Bomb Detecting Spray
A new spray makes would-be bombers' hands turn red.
Ultrastrong Plastic
Engineers have created a plastic that's as strong as steel, but lighter.
Podcast
How the solar system formed, determining the standard for the kilogram, how brain damage affects art, cancer drugs from trees, protecting ports with underwater using sound.
Sound Tripwire
A new kind of tripwire uses sound instead of string or laser beams.
Podcast
Making sounds morph, a lost herd of elephants, twins' secret languages, runaway carbon emissions, and the marriage-obesity connection.
Podcast
The Darfur region has an ancient underground lake, animals navigate with internal compasses, what plants would look like on other planets, why offering too many choices is bad marketing, and why kids have temper tantrums.
Darfur Lake
Satellite imagery may have opened a window of hope for the war-torn Darfur region.
Podcast
Giving blood could be good for you, backpacks are better with bungee cords, taking a census of the air's bacteria, happiness helps ward off colds and flu, genetic engineering protects against mad cow disease
Air Bacteria Census
Scientists are taking stock of all the bacteria that live in the air.
Ultrasound Stethoscope
A new stethoscope works in very noisy places and could help medics on the battlefield.
Podcast
The secret of a Stradivarius violin, how giraffes block a head rush, using bees for homeland security, saving seagrass, and a strange new ingredient in the interstellar soup.
Bomb-Sniffing Bees
Bees could replace bomb-sniffing dogs for some high-risk missions.
Polygraph Tests
Lie detector tests are used widely in law enforcement and even in some high-security workplaces. But are they accurate?
Podcast
A fabric that detects biohazards, an excess of men, the cost of a year of life, stopping train derailments with lasers, and the rising number of venomous fish.
Biohazard Wipe
A new fabric can detect just about any biohazard--from E. coli to anthrax--instantly.
Podcast
The mosquito's love song, putting highway surveillance cameras to a medical use, behind the obesity vaccine, 9/11 rescue workers' lungs, and the physics of candy wrappers.
Sniper Detector
Robots that mimic human hearing could be useful on and off the battlefield.
Adaptive Happiness
It may seem obvious that good fortune or tragedy would have lasting effects on our overall happiness. But what's obvious is not always correct.
Coal-Based Jet Fuel
Good old-fashioned coal could revolutionize jet fuel.
Podcast
A super memory, elephant dung and the oil crisis, girls go online, navigating the asteroid belt, and heart-healthy bacon.
Podcast
Timid football coaches, the link between obesity and pain, the poorest crop, a new anthrax detector, and corals on carbs.
Multitalented Vaccine
Vaccines that can protect against more than one strain of pathogen.