Science

Checking the Claim: FiberFix is 100 Times Stronger Than Duct Tape

A company shows how its new product can make a broken shovel as good as new

A representation of a virtual monkey, whose arms can be manipulated by a real monkey in a new brain-machine interface—the first interface that allows for the control of multiple limbs.

A New Interface Lets Monkeys Control Two Virtual Arms With Their Brain Alone

The interface is the first that can control multiple limbs—a technology that marks another step toward full mobility for paralyzed people

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What Is a Species? Insight From Dolphins and Humans

More than 70 definitions exist for what makes a species--each is applied to a different group of organisms & uses different methods for determining a label

This Blowtorch Creates a Flame Using Water

Researchers say the SafeFlame is gentler, cleaner and only leaves behind water

Okeanos: A Performance Where Dancers Move Like Octopuses and Seahorses

Jodi Lomask, director of the dance company Capacitor, has choreographed an ocean-inspired show, now at San Francisco's Aquarium of the Bay

Lady Gaga and a gametophyte of one of the fern species named after her.

Why Do We Keep Naming New Species After Characters in Pop Culture?

Why are ferns named after Lady Gaga and microbes named after sci-fi monsters?

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This Year's Best Photographs Taken Through the Lens of a Microscope

Who knew a turtle's retina could be so beautiful?

A Romanian Scientist Claims to Have Developed Artificial Blood

A true blood substitute can be a major breakthrough that can save lives. Testing out a batch, however, can be a problem

A new analysis indicates that 22% of Sun-like stars harbor planets roughly the size of Earth in their habitable zones.

There Are Probably Way More Earth-Like Exoplanets Than We Imagined

A new analysis indicates that 22 percent of Sun-like stars may harbor planets roughly the size of Earth in their habitable zones

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Update: November 22

She's 10.8 pounds and responding to sound. Read More »

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Richard Kurin on the Importance of Pandas

Biochar

Energy Innovation

Carbon-Negative Energy Is Here! This Device Makes Clean Energy and Fertilizer

A Berkeley startup's new spin on an old fuel-producing technology is a win-win for the environment

What fMRI Can Tell Us About the Thoughts and Minds of Dogs

One neuroscientist is peering into the canine brain, and says he's found evidence that dogs may feel love

A New App Turns Fractals Into Ornate Art

With Frax, users can create mathematically-driven art, adding color, depth and texture to geometric shapes

Can cameras read what’s going on in a second grader’s mind?

Can Facial Recognition Really Tell If a Kid Is Learning in Class?

Inventors of software called EngageSense say you can tell if kids are engaged in class by analyzing their eye movements

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Why the Oral Contraceptive Is Just Known as “The Pill”

A new birth control method gave women unprecedented power and revolutionized daily life

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The Science Behind Why Pandas Are So Damn Cute

There’s a reason why millions adore these furry exemplars of China’s “soft power”

Author David Sibley writes in our 101 Objects Special Issue: As a young man John James Audubon was obsessed with birds, and he had a vision for a completely different kind of book. He would paint birds as he saw them in the wild "alive and moving," and paint every species actual size. He travelled the U.S Frontier on foot and horseback seeking birds of every species known to science. He wrote of his time in Kentucky, around 1810, "I shot, I drew, I looked on nature only; my days were happy beyond human conception, and beyond this I really cared not." As Jonathan Rosen points out in The Life of the Skies, these paintings promoted a romantic vision of the wilderness of the New World, to be viewed by people who would never see these birds in real life. Perhaps that is one reason Audubon found more success in England than in the young United States, and why his work still holds its appeal today, as the wilderness he knew and loved recedes further into the past. Read more of Sibley's essay.

How James Audubon Captured the Romance of the New World

An amateur naturalist’s unparalleled artworks still inspire conservationists and collectors alike

PicoBrew Zymatic

Can Brewing Beer Be as Simple as Brewing Coffee?

Inventor Bill Mitchell is developing the PicoBrew Zymatic, an appliance that brews beer at the touch of a button

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Explore Mars’ Mountains and Canyons from a Probe’s-Eye View

Using ten years of data from their probe, the European Space has created a lifelike flyover simulation of the red planet

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