Engineering Design

  1. Tech

    Bits of trees can make and store energy for us to use

    This cellulose and lignin, two major building blocks of trees, could lead to greener electronics.

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  2. Tech

    Bionic plants and electric algae may usher in a greener future

    Some can aid the climate by removing pollutants. Others would just avoid dirtying the environment in the first place.

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  3. Tech

    How to prevent the robot replication apocalypse

    Today’s bot-building robots aren’t set on world domination. But scientists and philosophers want to keep future tech in check.

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  4. Physics

    Experiment: How well do different materials create static electricity?

    Why are some materials more susceptible to static cling than others? Investigate by making your own electroscope.

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  5. Tech

    Engineers cook up a new way to tackle CO2: Make baking soda

    Engineers have found a material that can collect carbon dioxide from the air. When later mixed with water, it forms baking soda that can be shed in the sea.

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  6. Materials Science

    A new hydrogel could help pull drinking water from the air

    The salty gel absorbs more water from the air than similar gels, even in desert climates. This could provide clean water for drinking or farming.

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  7. Science & Society

    These teens are using science to make the world a better place

    Finalists in the 2023 Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge are doing projects that aim to help others.

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  8. Earth

    Analyze This: Tropical forests have gotten patchier

    Although many of the world's forests have gotten less fragmented since 2000, tropical forests have gotten more chopped up, putting animals at risk.

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  9. Tech

    New tech 3-D prints ouchless COVID-19 vaccine patches

    A new compact 3-D printer can produce COVID-19 vaccine patches. These are less painful than the jab and can be stored more easily than liquid vaccines.

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  10. Tech

    Talking through a tube can trick AI into mistaking one voice for another

    Researchers crafted tubes that can trick AI into mistaking one person’s voice for another’s. Bad guys could use such tricks to hack into accounts.

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  11. Animals

    Adult corals have been frozen and revived for the first time

    Living corals could be frozen for safekeeping. Scientists could later revive them to restore reef ecosystems that are withering in warming seas.

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  12. Tech

    AI can now turn blurry thermal vision into crisp images

    Even when it’s pitch black, the new imaging system can create clear images while also accurately gauging distances to objects.

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