Tech
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Physics
Single-atom magnets store bits of data
Scientists read and write data by harnessing the magnetic properties of holmium atoms.
- Agriculture
Fleets of drones could pollinate future crops
Chemist Eijiro Miyako turned a lab failure into a way to rethink artificial pollination.
- Tech
Virtual reality has a motion sickness problem
Virtual reality games and experiences can make some people sick, and women are more susceptible.
- Science & Society
Choosing the right cyberattack response is a complicated game
Public shaming or retaliation aren’t necessarily the best strategies in the world of cyber warfare, an analysis reveals
- Computing
Winning against a computer isn’t in the cards for poker pros
Poker-playing computers beat professional players at heads-up no-limit Texas Hold’em.
- Quantum Physics
Readers amazed by Amasia
Quantum spookiness, shifting landmasses and more in reader feedback.
- Planetary Science
Europa lander mission takes another step toward reality
NASA is working on a possible lander mission in which the main science goal would be to search for signs of life on Jupiter’s moon Europa.
- Astronomy
Citizen scientists are providing stunning new views of Jupiter
A camera aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft is giving citizen scientists a crack at discovering never-before-seen features of Jupiter.
- Computing
Speech recognition has come a long way in 50 years
Early versions of computer speech recognition relied on word sounds. Now, they add pattern recognition and a lot of statistics.
- Materials Science
Germanium computer chips gain ground on silicon — again
Having pushed silicon to its limit, engineers are turning back to germanium.
- Tech
Bat robot takes wing
Unlike other aerial robots that use whirling rotor blades to fly, the Bat Bot relies on soft, silicone-based wings to glide, swoop and turn.
- Tech
Legos inspire versatile fluid-filled devices
Tiny devices shuttle fluid around using reconfigurable Lego-like bricks.
