Tech

  1. Tech

    Teens want to make windshield wipers obsolete

    Windshield wipers often can’t keep up with the rain. High-intensity air sprays might one day take their place, according to research by two teens.

    By Sid Perkins
  2. Health & Medicine

    Teens win big for pollution control and HIV detection

    Ah-choo! The 2015 Intel ISEF competition’s top winner designed a way to curb germs on planes. Two other big winners invented ways to detect HIV early and to corral oil spills at sea.

    By Sid Perkins
  3. Tech

    Stepping out with a smarter cane

    Many older people trip and fall on uneven ground. A Colorado teen has designed a ‘smart’ cane to help seniors avoid dangerous obstacles.

    By Bethany Brookshire
  4. Tech

    Making cents of sounds

    Some people give up when a vending machine rejects their money. But one student decided to turn his frustration into inspiration. Through research, he showed how to identify coins by the sounds they make.

    By Bethany Brookshire
  5. Health & Medicine

    Bones: Custom cushioning helps heal a bad break

    If the stiff casts encasing broken limbs included an inflatable air bladder instead of a soft lining, costly and painful complications experienced by some patients during healing might be avoided, two teens reported at the 2015 Intel ISEF competition.

    By Sid Perkins
  6. Brain

    Hands-free but still distracted

    When people aren’t distracted, they can see a traffic light change very quickly. But a teen scientist now shows that texting — even with a hands-free device — gets dangerously slow.

    By Bethany Brookshire
  7. Animals

    What’s the buzz? A new mosquito lure

    Broadcasting a fake buzz can lure male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes away from females. That could reduce populations of these annoying — and disease-causing — insects, reports a teen at the 2015 Intel ISEF competition.

    By Sid Perkins
  8. Archaeology

    Laser vision reveals hidden worlds

    From discovering ancient ruins to forecasting climate change, the laser mapping technology called lidar is changing many fields of science.

    By Stephen Ornes
  9. Tech

    Explainer: What are lidar, radar and sonar?

    Radar, sonar and lidar and are three similar technologies. Each relies on the echoing of waves — radio, sound or light waves — to detect objects.

    By Andrew Bridges
  10. Materials Science

    Cool Jobs: Big future for super small science

    Scientists using nanotechnology grow super-small but very useful tubes with walls no more than a few carbon atoms thick. Find out why as we meet three scientists behind this huge new movement in nanoscience.

    By Alison Pearce Stevens
  11. Physics

    News Brief: As timely as it gets

    A newly modified atomic clock won’t lose or gain a second for 15 billion years. This timepiece is about three times more precise than an earlier version.

    By Andrew Grant
  12. Earth

    Fracking wastes may be toxic, tests show

    Fracking operations have been polluting the environment. Some wastes have hormonal effects. Studies in mice now show that prenatal exposures to these wastes can trigger subtle but disturbing organ impacts.

    By Beth Mole