Fingerprint Purpose
New research suggests our fingerprints help us feel finely detailed surfaces.
Upside-Down Airplanes
The shape of the wing is what allows a plane to fly upside down.
Polarized Mirages
Insects and other animals may mistake shiny, hard surfaces for water, disrupting their life cycle.
C02 in Space
Astronomers have detected carbon dioxide on a planet outside our solar system for the first time.
Podcast
BREATHING: Why it's harder to breathe at high altitudes, asthma and your birthdate, and more.
Mountain High
Have you ever been to a high altitude and found yourself gasping for breath? One listener asked why that happens.
Podcast
Blue bananas hide in plain sight, life spurred earth's mineral diversity, boats sport manatee alarms, and more.
Space Ship Gravity
Spinning spaceships could create artificial gravity in principle but not in practice.
Blue Bananas
You might not think by looking at them that bananas are really blue.
Liquid Lens
A lens made from a pair of vibrating water droplets promises fast focusing.
Podcast
THE SCIENCE OF TREES: Electricity from trees, building a tree from the ground up, a forest of aspirin, and trading rainforest conservation for healthcare.
Synthetic Tree
A synthetic tree wicks water more effectively than a real plant.
Eye Color
A listener asks why a baby's eyes can change color during the first year.
Podcast
Antifreeze from fleas, silk optics for food safety, plants head for the hills, heavy metals that won't go away, and more.
Colorful Surgery
Surgeons use new infrared imaging technology to illuminate tumors.
Podcast
FIGHTING CANCER: An unlikely source for a new leukemia therapy. Also: new technologies illuminate cancer surgery and sniff out skin cancer.
Weighing Black Holes
A new technique helps scientists measure the mass of giant black holes.
Glass Roundup
If metal could be designed to harden like glass does, a new, nearly unbreakable material could result.
Seeing in STEREO
Solar physicists see the sun in 3-D with NASA's STEREO Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory.
Podcast
NEWS FROM SPACE: Deflecting asteroids, catching a supernova in the act, capturing the sun in 3-D, and new names for old planets.
Podcast
COMPUTERS & BIOLOGY: Both bacteria and beetles promise to speed up computing, a computer game that could lead to a cure for deadly diseases, and more.