Engineering Design

Health & Medicine

Scientists help amputees by getting on their nerves

Environment

Planting seeds for better plastic

Scientists are working to put the bio in plastics.

Physics

Explainer: How a synchrotron works

Giant magnets direct superfast light into beams up to 30 million times as bright as those produced by a laser pointer.

Tech

Crime lab

From accidents to crime scenes, scientists are helping detectives solve mysteries.

Tech

Inspired by nature

Researchers are applying lessons learned from butterflies, beetles, mussels, and other creatures to problems of human survival.

Tech

A taste for cheese

Researchers aim for cheese that is tastier, more nutritious, and easier to make than those now available.

Tech

Are propellers fin-ished?

The fins and flippers of penguins and other marine animals inspire new ways to propel watercraft.

Brain

A dog’s amazingly large vocabulary

A border collie named Rico recognizes a surprisingly large number of words.

Physics

Project music

From hard rock to country and classical, music comes into play in several award-winning science projects.

Tech

Drawing energy out of wastewater

Microbes in a fuel cell can generate electricity from plant and animal waste in water.

Space

Destination Mars

Sending mice into space is just one step toward putting astronauts on Mars.

Chemistry

Cooking up superhard diamonds

Popping diamonds into a high-pressure oven can make these hard minerals even harder.