2016 World Changing Ideas

10 big advances with the potential to solve problems and improve life for all of us

Batteries Could Pull Carbon from the Atmosphere

Electrochemical cells could suck carbon out of the atmosphere and turn it into electricity

How to Make Novel Antibiotics from Scratch

A method for designing novel compounds could help defeat drug-resistant bacteria

Quantum Satellites Are a Big Step toward the Unhackable Internet

Space-based transmission of quantum cryptographic keys could make the “unhackable” Internet a reality

Ingestible Robots Perform Surgery from Inside the Body

Remote-controlled origami robots can perform medical procedures from the inside out

Machine-Learning Software Scans Satellite Images to Find Hidden Poverty

Machine-learning software analyzes satellite images to find remote areas that need help

Fabric Made from Battery Material Cools Its Wearers

Nanoporous fabric would cool its wearers, reducing the need for air-conditioning

A Rare Genetic Mutation Might Inspire the First Drug That Fights All Viruses

A rare genetic mutation might inspire the first broad-spectrum antiviral

Computers Now Recognize Patterns Better Than Humans Can

An approach to artificial intelligence that enables computers to recognize visual patterns better than humans are able to do

Cheap Paper Diagnostics Would Save Lives in Remote, Impoverished Places

Cheap, rapid screening for diseases such as Ebola and tuberculosis could save lives in remote and impoverished places

“Supermolecules” Could Yield Materials the Periodic Table Won’t Allow

A way to design new molecules and materials that the periodic table does not allow

Our Solar System Was Born through High-Energy Crashes, Not Stately Growth

Our neighborhood of planets was not created slowly, as scientists once thought, but in a speedy blur of high-energy crashes, destruction and rebuilding

20 Years in the Making: A New Approach to a Vaccine against HIV

Investigators hope that a three-part protein that mimics a key part of HIV particularly well could lead to a long-awaited vaccine

Thawing Permafrost Would Accelerate Global Warming

Thawing Arctic tundra will likely speed up climate change for a century or more. The question is: How drastically?

Scientists Trace Society’s Myths to Primordial Origins

Analyzing how stories change in the retelling down through the generations sheds light on the history of human migration going as far back as the Paleolithic period 

How Drug-Resistant Bacteria Travel from the Farm to Your Table

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria from livestock pose a deadly risk to people. But the farm lobby won't let scientists track the danger

A Coral Reef’s Battle for Survival Is Revealed by a New Microscope

A new seafloor microscope is revealing life-and-death battles between hair-thin creatures

More Book Recommendations for December

Books and recommendations from Scientific American

Life without a Headphone Jack

Urban Engineering in 1916: Science and Technology for the City

How Myths Evolve over Time and Migrations

Julien d’Huy, of the Pantheon–Sorbonne University in Paris, talks about the use of evolutionary theory and computer modeling in the comparative analysis of myths and folktales, the subject of his article in the December 2016 Scientific American ...