invention
Immersive technology will revolutionize everything from theme parks to daily life
Virtual reality continues to blur the line between the physical and the digital, and it will change our lives forever.
How a “flying circus” gave us the first aerial maps of Earth
Thomas Baldwin's Airopaidia (1786) includes the earliest sketches of the earth from a balloon.
Sorry, the EmDrive doesn’t work
The EmDrive turns out to be the "um..." drive after all, as a new study dubs any previous encouraging EmDrive results "false positives."
U.S. Navy controls inventions that claim to change “fabric of reality”
Inventions with revolutionary potential made by a mysterious aerospace engineer for the U.S. Navy come to light.
A brand-new blue may be the most eye-popping blue yet
Meet a spectacular new blue—the first inorganic new blue in some time.
Scientists use chaos to build the optimal laser beam
Researchers find a way to distort laser light to survive a trip through disordered obstacles.
Japanese researchers hope to launch a satellite made of wood in 2023
The satellite would burn instead of becoming more space debris.
MIT’s extremely precise new atomic clock can help detect dark matter
Researchers from MIT invent a highly accurate clock using quantum entanglement that can lead to new physics.
New tech turns space urine into plant fertilizer
An important step toward figuring out our space station future.
This ‘brine electrolyzer’ can mine oxygen, hydrogen from water on Mars
Scientists at Washington University are patenting a new electrolyzer designed for frigid Martian water.
Stanford engineers develop new light and sound tech to finally map the ocean floor
A clever new design introduces a way to image the vast ocean floor.
Diamonds have been created at room temperature in a lab
Australian researchers figure out a new way to apply extreme pressure and squeeze out diamonds.
Skyborne whales: The rise (and fall) of the airship
Can passenger airships make a triumphantly 'green' comeback?
Tiny parasite-like robots are the future of pain relief
Researchers design microdevices that can gradually deliver medicine by latching on to intestines.
Chemists propose spinach as a better, cheaper battery catalyst
While it's always been a boon to Popeye's "muskles," it looks like spinach may also have a role to play in clean future batteries.
Ultracold gas exhibits bizarre quantum behavior
New experiments find weird quantum activity in supercold gas.
Scientists use ‘acoustic tweezers’ to move particles in Petri dishes hands-free
New prototype Petri dishes let ordinary scientists in on the advanced technology.
Scientists blow away sticky moon dust with electrons
Dust sticking to things on the moon is a serious problem researchers are trying to solve.
Nano diamond batteries could last thousands of years
Utilizing nuclear waste converted to diamonds, this company's batteries will reportedly last thousands of years in some cases.
Quantum particles timed as they tunnel through a solid
A clever new study definitively measures how long it takes for quantum particles to pass through a barrier.
Virgin Galactic uses space tech to create new supersonic jet
The space tourism company Virgin Galactic teams up with Rolls Royce to create a new Mach 3 supersonic aircraft.
New bandages turn color to identify an infected wound
Smart bandages quickly identify antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and normal bacteria, in owies.
A new device generates energy from shadows
By leveraging the difference between lit and shadowed areas, a new energy source perfect for wearables is invented.
Ask an astronomer: What makes neutron stars so special?
Astrophysicist Michelle Thaller talks ISS and why NICER is so important.
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Scientists create single-atom devices to supercharge computers
Researchers devise groundbreaking new methods to create and duplicate single-atom transistors for quantum computers.
Space exploration is the ultimate plan B. Here’s why.
Why did the dinosaurs go extinct? Because they didn't have a space program.
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As the inventor of copy and paste dies, here are other computing innovations we take for granted
He's also credited by some as having coined the phrase "user-friendly."
Stanford scientists engineer a ‘smart toilet’ that checks your health
The smart toilet can analyze urine and stool samples for disease markers and can even recognize an individual user's "analprint".
New nuclear fusion reactor design may be a breakthrough
Using permanent magnets may help to make nuclear fusion reactors simpler and more affordable.