Feature

Physics

Spinning into Control

High-speed flywheels could replace batteries in hybrid vehicles and help make the electrical grid more reliable.

Animals

Egg Shell Game

Birds apparently cheat chance when it comes to laying eggs that contain sons or daughters.

Physics

The Hunt for Antihelium

Scientists have been searching about 30 years for a single nucleus of helium made from antimatter, and although the discovery would imply that whole antimatter galaxies exist, the researchers' time could be running out.

Math

Sensor Sensibility

Networks of tiny computerized sensors that adjust their function as needed may soon pervade our environment.

Archaeology

Peru’s Sunny View

Researchers have found the oldest solar observatory in the Americas, a group of 13 towers first used around 300 B.C. to mark the positions of sunrises and sunsets from summer to winter solstice.

Earth

Flotsam Science

Researchers have harnessed the power of flotsam—floating items as diverse as tennis shoes, tub toys, and hockey gloves—to chart the path and speed of the Pacific Subarctic Gyre, a group of currents in the North Pacific Ocean.

Anthropology

Children of Prehistory

Accumulating evidence suggests that children and teenagers produced much prehistoric cave art and perhaps left behind many fledgling attempts at stone-tool making as well.

Tech

Wanted: Better Yardsticks

A new federal survey has found that a lack of measurement tools may jeopardize the United States' edge in technological innovation.

Computing

The Machine’s Got Rhythm

By teaching computers how to transcribe musical recordings, a relatively mundane task, researchers are opening new musical possibilities.

Materials Science

Taken for a Spin

Considering silk from the spider's perspective may offer the best chance of replicating these creatures' tough threads.