Tech
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Math
Spirals inspire walking aids for people with disabilities
Long admired for their beauty, spirals have inspired a shoe that may help disabled people walk. The shapes make for a better crutch and an entertaining skateboard as well.
- Tech
Sheath helps ‘aqua-hamster’ survive underwater
Scientists hoped a membrane invented in 1964 would let submarines pull air from seawater.
- Science & Society
Asteroids closer to home may get us to Mars
NASA should abandon its attempt to bring a space rock into lunar orbit and instead scrutinize ones already whizzing by Earth, one scientist argues.
- Tech
New microscope gives clear view inside cells
By splitting beams of light, a new microscopy technique can capture activity inside a cell.
- Science & Society
E-commerce sites personalize search results to maximize profits
Travel and retail websites alter search results depending on whether consumers use smartphones or particular web browsers.
- Planetary Science
‘Mars Rover Curiosity’ chronicles robot’s journey
Engineer Rob Manning recounts the decade of victories and setbacks that preceded Curiosity’s landing on Mars.
- Computing
Computer program reveals artists’ influences
The algorithm can figure out a particular painting’s style — whether it’s abstract, impressionist or Baroque, for example — and tease out possible connections among artists.
- Animals
Rattlesnakes tutor robot on dune climbing
Snakes sidewinding up sand inspire design improvements for robots navigating treacherous slopes.
- Tech
Microscopy techniques win Nobel Prize in chemistry
The award goes to three scientists who developed fluorescence microscopy, which allows researchers to see single molecules just a billionth of a meter across.
- Materials Science
Blue LEDs win Nobel Prize in physics
Light-emitting diodes have led to more energy-efficient bulbs that are elbowing out incandescents.
- Animals
Videos hint at why tree bats may die at wind turbines
Using heat-sensitive cameras, scientists were able to watch how tree bats interact with wind turbines and determine what behaviors may lead to their deaths.
- Tech
Solar cell powers water-to-hydrogen conversion
High efficiency could make perovskite solar cells useful for generating environmentally friendly fuel.
