Technology / Materials Science

The Secret Sauce of Hi-Tech: Obscure Metals

The metals of modern technology lie hidden in a handful of unlikely spots, from frozen Russian plains to sweltering African valleys. 08.17.2009

9 Ways Carbon Nanotubes Just Might Rock the World

Nanotubes have been billed as the key to curing cancer, building space elevators, and creating real-world Spidermen. Whether they're totally tubular or just an overhyped pipe dream remains to be seen. 08.06.2009

10 Obscure Elements That Are More Important Than You'd Think

You know hydrogen and oxygen, helium and carbon. But the periodic table's frequently forgotten residents, rare elements with funny names, show up in many unexpected places. 05.20.2009

Big Picture: Life After Silicon—How Graphene Could Revolutionize Electronics

Will the next generation of computers, phones, and even energy storage be built on a form of carbon? 05.19.2009

Visual Science: The Achilles Heel on Michelangelo's David: His Shin

3-D scanning shows where the statue is most stressed—and where it will probably fail. 04.23.2009

The Kilogram Isn't What It Used to Be—It's Lighter

Within a high-security, climate-controlled vault in France, the perfect kilogram is getting ever so slightly less massive—and no one knows why. 03.08.2009

The World's Smallest Puzzles

The images from the latest Science as Art competition all show familiar objects, but they're made out of amazing, almost alien materials—and they're insanely small. 02.19.2009

First Plastic Went After Babies; Now It's Messing Up Science Itself

A new study shows that plastic lab equipment can interfere with experiments. 01.30.2009

#7: Invisibility Becomes More than Just a Fantasy

Researchers are cloaking materials from light, sound, and even matter itself. 12.21.2008

#68: Solved: The Mystery of Gravity-Defying Sap

One synthetic tree accomplishes what loads of scientists never could. 12.10.2008

#69: Physicists Create a Perfect Place to Store Electricity

New "superinsulator" can hold a charge forever without leakage 12.10.2008

#80: Invented: Self-Healing Rubber Made From Vegetable Oil and Pee Ingredient

Hydrogen bonds let ripped material re-form. 12.09.2008

#83: Bulletproof Paper Is Stronger Than Kevlar

New nanopaper is not only super-strong, but made from renewable materials. 12.08.2008

Programmable Matter Moves From Sci-Fi to Sci-Real

Quantum dots can change the very properties of matter by controlling electrons. 10.09.2008

The King of Green Architecture

William McDonough aims to create buildings that produce oxygen, sequester carbon, and produce more power than they use. 09.28.2008

20 Things You Didn't Know About... Sports Technology

How science makes modern athletes go higher, move faster, and stay safer. 08.14.2008

Turbulence: How to Visualize the Invisible

You can feel turbulence with your hand, but to see it really well you need some kick-ass computers. Hold on to your seats. 08.13.2008

10 Ways Genetically Engineered Microbes Could Help Humanity

Fighting cancer, producing renewable fuels, and making your clothing glow in the dark. 08.06.2008

Eco-Chic to the Rescue!

Sea leather, hemp, and bamboo make up this season's runway couture—but will it really help the planet? 08.05.2008

Sliced: Building a Better Bubbly

The science involved in the art of making great champagne. 07.15.2008

The Incredibly Strong See-Through Bicycle

Want a lighter bike? Poke holes in it—the more the better. 03.06.2008

Gecko + Mussel = Geckel

Combining the abilities of two disparate animals creates an amazing adhesive. 01.30.2008

Beetle of Many Colors

A golden beetle can turn itself brick red in under two minutes. 12.14.2007

Plain Ol' Paint Goes Hi-Tech

From paintable solar cells to antifreeze paint inspired by fish blood 11.19.2007

Erasable Tattoos Work Like Scratch'n'Sniff

When a laser "scratches," dye microcapsules dissolve away. 11.16.2007

Solar Power, At Last?

The long-sought mechanism for a superior solar cell may now be at hand. 11.16.2007

20 Things You Didn't Know About... Gold

Anti-inflammatory, protector of astronaut eyes, and excrement of the gods 11.15.2007

Teflon-ized Frog Chemical Could Save You from Disease

The nonstick pan coating cooks up a mean antibiotic. 09.14.2007

The Future of Blood

Some researchers tinker with real blood; some create from scratch. 08.06.2007

The Man Who Predicted the Bridge Collapse. Kind Of.

