Invention & Innovation | Science News for Students

Invention & Innovation

A series made possible with generous support from the Lemelson Foundation

a woman testing her blood sugar on a hike

People with diabetes monitor their blood sugar to avoid organ damage. Many take drugs that affect insulin, a hormone that controls blood sugar. Researchers are exploring ultrasound as an alternative to those drugs.

AzmanJaka/E+/Getty Images Plus; adapted by L. Steenblik Hwang

Health
 
Oct 1, 2019
Ultrasound might become a new way to manage diabetes
a picture of a baby mannequin wearing a premie vest

A baby mannequin wears an invention designed to help sick babies breathe. Called NeoVest, it does away with the traditional mask and breathing tubes that get in the way of a baby feeding and bonding with its parents.  

St. Michael’s Hospital

Health
 
Sep 17, 2019
Tiny vest could help sick babies breathe easier
an illustration of an astronaut planting a plant in space

Plants loaded up with metal-organic frameworks, or MOFs, may be key to growing crops in the harshest environments, including space.

gorodenkoff/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Materials Science
 
Sep 3, 2019
High-tech crops may survive harsh conditions, even space
three surgeons operating on an unseen person

To reshape living tissue, surgeons usually cut into cells and stitch the wound. This type of surgery creates scars. A new, painless approach would damage few cells and might take only a few minutes.

andrei_r/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Technology
 
Aug 19, 2019
A new electric surgery tool may someday fix nose, ear and eye problems
a photo of a discarded styrofoam cup on the ground surrounded by plants

Unlike this Styrofoam cup, made from plastic, a new kind of foam is biodegradable.

tomschirtz/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Materials Science
 
Jun 24, 2019
Trees may become the key to ‘greener’ foam products
a photo of a group of green disk robots

Individually, each of these disks can only expand and contract in place. But together, when loosely connected by magnets, they can complete a task like moving toward a light.

Shuguang Li/Columbia Engineering

Robotics
 
Jun 3, 2019
This robot’s parts are helpless alone, but turn smart as they team up
a young boy smiling and sitting in wheelchair, he's wearing a blue hat

Chemotherapy can cause your hair to fall out and make you feel tired and sick. Delivering the chemo drugs inside nanoparticles could reduce these side effects by making sure the drug goes only to the cancer.

Steve Debenport/E+/Getty Images

Chemistry
 
May 6, 2019
Remote-controlled nanoparticles could fight cancer — gently
Afghan minefield

This sign in English and Arabic warns pedestrians that live land mines still litter this field in Afghanistan.

manxman/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Physics
 
Apr 30, 2019
Heat signatures help track down old and still deadly land mines
Kasper Moth-Poulsen shows off a solar collector

Kasper Moth-Poulsen shows off the solar collector his team used to test its liquid battery.

Johan Bodell/Chalmers University of Technology

Chemistry
 
Mar 29, 2019
Shape-shifting chemical is key to new solar battery
a photo of a porthole into an underwater habitat, fish are swimming past the round window

A new kind of glass can keep itself clean underwater. The key is microscopic pancake-shaped structures that let liquid flow between them.

ES3N/iStockphoto

Materials Science
 
Feb 11, 2019
A self-cleaning glass keeps itself spotless underwater