Engineering Design

  1. Science & Society

    Students use STEM to help their community

    Every community has its problems. A nationwide contest encourages students to tap science to solve local needs.

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  2. Chemistry

    Urine may make Mars travel possible

    On Earth, urine is a waste. En route to Mars, it could be a precious renewable commodity: the source of drinking water and energy.

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  3. Physics

    World’s coolest ‘clock’ is also crazy-accurate

    This is the time to beat — the world’s most accurate atomic clock ever. At its heart is a ‘fountain’ of cesium atoms chilled nearly to absolute zero!

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  4. Teaching clean energy with the power of wind

    A build-your-own wind energy machine can be a fun and inexpensive way to practice engineering and discover the power of wind.

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  5. Physics

    Sending student science to space

    Two teachers describe how they worked with the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program to get middle-school scientists excited about research and space.

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  6. Physics

    Filter lets in only the right light

    Scientists have built a light filter that only permits light coming from one desired angle to pass through. Built from alternating layers of transparent materials, it could help minimize the glare in telescopes and cameras or boost the efficiency of solar cells.

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  7. Computing

    Intel STS finalist’s computer program models social life

    Ajay Saini has brought together math and computer science to show how habits spread within social groups. His new computer program could help promote healthy habits.

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  8. Health & Medicine

    Explainer: What are e-cigarettes?

    New battery-powered devices deliver nicotine, a dangerous and addictive drug.

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  9. Health & Medicine

    Intel STS finalist uses math to help the blind

    Intel Science Talent Search finalist Alec Arshavsky has built a computer program to help make sure people receive the right eye transplants to help reverse blindness.

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  10. Physics

    Laser tweezers grab nano bits

    An optical fiber, a bit of gold and a laser make up a new type of tweezers. Scientists may soon use it to pick up and move around individual viruses or proteins.

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  11. Tech

    Branching out for safer water

    Clean drinking water could be only a tree branch away, a new study finds.

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  12. Health & Medicine

    Intel STS finalist finds new flu fighters

    Intel Science Talent Search finalist Eric Chen used a computer simulation to narrow down chemical targets to fight influenza. The drugs that he identified could be the next big weapons against flu.

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