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We summarize the week's science breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Astronomy
Balloons will broadcast the 2017 solar eclipse live from on high
Astrophysicist Angela Des Jardins is coordinating the first-ever livestream of a solar eclipse filmed from balloons.
- Tech
This robot grows like a plant
A new soft robot navigates its environment by growing in a manner inspired by plants.
- Tech
The incredible shrinking transistor just got smaller
Tiniest transistor, made with carbon nanotubes, suggests computers aren’t done shrinking down.
- Genetics
CRISPR adds storing movies to its feats of molecular biology
Video and images could be stored in living bacteria with a little help from the iconic gene editor, CRISPR.
- Quantum Physics
A quarter century ago, the qubit was born
The invention of the qubit a quarter century ago enabled the quantum information revolution.
- Quantum Physics
Quantum computers are about to get real
Qubit-based machines are gearing up to solve problems that are out of reach for even the most powerful supercomputers.
- Tech
Gecko-inspired robot grippers could grab hold of space junk
Aboard a microgravity plane, NASA is testing gecko-inspired grippers that one day could help clear up space junk.
- Tech
New video camera captures 5 trillion frames every second
A new camera’s record-breaking speed offers researchers a window into never-before-seen phenomena, such as combustion reactions.
- Tech
New pelvic exoskeleton stops people from taking tumbles
A new exoskeleton helps people prone to falling stay on their feet.
- Animals
Trackers may tip a warbler’s odds of returning to its nest
Geolocator devices that help track migrating birds could also hamper migration survival or timing.
- Tech
New printer creates color by shaping nanostructures
Researchers developed the structure-based color printing technique as an alternative to ink-based printing, in which colors fade with time.
- Health & Medicine
Readers concerned about cancer’s sugary disguise
Tricky cancer cells, brain-shaping smartphones, a cow-burying badger and more in reader feedback.