NSF early star rendering

The Earliest Stars

Astronomers who noticed a slight blip in space's background radiation got an insight not just into the early stars but into the age and nature of the early universe.
traffic jam

The Science of Traffic

Traffic congestion has been a problem in the United States ever since the 1930s, and since that time, scientists have been studying on the problem.
DNA Strand

Using DNA As a Memory Drive

Scientists have successfully encoded a simple movie in bacteria DNA, and played it back. Using DNA for data storage is not as crazy as it sounds...
platinum-iridium cylinder

What’s a Kilogram?

At the end of the nineteenth century, the kilogram was conceived as the mass of one liter of water at 4°C, the temperature at which water was densest.
Octobot soft robot

The Soft Robot Revolution

Science fiction has accustomed us to metallic, humanoid robots, but there are better models out there. 
Welikia Manhattan map

What Did Manhattan Look Like in 1609?

The Welikia Project recreates a lost vision of Manhattan, one composed of marshes and forest surrounded by wide, meandering rivers.
A water tower at sunset.

Before Flint: How Ancient Civilizations Maintained Their Drinking Water

Ancient civilizations utilized various creative strategies to supply their populations with usable and drinkable water. 
Jupiter with moons, Europa and Io.

The Art of Observing Weather on Distant Planets

Exoplanetary meteorology enables scientists to determine weather patterns on planets too far for direct observation. 
Microlattice is the world's lightest material but is also very strong.

Microlattice: The World’s Lightest Metal

Boeing has developed a metal microlattice, a strong material mostly composed of air.
View of the lower part of an airplane

Fly the Friendly Skies in a Grease Powered Jet

A United Airlines jet is the first to take off using only fuels made from discarded fat.