Tech
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Physics
New type of catalyst could aid hydrogen fuel
A substance that can switch states might make an efficient catalyst for extracting hydrogen from water.
- Tech
Computer program bests world champion 4-1 in strategy game Go
Google DeepMind’s Go-playing computer program AlphaGo has topped Lee Sedol, the world’s reigning Go player, in a five-game match in South Korea.
- Materials Science
New process encourages ice to slip, slide away
Researchers discover new process for making durable ice-phobic materials.
- Tech
Computer takes first game in match against Go world champion
The computer program AlphaGo takes the lead in a five-match challenge of the strategy game Go.
- Materials Science
New carbon cluster has high storage capacity
A new carbon structure could store gases or liquids in honeycomb-shaped cells.
- Chemistry
After 75 years, plutonium is still NASA’s fuel of choice
On the 75th anniversary of the discovery of plutonium, the radioactive element is still not a major source of fuel for nuclear power plants in the United States.
- Health & Medicine
Lead’s damage can last a lifetime, or longer
Scientists have known for decades that lead is toxic to the brain, but the mark lead exposure leaves on children may actually stretch into adulthood, and perhaps even future generations.
- Tech
New clues illuminate mysteries of ancient Egyptian portraits
New analyses shed light on how ancient Egyptian “mummy paintings” were made.
- Earth
New app puts an earthquake detector in your pocket
Smartphone app MyShake uses motion-sensing accelerometers to detect nearby quakes. The app could provide early warnings of incoming tremors, its creators say.
- Tech
This roach-inspired robot can wiggle through tight spaces
Cockroaches inspired a compressible, crevice-navigating robot.
- Tech
‘Rise of the Robots’ chronicles race to build disaster-relief bots
NOVA’s “Rise of the Robots” lays out the difficulties of making humanoid robots that can help out in disasters.
- Tech
Pill measures gut gas
A gas-sensing ingestible capsule tested in pigs could someday help doctors assess people’s gastrointestinal health.