Henry Petroski says it was bound to happen sometime soon. 08.02.2007

Quantum Leap

The future of super-fast computing appears on the horizon. 05.04.2007

How to Build an Invisibility Cloak

Using strange new materials not found in nature, physicists can make an object disappear. 11.20.2006

Eco Chic

The art of turning audiotape and inner tubes into high-fashion clothing 06.06.2006

Cooking For Eggheads

Great cuisine is more than art; it's science. The French can now prove it. 02.20.2006

Unraveling Spider Silk

Unraveling Spider Silk 11.22.2005

The Physics of Bras

Overcoming Newton's second law with better bra technology 11.22.2005

Materials

We may finally be smart enough to build a new world, atom by atom 10.24.2005

Super-atoms

04.28.2005

Glassy Metals

Harder, stronger, and better—the material of the future 04.21.2004

Observer

Sneaker Science 03.28.2004

The Physics of . . . Skiing

New designs and materials revolutionize the world's oldest extreme sport 02.05.2004

The Biology of . . . Batteries

Slowly but surely, microbiologists are learning to unleash the Edison within 01.02.2004

The Chemistry of . . . Glue

Biochemists turn to mussels for a real bonding experience 02.01.2003

More Magnets, Please

Only metals can become magnetic, right? Introducing buckyballs that may undo our thinking on yet another scientific principle 12.01.2002

Future Tech

Scientists reverse the laws of optics in a quest to create the perfect lens 04.01.2002

Future Tech

Engineers begin to tap into the power of electron spin 01.01.2002

Tomorrow's Computer

08.01.2001

Dressed to kill

08.01.2001

The Titanic's Ruin

Rust may have sent ship and passengers to an early grave. 08.01.2001

Winner - Environment

Patrick Gruber, PhD; Vice President & Chief 4 Officer, Cargill Dow LLC; Minnetonka, Minnesota 07.01.2001

Environment: Pat Gruber

Discover Magazine Innovation Awards 07.01.2001

They Invented it

07.01.2001

They Invented it

06.01.2001

They Invented it

02.01.2001

Molecules in 3-D

02.01.2001

Rocket Science and Art Restoration

NASA's trick for saving great paintings 01.01.2001

Works in Progress

Can science turn back the hands of time? Legendary beauties go in for repair? 01.01.2001

The Chemistry of . . . Plastics

Priceless relics of the modern era are crumbling before our very eyes 12.01.2000

Gravity, Begone

12.01.2000

Matzo-Ball Medicine

12.01.2000

NonStick Computing

12.01.2000

Stradivari's Secret

A cranky biochemist named Joseph Nagyvary claims to make violins that sounds as magnifient as the legendary Cremonese master's - and sells them at a fraction of the cost. So why aren't musicians flocking to buy them? 07.01.2000

No More Glare

03.01.2000

Future Tech

Can we interest you in a suit that banishes dirt, sweat, and germs, sir? 01.01.2000

Concrete Progress

11.01.1999

Mayday, Mayday

08.01.1999

Bubble, Bubble

Gas trapped in liquid can lessen toil and trouble 08.01.1999

Disposable Chips

Disposable Chips 07.01.1999

How to Heal a Masterpiece

When a painting shows the ravages of time, conservators try a little TLC--tender loving chemistry 04.01.1999

Silicon Valleys

02.01.1999

The Year in Science: Technology 1997

Motion is the Root of All EvilSwim Suit 01.01.1998

Dr. Tinkertoy

DNA is more than the storehouse of life's secrets, it's also a marvelous construction toy. 02.01.1997

Mistry's Mistake

01.01.1997

The Accidental Inventor

Christopher Columbus of chemists, set boldly forth to discover a new technology of refrigeration. Luckily, he screwed up and invented Teflon instead. The knack for serendipity may turn out to be the investor's most important talent. 10.01.1996

Hormone Hell

Industrial chemicals can mimick natural hormones and wreak havoc in developing animals. 09.01.1996

Silicon Clover

08.01.1996

The Bamboo Solution

Tough as steel, sturdier than concrete, full-size in a year. 06.01.1996

A Small Problem of Propulsion

It's a long way to alpha centauri, but some think antimatter could send us there in record time. 10.01.1995

Call Them Irresistible

Superconductors, physicists say, will someday change the world. Before then it would be nice if somebody, somewhere, understood how they work. 09.01.1995

Smart Plane

08.01.1995

Printing in 3-D

09.01.1994

Harder Than Diamond Is Not Faster Than Light

Some perceived limits to our material world may not be limits at all. With the help of computers and the fundamental laws of physics, we can make exotic new substances almost any way we like. 11.01.1993

Cages of Carbon

09.01.1993

The Flat Face of Technology

In the mysterious new world of molecular architecture, you absolutely cannot be too thin. 09.01.1993