Trio wins 2020 Nobel for discovery of hepatitis C
It took 50 years from discovery of hepatitis C to its cure. For their pivotal work in this area, three men will take home a 2020 Nobel Prize.
- Chemistry
How to recycle ‘nonrecyclable’ plastics
A new process can convert some nonrecyclable plastics into a type that now can be reused. That could greatly cut down on wastes sent to landfills.
- Brain
Confidence can make you miss important information
Being confident can feed a confirmation bias in us, new studies show. This bias can make your brain ignore other people’s ideas and any conflicting information.
- Health & Medicine
A glowing new way to measure antibodies
Researchers invent a way to detect and measure antibodies with glowing proteins. Antibodies can mark exposure to various diseases.
- Archaeology
Stonehenge enhanced voices and music within the stone ring
Scientists built a 'Stonehenge Lego' model in a sound chamber to study how sound would have behaved in the ancient stone circle.
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A dirty and growing problem: Too few toilets
As the famous book says, everybody poops. That’s 7.8 billion people, worldwide. For the 2.4 billion with no toilet, the process can be complicated.
- Chemistry
New solution for carbon dioxide: Turn it into ‘green’ fuel
Chemists have created a new way to convert carbon dioxide into ethanol. It might one day help remove excess CO2 — a greenhouse gas — from the air.
- Life
If bacteria stick together, they can survive for years in space
Tiny clumps of bacteria can survive at least three years in outer space. This raises the prospect of interplanetary travel by microbial life.
- Chemistry
Build ice towers with bottled water and ice
Pour out liquid water into a solid ice tower. We outline the conditions you’ll need to turn this demonstration into a super-cool experiment.
- Archaeology
Let’s learn about ancient technology
Ancient people didn’t have the internet. Instead, they performed surgeries, made weapons and built monuments with wood, stones, rope and fire.
- Brain
A secret of science: Mistakes boost understanding
Everyone makes mistakes. It turns out that how you view them says a lot about how — and how much — you’ll learn.
- Materials Science
Will bacterial ‘wires’ one day power your phone?
An accidental discovery helps scientists generate electricity out of thin —but humid — air with bacteria-made protein nanowires.
