Features1827 articles archived since 1845

How Science Stopped BP's Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

Remote imaging of the failed blowout preventer, stress testing various containment devices as well as other high-tech tasks helped contain the Deepwater Horizon disaster

Foam Alone: Do Furniture Flame Retardants Save Enough Lives to Justify Their Environmental Damage?

An obscure California law effectively sets flammability standards for foam in the nation's furniture, but proposed new legislation claims flame retardants don't prevent fires and could have negative health impacts...

7 Ways to Cultivate Your Creativity [Slide Show]

How to unlock your untapped ingenuity

Make or Breaker: Can a Tsunami Warning System Save Lives During an Earthquake?

In the wake of the 2004 tsunami there is now an Indonesian early warning system. But with parts of coastal Japan--which had the best system--now lying in ruins, will scientists be able to improve the warning time given by near-field tsunami warning systems?...

How "Inadmissible" Brain Scans Can Still Influence the Courts

Neurological evidence can affect the outcome of criminal cases even if juries never hear it

Audio Alchemy: Getting Computers to Understand Overlapping Speech

You have little trouble hearing what your companion is saying in a noisy cafe, but computers are confounded by this "cocktail party problem." New algorithms finally enable machines to tune in to the right speaker, sometimes even better than humans can...

At Heaven's Gate: 50 Years After Humans First Reached Space, What Frontiers Remain?

Humankind has been confined to Earth's orbital environs for decades, but plans abound for manned missions to deeper reaches of the solar system

Forget Organic Farming: Agricultural Technology Is the Way to Go

U.S. Department of Agriculture's Roger Beachy advocates increasing the use of advanced agricultural technologies, both in the U.S. and the developing world, despite having grown up on a bucolic Amish farm...

Absolute Hero: Heike Onnes's Discovery of Superconductors Turns 100 [Slide Show]

A century after the discovery of materials that conduct electricity without resistance, the applications remain disappointingly limited. That may be about to change

Use It Better: The Best Ways to Digitize Your Photos, Music and Home Videos

Do-it-yourself or send it out, here are some tips and recommendations to preserve your analog past

How Cosmic Inflation Creates an Infinity of Universes [Video]

What You Need to Know about the Japan Nuclear Crisis [Updated]

Confused by the fast-changing pace of events? Here are the key points to know

Clean-Tech Funding Up in Many Countries [Web Exclusive]

The Dead Sea Is Disappearing, but It Could Be Saved [Slide Show]

Scientists analyze sinkholes and how mixing waters might alter the sea

Malaria on the Rise as East African Climate Heats Up

In East Africa warming as a result of climate change is paving the way for the spread of malaria