Protect your favorite hiking trail with the power of an Instagram post
Go ahead and post the picture -- geotagged photos you took during your last hike may one day help policymakers decide which outdoor areas to protect.
When silent mode isn’t enough, seal your phone in the signal-killing Pause box
When a user put her phone into the box and closes the lid, Pause interferes with radio waves. That means no signals get through.
Astronomers capture spectacular image of a ‘tsunami’ in the night sky
The spiraling structure created from the interacting galaxies has offered astronomers new insight into galaxy collisions.
Rice University just democratized optogenetics with an open-source platform
"We believe the LPA will enable virtually any biological laboratory to perform cutting-edge optogenetics experiments with ease," Tabor says.
Two decades in the making: NASA completes most powerful space telescope
The largest and most expensive space telescope in history is finally complete, NASA announced last week, as the 20-year construction project came to an end.
We’re better prepared for an asteroid strike, thanks to NASA’s Scout program
An asteroid passed 310,000 miles away from Earth last night but, thanks to a new asteroid-tracking system, it didn’t catch astronomers flat-footed.
New satellite tools give scientists fresh insights into evergreens on Earth
Environmental scientists have new tools for monitoring the health of northern evergreens — and they are orbiting tens of thousands of miles above Earth.
Scientists use engineered spinach to detect explosive chemicals underground
A team of MIT researchers embedded spinach plants with nanotubes that enable the plants to sense and respond to different chemicals in their environment.
New buoy system harvests kinetic energy from waves to desalinate seawater
SAROS is a wave-powered desalination system that harvests the energy of waves, turning saltwater into fresh water without electrify or fossil fuels.
Kickstarter campaign helps citizen scientists map refugee camp from above
A young team of citizen scientists from a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon just got a little help from a few hundred backers on Kickstarter.
Run for it! Smart fabric generates electricity when you move
A new smart fabric developed by researchers at the Georgia Tech gathers energy from movement and sunlight and stores it in the fabric’s fibers.
Self-healing thread changes from firm to flexible with just a bit of voltage
The threads versatility make it a promising new component for a number of applications, including healthcare and robotics.
Hold the universe in your hands with this 3D-printed model of the CMB
You can now hold the universe in your hand with a tiny 3D-printed model of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), the oldest light in the universe.
Massive air-purifying vacuum cleaner sucks up particles, blows out clean air
Its inventors at the Envinity Group claim the air-purification system is the first of its kind and may help filter toxic particles from the atmosphere.
Fraud alert! Researchers discover new method to spot phony posts online
By sifting through reviews, comment threads, and tweets, researchers have developed a method to detect astroturfing -- phony posts on websites.
Interactive images show what U.S. cities might look like without the Clean Air Act
Researchers have attempted to illustrate what major American cities might look like without these federal measures to control air pollution.
Make America tweet again! Trump twitterbot is running for president
Donald Trump’s newest presidential challenger is a twitterbot that sounds a lot like the man himself.
Spiders on Mars? Citizen scientists help NASA spot the strange formations
The team behind the NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Obiter had too many images to analyze without a little help. So they asked volunteers to offer a hand.
Just add water — and alcohol: Danish gypsy brewery is developing an instant craft beer
To Øl partnered with a food processing company to freeze dry four beers -- a fruity IPA, a hoppy IPA, a dry pilsner, and a “deep beer brewed with coffee.”
In a technological first, paralyzed patient can feel touch through an artificial hand
Ten years after an accident left him paralyzed, Nathan Copeland can sense pressure applied to an artificial robotic hand.
Here’s your stop: Google DeepMind’s new AI can help you navigate the subway system
This AI is one of the first systems to use external memory and deep learning to train itself autonomously, without the need for hard-coded instructions.