MS-ETS1-1
Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.
- Materials Science
Tiny swimming robots may help clean up a microplastics mess
Big problem, tiny solution. Researchers in the Czech Republic have designed swimming robots that can help collect and break down microplastics.
- Tech
Headphones or earmuffs could replace needles in some disease testing
A new system that uses earmuffs to collect gases coming out the skin could help doctors diagnose a variety of diseases, scientists say.
- Climate
Warming cities may see more rain — and frequent flooding
Scientists are seeking to understand why and how to mop up excess precipitation.
- Climate
Stores and malls buy into ponds and rain gardens for flood control
An extra bonus: These rainy-day ponds clean up that dirty water running off parking lots.
- Chemistry
New glue offers to turn any small walking robot into Spider-Man
To climb walls, robot feet need to alternately stick and let go. A novel adhesive can do that. Its stickiness is controlled by electric fields.
- Brain
Father-son bond inspires sweets that model the shapes of molecules
These bite-sized gummy candies could spark interest in the world of chemistry, especially among students who can’t see.
- Health & Medicine
Will we all need COVID-19 booster shots?
Experts say not yet, but booster vaccines may be coming as new SARS-CoV-2 virus variants keep emerging.
- Chemistry
Sleep-friendlier lighting is on the way
Chemists have created a new glowing material for LEDs. It should lessen how much near-bedtime lighting impairs your ability to nod off.
- Animals
Mantis shrimp inspires somersaults of new soft robot
Its rolling acrobatics allow this robot to move especially swiftly — much as a fictional new Disney character can.
- Materials Science
‘Smart’ pasta morphs into fun shapes as it cooks
The trick to this shape-shifting are grooves cut into the raw pasta. Those grooves affect how the noodles swell as they cook.
- Animals
A common antibiotic might save some sick corals
The antibiotic amoxicillin stopped tissue death in corals for at least 11 months after treatment.
- Agriculture
New technologies might help keep drought-prone farms green
After learning how much damage drought can do to crops, two teens designed ways to detect a thirsty plant and make sure it gets enough water.
