Engineering

Innovation and discovery as chronicled in Scientific American

The products that really wow us seem like pure wizardry

Roborace is creating a new motorsport to accelerate the arrival of self-driving cars

The decades-old pursuit of bulky, much-hyped Iron Man–like “exosuits” could give way to minimalist technologies more in sync with the human body

A tough but flexible bot unfurls like a plant using a pressurized plastic tube to inch through rugged environments.

Models similar to those used to track disease show what happens when too much information hits social media networks

Tactile maps could help blind pedestrians cross increasingly complex intersections

 Studies show that if geoengineering works, it will be imperfect

To save on parchment, monks would overwrite older documents to create new ones—but a new tool can reveal what lies beneath

Security expert offers a scientific perspective on realistic options for the U.S.

Proponents say the systems’ precise techniques may help speed patient recovery

Urban areas can improve the planet as well as people’s lives if we design them to be much more resourceful with energy, water, food and minerals