Technology, features and articles | Educational Science

Apr 30, 2005

New Robots Clone Themselves

Mimicking reproduction in living organisms, researchers have built a simple self-replicating robot out of automated blocks. Machines that can copy themselves have been built before, but the earlier experiments were limited to two dimensions or confined to a track. Hod Lipson and his collaborators at Cornell University have designed modular...

Apr 30, 2005

New Technique Could Make 300-Carat Diamonds

Researchers have developed a new technique for making very large diamonds of high quality that could soon boost optics technology and gaudily adorn fingers of the wealthy with sparkling rocks up to an inch wide. Using a process called chemical vapor deposition (CVD), several groups have figured out how to...

Apr 30, 2005

Older and Wiser: Expanse of Knowledge Delays Big Ideas

A new study of Nobel Prize winners and great inventors suggests top innovators are older today than they were a century ago. I find that the age at which noted innovations are produced has increased by approximately 6 years over the 20th Century, says Benjamin Jones of Northwestern University. Innovators...

Mar 31, 2005

The World's Smallest Motor

Scientists recently unveiled the tiniest electric motor ever built. You could stuff hundreds of them into the period at the end of this sentence. One day a similar engine might power a tiny mechanical doctor that would travel through your body in the ultimate house call. The motor works by...

Mar 31, 2005

Palmtop Nuclear Fusion Device Invented

The nuclear reaction that powers the Sun has been reproduced in a pocket-sized device, scientists announced today. Researchers have for years tried to harness nuclear fusion to power the world. But its cousin, nuclear fission -- the breaking apart of atoms -- is the only method so far commercially viable....

Feb 28, 2005

Roach Robot Feels Its Way Around

As if the world needs more roaches, engineers are now building a robotic version. Most robotic vehicles sent into dangerous situations rely on cameras or sonar to navigate. Neither method works every time. The new mechanical creature uses a wiggly cockroach-like antenna to feel its way around, mimicking the behavior...

Feb 28, 2005

Personal Travel on 'Microjets' Expected to Grow

SCOTTSDALE, AZ - The promise of inexpensive personal jet flight for commuting and hassle-free short hops to the weekend retreat is closer to reality than you might think. The prospect has the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) hustling to create new regulations, experts said Wednesday, and they say the shift will...

Jan 31, 2005

Drivers on Cell Phones Kill Thousands, Snarl Traffic

Finally, empirical proof you can blame chatty 20-somethings for stop-and-go traffic on the way to work. A new study confirms that the reaction time of cell phone users slows dramatically, increasing the risk of accidents and tying up traffic in general, and when young adults use cell phones while driving,...

Jan 31, 2005

Chip Implants Proposed To Halt Blackmarket Cadaver Trade

An investigation into illegal sale and distribution of cadavers and body parts at the University of California, Los Angeles, has lead to recommendations that include implanting cadavers and individual body parts with RFID tags. Last year, UCLA suspended its willed-body program. The program director was arrested after an investigation of...

Jan 31, 2005

Mouse With Human Brain May Live

Animals have been getting a real work-out in science lately. Methuselah mice are helping humanity with aging, pigs are trying artificial corneas and monkeys get gene manipulations that force them to work hard with no thought of reward. Now, Stanford University has given famed researcher Irving Weissman permission to create...

Jan 31, 2005

Military Aims for High-Tech, Life-Like Limb Replacements

WASHINGTON D.C. - While a higher percentage of U.S. soldiers are surviving their time in war thanks to life-saving technologies such as advanced body armor, many are returning home maimed and have had arms or legs amputated as a result of injuries. A new research agenda set out by the...

Jan 31, 2005

Record-Setting Round-the-World Flight Could Start Monday

An attempt to make the first solo, non-stop, non-refueled circumnavigation of the globe could start Monday, Feb. 28 after weeks of weather delays. The Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer is Code Green for a flight attempt on Monday, according to officials. Weather conditions locally and along the flight path have prevented the...

Jan 31, 2005

Historic Round-the-World Flight Set for Monday Takeoff

A one-of-a-kind experimental aircraft is ready to attempt the first solo, nonstop circumnavigation of the globe without refueling. The flight is firmly slated for Monday, Feb. 28, though takeoff is still dependent on weather. An official announcement is expected later Sunday. Launch of the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer from Salina, Kansas...

Jan 31, 2005

Historic Globe-Circling Flight Underway

A solo attempt to fly non-stop around the globe is underway. Billionaire adventurer Steve Fossett is at the controls of the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer, climbing into the skies after departure from the Salina Municipal Airport in Salina, Kansas. The one-of-a-kind experimental plane is a single-engine turbofan aircraft designed expressly for...

Dec 31, 2004

Virtual Snowflakes: Closing in on Reality

Some of the loveliest snowflakes you might see this winter glow warmly on a computer screen. Lafayette College mathematics professor Cliff Reiter might share the joy of a kid making snowflakes with scissors and paper, but his computer simulations of crystal growth aim at deeper revelation. The sublimity of his...