Computing
- Tech
Wired and weird: Meet the cyborg plants
By mixing electronics with greenery, engineers have made plants that conduct electricity, detect bombs and send email.
- Computing
When your stuff spies on you
More ordinary objects are going online. These make up the Internet of Things. But as they collect data about you and your world, they also bring security risks.
- Computing
The Internet of Things wants to link all facets of our world
The Internet of Things means everyday objects are becoming computers. Can people harness this technology to make the world better?
- Computing
How to build computer chips only 3 atoms thick
Scientists have engineered an ultrathin material only three atoms thick. The material could be used to make extremely slender computer chips.
- Physics
Explainer: How batteries and capacitors differ
Both batteries and capacitors can power electronic devices. Each, however, has different properties which may provide benefits — or limitations.
- Tech
Build the drone of your dreams
Drone fans can now use new computer software to design and ‘test’ their own customized flying machines before putting time and money into building them.
- Computing
LEDs offer new way to kill germs in water
Growing ultraviolet-light-emitting diodes on thin, flexible sheets of metal holds promise for water disinfection and other applications.
- Computing
Computer hackers take to the cloud
People use cloud computing for storing files online. A new study shows the dark side of the cloud: These services can harbor malware.
- Physics
Wind power gets downsized — but in a good way
Two young scientists have developed ways to tap into wind power on a small scale.
- Computing
Two numbers set a record — and not just for being book length
Twin primes are prime numbers that differ by just 2. The largest known twins have just been discovered — each 388,342 digits long!
- Tech
Star Trek technology becomes more science than fiction
On Star Trek, the characters used devices that seemed wild, futuristic and impossible. But those sci-fi gadgets are inspiring real-world, useful inventions.
- Science & Society
How computers get out the vote
Increasingly computers play a role in voting. Here’s why that concerns scientists, even as they acknowledge that computers may be increasingly essential.
