Tech
- Chemistry
New coating for metals could cut engine wear
Scientists have developed a new coating for engine parts that could reduce friction and engine wear. One big benefit: Cars may require fewer oil changes.
- Brain
Cool Jobs: Video game creators
Meet an engineer who worked on StarCraft II, an expert building a new kind of reality and a neuroscientist who uses games as brain therapy.
- Chemistry
Chemistry Nobel honors pioneers of world’s smallest machines
Three chemists are being honored with a Nobel Prize for their pioneering work creating itty bitty machines, including a microscopic ‘nanocar.’
- Tech
Hot, hot, hot? New fabric could help you stay cool
A plastic fabric can let body heat escape efficiently, if the material is filled with tiny bubbles of just the right size
- Brain
One day, computers may decode your dreams
Scientists are learning how to translate brain activity into words and thoughts. This may one day allow people to control devices with their minds.
- Brain
Explainer: How to read brain activity
Electricity underlies the chattering of brain cells. Here’s how scientists eavesdrop on those conversations.
- Computing
Self-designed tattoos are fashionable technology
Researchers have created do-it-yourself temporary tattoos. They’re a fashion-forward way to control electronic devices.
- Health & Medicine
‘Smart’ sutures monitor healing
Coatings added to the threads used to stitch up a wound let researchers use electrical signals to monitor a wound’s healing — even one covered by a bandage.
- Animals
Beetles offer people lessons in moisture control
Taking tricks from a beetle, researchers are designing surfaces that collect water from the air or resist frost buildup.
- Health & Medicine
Nano medicines take aim at big diseases
Nanomedicines are new treatments and tools that are taking aim at disease from the cellular level. Medicine’s next big thing could be very teeny tiny.
- Computing
Moral dilemma could limit appeal of driverless cars
Driverless cars will have to be programmed to decide who to save in emergencies — passengers or pedestrians. Many people aren’t yet sure they are ready to choose cars that make the most moral decision.
- Computing
Clear, stretchy sensor could lead to wearable electronics
Researchers have combined plastics and metal to make a transparent, stretchable sensor. It could soon find use in touchscreens, wearable electronics and more.
