CATEGORIES

Mission Europa - Jupiter Or Bust

Jupiter's ocean-filled moon might hold the life we've long searched for in space. And scientists have one shot to reach it.

Let's Talk About Martians

We found the perfect excuse to geek out on exploring Mars - in science fiction and real life. And we invited the director of The Martian to join us.

How To Create A Robot Icon

Engineers built seven versions of BB- 8 for filming, plus one for red carpet events.

Bitcoin: The Future Of Money

Currency has gone from cows to coins to paper to plastic. The next big disruption? We could all be spending digital dough. 

Designing The Robot Next Door

When you spend time, money and emotional capital providing care, you don’t have to go it alone.

How To Get Ready For Hurricanes, Tsunamis, Floods, and Earthquakes

Seismologist Lucy Jones is on a crusade to prepare us—and our infrastructure—for the next Big One.

The Winding, Heated, And Absurdly Technical Oral History Of The Ginger Emoji

In November 2014, a tech-industry consortium announced a new set of emoji that would diversify the physical appearance of the pictograms.EMMA KELLY, editor and founder of the site Ginger Parrot: I checked and saw that redheads were just not on there. I wondered, has no one brought this up? Is there no one at Apple with red hair? Has everyone forgotten about Ed Sheeran?

The Incredible! Shrinking! Airplane!

Jets are getting bigger, yet, inch by inch, our personal space dwindles. How the %*#+ does that work?

Shamu Dreams Of Europa

The microscope that could look for life on Jupiter’s moon.

​​​​​​​Dirty Little Secret

Meet the wee, multilegged chefs behind the world’s most sought-after loaves.

Looking Sharp

WHEN SETI RESEARCHER FRANCK MARCHIS WAS A KID IN France, he looked at Saturn for the first time through a telescope and saw the planet magnified from a speck in the night sky to a beautifully ringed orb.

The Incredible! Shrinking! Airplane!

Jets are getting bigger, yet, inch by inch, our personal space dwindles. How the %*#+ does that work?

How A Sand Scientist Helped Win World War II

A tale of innovation, war, and glory.

Downhill Dynamo

Extreme Skiers Like Davo Karnicar Are Why Extreme Skis Exist

Eyes On The Skies

Jane Poynter Wants to Take You Higher in a Very Big Balloon —and Give Science a Lift Too

Mod Squad

With drought parching the West, seeding clouds for snow is more important than ever. Could this team of scientists prove it really works?

Pillar Of Fire

In 2011, a New Mexico wildfire went from normal to nuclear, kicking up a 45,000-foot column of tornadic winds and burning debris. Three local scientists set out to learn why.

Storm Kings

Creating fearsome weather, indoors.

Born [Not] To Run

Police Cruisers And Getaway Cars Are Racing Toward An Unknown Future.

Save Your Soles

YOU PROBABLY DON’T WANT TO WEAR THAT PAIR OF BLOWN out Converse All-Stars to amble anywhere farther than the corner store. For long treks, the proper footwear will support your dogs and grip the ground to prevent sore soles, painful blisters, and mangled ankles. These four choices will carry you for many miles over different types of terra firma.

Getting There

Public transportation is great—if you have access to it. Now cities are starting to think about how to help people with the first and last miles of their travels.

Where The Buffalo No Longer

DESPITE WHAT SEEMS LIKE A CONSERVATION SUCCESS STORY, OUR NATIONAL MAMMAL MIGHT STILL BE AT RISK.

Rise Of The Plastic Eaters

Scientists have new hope that nature might hold a solution for our most problematic polymers

Toy Box Overfloweth

YOU BOGARTED YOUR NIECE’S ROBOT DINOSAUR for a solid three hours after her birthday party. Admit it. We won’t judge you. Today’s playthings are some tempting stuff. They’re bigger, stronger, and faster than the foot-powered plastic “cars,” immobile Lego fortresses, and dead-eyed Teddy Ruxpin dolls that came before. Building sets are so lifelike, go-karts so zippy, and robots so intelligent that even adults will find these outsize toys utterly irresistible. Now kindly hold my beer, kid; there’s a Nerf battle that needs my full attention.

Heads In The Cloud

RIGHT NOW, IN A DATA CENTER far, far away, gargantuan cloud servers are providing brainpower to devices as minute as fitness trackers. A baseball-size camera, for example, might seem like little more than simple home surveillance; or an adorable green dinosaur might appear to be just a child’s plaything. In reality, armies of servers undergird these—and countless other— unassuming gadgets. Here are five of the smartest out there.

Parched

A week exploring how we’ll have to live in post water America.

Get Ready to Rumble

Working the controls of an excavator is a little like flying a helicopter in that it requires the use of both hands independently, as well as your feet.

A Mini Medieval Siege Weapon

AROUND THE TURN OF THE 14TH CENTURY, ENGLAND’S KING EDWARD I led his soldiers north to battle Scottish rebels.

Temple Of Boom

An aggressively powerful car stereo can literally blow your hair back if you feed it a tune with enough thumping bass. But cranking the volume on a cheap set of Craigslist subwoofers risks eardrum- assaulting distortion. A custom setup based on these components will shake the ground under your tires while preserving the essence of the new Post Malone (or the old Public Enemy).

Snaking Transit Through Ancient History

In Profile / Rossella Rea.