Materials Science and Engineering

A prototype of a new type of protective face mask | Photo by Andrew Brodhead

Apr 14, 2020

COVID-19 prompts a team of engineers to rethink the humble face mask

Health, Technology & Society Issue #92

A future filled with renewable solar and wind energy will require more and better batteries. | Stocksy/Adrian P Young

Apr 10, 2020

William Chueh: How to build a better battery

Energy, Environment, Materials

A close up of the microwire array | Photo by Andrew Brodhead

Mar 24, 2020

A device brings silicon computing power to brain research

Computation & Data, Health, Materials

The goal: finding the best method for charging an EV battery in 10 minutes that maximizes the battery’s overall lifetime. | Stocksy/Melanie Kintz

Feb 28, 2020

How we could supercharge battery development for electric vehicles

Artificial Intelligence, Energy, Environment Issue #89

Researchers were able to lay the groundwork for creating quantum sources with controllable properties, such as color, intensity and position. | Getty Images/metamorworks

Feb 26, 2020

A team of researchers explore the defects in quantum materials

Computation & Data, Electronics & Networking, Materials Issue #89

Sound — particularly ultrasound — can penetrate deep into tissues throughout the body, including the brain. | ScienceSource/Patrick Landmann

Dec 16, 2019

Engineers develop a less invasive way to study the brain

Health, Materials Issue #85

The body contains about 79 trillion cells. 39 trillion of those are bacterial. | Science Source/Eva Bee

Dec 9, 2019

The fight against bacterial infections enters the 21st century

Health Issue #85

Catalyst director Mark Horowitz, left, and Catalyst funding recipient Jennifer Dionne. | Photo by Saul Bromberger

Dec 6, 2019

A look at research funded by the Catalyst for Collaborative Solutions

Materials, Technology & Society

Wildfires in the United States burn roughly 10 million acres each year. | Reuters/Sam Mircovich

Oct 7, 2019

Researchers invent a new treatment to prevent wildfires

Environment Issue #80

Could this be a boon for the development of next-generation electric vehicles? | Shutterstock/Scharfsinn

Sep 9, 2019

A new coating brings lithium metal batteries closer to reality

Electronics & Networking, Transportation & Robotics Issue #78

Wastewater treatment, a process essential to community health — is also vulnerable to power grid shutdowns. | Flickr/Doc Searls

Aug 9, 2019

A battery that harnesses energy from mixing of freshwater and seawater

Energy, Environment Issue #76

What if photons, the basic units of all light, powered computers? | iStock/EireenZ

Aug 9, 2019

Could light become the new electricity?

Materials, Technology & Society Issue #76

If field tests confirm lab results, chemical baths could one day cleanse thousands of toxic sites nationwide. | Reuters/Mica Rosenberg

Jun 4, 2019

A new approach to cleaning heavy metals out of soil

Environment Issue #73

A new gene editing technique may explain how each piece of a flatworm's body can grow back into a new worm. | Illustration by Kevin Craft

May 13, 2019

Want to learn about rebuilding brain tissue? Go study a flatworm.

Environment, Health Issue #72

May 10, 2019

A device that mimics the way neurons communicate

Computation & Data, Materials Issue #73

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S. due in part to lack of screening. | iStock/Ivanna Olijnyk

Apr 24, 2019

A possible blood test for colon cancer

Health Issue #78

The standard way to test new battery designs is time-consuming and expensive. This new method aims to change that. | iStock/anilyanik

Apr 5, 2019

Could AI be used to predict the useful life of batteries?

Artificial Intelligence, Materials, Technology & Society Issue #72

But first, we need ways to measure how efficiently quantum dots reemit the light they absorb. | iStock/phochi

Mar 25, 2019

Beyond powering QLED TVs, quantum dots could lead to new technologies

Electronics & Networking, Materials, Technology & Society Issue #87

These algorithms are like search engines for materials. | Illustration by Kevin Craft

Jan 17, 2019

A new algorithm acts like facial recognition software for materials

Materials Issue #63

An ability to better measure blood flow could have a positive impact in multiple fields of surgery. | Illustration by Kevin Craft

Jan 14, 2019

A new sensor could make it easier to monitor blood flow after surgery

Health Issue #63

Tightly wound strands of DNA, called heterochromatin, look like dense wads of string and are difficult for a cell to access. | Getty Images/wildcat78

Dec 11, 2018

A simple yet powerful computer model predicts DNA organization

Health Issue #62

Cells of a human ovary with ovarian cancer cells. | iStock/weisschr

Dec 7, 2018

A deadly form of ovarian cancer is quick to develop drug resistance

Health, Materials Issue #62

The technology makes it possible for robots to touch a delicate berry or handle a pingpong ball without squashing them. | Image credit: Bao Lab

Nov 21, 2018

An electronic glove gives robots a sense of touch

Transportation & Robotics Issue #60

The success of the experiment shows the the potential to study individual interactions of light and matter. | Alexander Bedrin/GettyImages

Nov 12, 2018

A microscopic movie reveals an unexpected photochemical reaction

Health, Materials