Engineering Design
- Animals
How birds stay in the air
The sensors inside a boxy device measure the forces generated with each stroke of a bird’s wings. Learning how much force is needed to keep a bird aloft could help in designing future drones that flap, hover and dart.
- Brain
A new ‘spin’ on concussions
Scientists have suspected that rotational forces in the brain may underlie concussions. A new study used athletic mouthguards containing sensors. Data on head movements during collisions suggest that a twisting of the brain may underlie mild brain injuries, including concussion.
- Physics
Machine simulates the sun’s core
A machine heats iron atoms to temperatures that match the interior of the sun. This has helped solve a solar mystery.
- Health & Medicine
New germ fighter turns up in dirt
Scientists have found a compound in soil that can kill the microbes that cause anthrax, tuberculosis and other diseases.
- Computing
Virtual wounds: Computers probe healing
To better understand how the body heals wounds, scientists have begun creating computer programs that let virtual cells fight it out. These ‘computer games’ could lead to better medicines.
- Tech
Rewritable paper: Prints with light, not ink
Rewritable paper could save money, preserve forests and cut down on waste — and all without using any ink.
- Computing
Explainer: What is a computer model?
Computer models use data, math and computer instructions to predict events in the real world.
- Tech
Make your own mini hovercraft
Hovercraft aren’t just the cars of the future. You can make your own with just a few household items.
- Brain
Magnets may make helmets safer
Magnets in sports helmets could repel players’ heads as they move toward a collision. This should reduce the risk of the hard hits that lead to concussions.
- Genetics
Why animals often ‘stand in’ for people
Rats, birds, fish — even flies and worms — can stand in for people in laboratory testing. This allows scientists to safely evaluate harmful chemicals as well as to identify and test potential new drugs. But such tests will never be a foolproof gauge of effects in people.
- Tech
Wind power is looking up — to the clouds
Placing wind turbines high in the sky could let them harvest power from the faster, more reliable winds found at altitude.
- Planets
Picture This: Falling to a comet
After a more than decade-long ride, a robotic lander has left its spacecraft and floated down onto the surface of a comet. From there it should begin scouting for hints at how our solar system formed.
