By rocket, drone, and giant centrifuge, humans are getting better at hurling just about anything into space. There's a Tesla Roadster cruising around somewhere...
Few recognize the vast implications of materials science.
To build today’s smartphone in the 1980s, it would cost about $110 million, require nearly 200 kilowatts...
Life demands flux.
Every living organism is constantly changing: cells divide and die, proteins build and disintegrate, DNA breaks and heals. Life demands metabolism—the simultaneous...
Our eyes are only attuned to a narrow band of possible wavelengths for electromagnetic radiation, between around 390-700 nanometers. If you could see the...
Since graphene was first isolated in 2004, a Nobel Prize-winning feat that sparked a whole new exciting field of materials science research, 2D materials...
UK nanotechnology company, Surrey NanoSystems, has created what they say is the darkest material known to man. Vantablack consists of a dense forest of...
Small cracks that develop within the fiberglass bodies of modern cars and planes can quickly turn into irreversible damage, which undermines their structural integrity. Unfortunately, the materials...
An industrial 3D printer hums to life at bicycle maker, Trek. The designers are prototyping a new hand grip of soft rubber layered over a core of hard plastic. Traditionally, the print job would require the designers to switch print nozzles and materials or to compromise the design to speed things along. However, Trek is one of the first firms to employ the multi-material, color Stratasys Objet500 Connex3 3D printer. And their new grip can go from design to printed prototype in a single step.
COMPUTING
The Best Qubits for Quantum Computing Might Just Be Atoms
Philip Ball | Quanta
"In the search for the most scalable hardware to use for quantum...
Black holes are known for ferocious gravitational fields. Anything wandering too close, even light, will be swallowed up. But other forces may be at...
The human genetic blueprint is deceptively simple. Our genes are tightly wound into 46 X-shaped structures called chromosomes. Crafted by evolution, they carry DNA...
Steam locomotives clattering along railway tracks. Paddle steamers churning down the Murray. Dreadnought battleships powered by steam engines.
Many of us think the age of...
TECH
These Companies Have a Plan to Kill Apps
Julian Chokkattu | Wired
"Everyone wants to kill the app. There’s a wave of companies building so-called app-less...
Proteins are social creatures. They’re also chameleons. Depending on a cell’s needs, they rapidly transform in structure and grab onto other biomolecules in an...
COMPUTING
Nvidia Hardware Is Eating the World
Lauren Goode | Wired
"Talking to Jensen Huang should come with a warning label. The Nvidia CEO is so invested in where AI is headed...
Children are natural scientists. They observe the world, form hypotheses, and test them out. Eventually, they learn to explain their (sometimes endearingly hilarious) reasoning.
AI,...
We’ve all been more aware of lung health since Covid-19.
However, for people with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), dealing with lung problems...
SpaceX's forthcoming Starship rocket will make it possible to lift unprecedented amounts of material into orbit. One of its first customers will be a...
Synthetic biology is already rewriting life.
In late 2023, scientists revealed yeast cells with half their genetic blueprint replaced by artificial DNA. It was a...
Lab-grown meat could present a kinder and potentially greener alternative to current livestock farming. New specially engineered meat cells could finally bring costs down...
Nature has a set recipe for making proteins.
Triplets of DNA letters translate into 20 molecules called amino acids. These basic building blocks are then...
