Tech
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Planetary Science
Europa lander mission takes another step toward reality
NASA is working on a possible lander mission in which the main science goal would be to search for signs of life on Jupiter’s moon Europa.
- Astronomy
Citizen scientists are providing stunning new views of Jupiter
A camera aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft is giving citizen scientists a crack at discovering never-before-seen features of Jupiter.
- Computing
Speech recognition has come a long way in 50 years
Early versions of computer speech recognition relied on word sounds. Now, they add pattern recognition and a lot of statistics.
- Materials Science
Germanium computer chips gain ground on silicon — again
Having pushed silicon to its limit, engineers are turning back to germanium.
- Tech
Bat robot takes wing
Unlike other aerial robots that use whirling rotor blades to fly, the Bat Bot relies on soft, silicone-based wings to glide, swoop and turn.
- Tech
Legos inspire versatile fluid-filled devices
Tiny devices shuttle fluid around using reconfigurable Lego-like bricks.
- Tech
Heart-hugging robot does the twist (and squeeze)
A robotic sleeve that slips around the heart mimics the heart’s natural movement, squeezing and twisting to pump blood in pigs. If it works in humans, it could buy time for heart failure patients awaiting a transplant.
- Materials Science
New ‘smart’ fibers curb fires in lithium-ion batteries
To stifle battery fires, scientists create component with heat-release flame retardant.
- Earth
Mapping the future of continents and batteries
Editor in chief Eva Emerson discusses how science provides new perspectives on the past and the future.
- Computing
Retracted result on network equivalence reinstated
Graph isomorphism result still stands, despite error.
- Math
Hidden Figures highlights three black women who were vital to the U.S. space program
"Hidden Figures" tells the untold story of the "human computers" who were essential to the launch of the U.S. space program.
- Tech
Cells snack on nanowires
Human cells eat silicon nanowires in a process called phagocytosis. Nanowire-infused cells could be a step towards biological electronic devices.
