Materials Science
- Tech
Pickleballs inspire a new way to reduce drag on vehicles
Dimples in a skin can be adjusted on demand to reduce drag or to steer where a vehicle goes.
- Physics
How polarized and UV-blocking sunglasses protect our eyes
Their filters can cut glare to help us see more clearly. The best ones also filter out the sun’s UV rays — even on cloudy days — to limit eye damage.
- Materials Science
This electric ‘slime’ might help injuries heal faster
Our bodies call in healing cells with an electrical signal. When stretched or squeezed, this gel makes electricity that could boost that alert.
- Materials Science
A beautiful blue butterfly wing offers a new way to study cancer
Once a morpho butterfly wing is placed atop a thin slice of tissue, shining polarized light through it can help reveal how likely breast cancer is to spread.
- Materials Science
This engineer uses light to get hearts pumping
Pengju Li designed a new type of pacemaker to help doctors during open-heart surgery.
- Microbes
Living lenses? Glass-coated microbes might take better photos
Bacteria with a gene from sea sponges can coat themselves in glass. Working as tiny, bendable lenses, they could lead to thinner cameras or sensors.
- Physics
This weird ice may exist on alien planets
Scientists used high pressure and heat to create plastic ice, which has qualities of both ordinary ice and liquid water.
- Materials Science
Orange food dye can temporarily turn skin transparent
When mixed with water and rubbed on the skin, a common food dye allows researchers to peer inside the body of a mouse.
- Materials Science
Experiment: How much water is needed to cook pasta?
In this cooking experiment, let’s find out if we can save time, energy and resources by boiling noodles in less water.
- Chemistry
Scientists Say: Absorb and Adsorb
These words sound and look a lot alike. But crucial differences lie in how they soak up that spill.
- Tech
Move over Iron Man, exoskeletons are getting real
Real-world wearable devices help people stay safe at work and accomplish everyday tasks.
- Materials Science
This teen materials scientist wants to save the Great Salt Lake
Thermo Fisher JIC finalist Sophia Zhang investigated hydrogels that might conserve water in farming — a big stressor of the lake’s water supply.
