Articles

"You have students drowning in debt and scholarships that go unawarded. The system is broken," says Christopher Gray.

American Ingenuity Awards

Christopher Gray's Scholly App Is Bringing Millions of Dollars to College Students in Need

The entrepreneur's new digital platform has helped applicants land $50 million in scholarships

"I try to go into the personal stuff because I really believe that’s the most universal," says Aziz Ansari.

American Ingenuity Awards

With "Master of None," Aziz Ansari Has Created a True American Original

The star of the breakout television series brings the voice of his generation to the masses

Why Do Insects Hate the Smell of Peppermint?

The stick bug primarily depends on its camouflage to avoid predators. But when enemies get too close, this insect deploys peppermint as a last resort

The EcoHelmet is a foldable, recyclable helmet constructed of paper with a water-resistant coating.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

This Folded Paper Fans Out Into a Full-Size Bike Helmet

The EcoHelmet, this year's James Dyson Award winner, could be used by bike shares across the world

Author Steven Johnson looks at many of history's "artifacts of the future" that hinted at huge technological, scientific and cultural breakthroughs to come in his new book, Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

If Necessity Is the Mother of Invention, Then Play Is Its Father

In a new book, Steven Johnson argues that many inventions, considered mindless amusements in their time, wind up leading to serious innovations later

Sputnik Planitia is a 325,000-square-mile, ice-covered basin on Pluto.

How the Pull of an Icy “Heart” Sent Pluto’s Poles Wandering

Using New Horizons data, scientists determine that the erstwhile planet has a more dynamic past than we thought

As a professional falconer, Rosen has trained all of her birds, which now number close to a dozen. Her brood includes Ziggy, a hybrid prairie-gyrfalcon.

Why Winemakers are Turning to Falconry to Tackle Pests

Napa Valley vintners are finding this tried-and-true deterrent more effective than modern technology

"I am well acquainted with Gen.l W. who is a man of very few words but when he speaks it is on purpose [and] what I have often admired in him is he [has] always avoided saying anything of the actions in which he has engaged in the last war. [H]e is uncommonly modest, very industrious - prudent." Charles Willson Peale to Edmond Jennings, August 1775

The Strange Case of George Washington’s Disappearing Sash

How an early (and controversial) symbol of the American republic was lost to the annals of history

Behold: The World's Largest Radio Telescope

The Atacama Large Millimeter Array, located in the Atacama Desert, is the product of a 20-year global effort by Europe, North America, and East Asia

A statue of the former slave Clara Brown, who was born into slavery in 1800. She married and had four children, but the family was broken up and sold at auction.

Breaking Ground

In “Defending Freedom,” the Vanguards Who Refused to Be Suppressed Are Reunited

At the African American History Museum, this exhibition graphically conveys the trials and triumphs in the battle for Civil Rights

Sylvester James Gates, a theoretical physicist and voice for faith and science.

Think Big

Why Theoretical Physicist Sylvester James Gates Sees No Conflict Between Science and Religion

“I got used to the idea that questions had answers.”

How Pokémon Go Can Save Lives in a Hurricane

Players could mobilize by donating blood, filling sandbags and evacuating threatened areas

Why Was King Tut's Tomb Prepared in Such a Rush?

When archeologists discovered mold formations in King Tut's tomb, they worried the sweat and breath of tourists were the cause

The Field Museum's famed T-Rex Sue may be long dead, but she still requires a lot of TLC.

Preserve and Protect: How Paleontologists Care for Their Long-Dead, High-Maintenance Stars

Fossil collections are where the science of paleontology truly lives. Valuable dino bones must be treated accordingly

Female workers make wigs to be exported at a hair products factory in China's Sichuan province.

The Secret History of Buying and Selling Hair

Globalization hit the hair trade centuries ago, and the business is still thriving

In the team's new approach, the whole shape of the wing can be changed, and twisted uniformly along its length, by activating two small motors that apply a twisting pressure to each wingtip.

NASA’s New, Super-Efficient Airplane Wing Comes With a Twist

The agency and several universities have designed a flexible wing that could reduce the cost of building and fueling airplanes

Reptiles Can't Fly. But This One Glides Like a Pro

Draco, a type of lizard that lives in trees in Southeast Asia, has evolved flaps of skin on its flanks

Mustard gas from wars past is decaying in the world's oceans—but scientists don't yet know how dangerous it could be. Here, U.S. Navy ship prepare for scheduled deployment in the Pacific Ocean in 2014.

Chemical Weapons Dumped in the Ocean After World War II Could Threaten Waters Worldwide

How worried should we be? Chemists are racing the clock to find out

Payam Pourtaheri and Ameer Shakeel enjoy casual conversation with Radia Perlman, 2016 National Inventors Hall of Fame Inductee during the Meet the Experts session at 2016’s Collegiate Inventors Competition.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Could These College Inventors Tackle the Global Pesticide Problem?

Developed by a team of University of Virgnia students, AgroSpheres break down pesticide residues on crops hours after they are applied

ALMA Reveals Planets Born Earlier Than We Thought

In 2014, astronomer David Wilmer aimed the ALMA Array at a young star 450 light years away

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