Tech

Computing

Virtual Surgery

Computer simulations of blood flow in the heart allow doctors to test surgical innovations before trying them on patients.

Computing

Check on Checkers: In perfect game, there’s no winner

Thanks to an immense calculation that worked out every possible game position, computers can now play a flawless game of checkers and force a draw every time.

Tech

Double-decker solar cell

A two-layer, polymer-based solar cell has good efficiency and could be cheap to mass-produce.

Tech

More bang for the biofuel buck

Microbes that ferment glycerol to ethanol could add an economically valuable new ingredient to the biofuel industry.

Tech

Biowarfare: Engineered virus can invade bacterial film

A genetically engineered virus not only kills bacteria but makes an enzyme that breaks up the biofilm in which the bacteria live.

Tech

Cellular Smugglers: Laden nanoparticles hitch a ride on bacteria

Molecular cargoes loaded onto nanoparticles can sneak into mammalian cells on the backs of bacteria.

Tech

Life Swap: Switching genomes converts bacteria

Transplanting the entire genome of one species of bacteria into another paves the way for making synthetic microbes with manmade DNA.

Tech

A computer in every cell

Artificial genes inserted into cells make RNA molecules that can perform logical computations.

Computing

Mapping a Medusa: The Internet spreads its tentacles

After tracking how digital information weaves around the world, researchers have concluded that, structurally speaking, the Internet looks like a medusa jellyfish.

Tech

Improbability Drive: Focus on rare actions speeds chemical simulations

A new algorithm speeds simulations of chemical reactions by focusing on rare but crucial molecular motions.

Tech

Nanotech bubbles

Creating large-scale, regular arrays of nanoscale components is now almost as easy as blowing bubbles.

Tech

Powering the Revolution

Sensors and other electronic devices that can scavenge energy could open a new realm for technology.