Smart Takes

Taking inspiration from the Velcro fastener that lines shoes, secures camping equipment and fastens medical aids, German engineers have designed a steel version for extreme loads and environments...

7 | September 8, 2009 6:39am | By Andrew Nusca

Printing is getting smarter, but it'll be interesting to see if more intelligent printers and paper means more profits. Hewlett-Packard is touting more environmentally sustainable paper for direct...

September 8, 2009 6:31am | By Larry Dignan

A provocative paper published this month argues for artificially reducing the suffering of livestock by engineering animals that lack the ability to sense pain.

18 | September 4, 2009 12:20pm | By Andrew Nusca

A scientist has developed a gel that stimulates the growth of stem cells to helps damaged brains recover from traumatic injuries.

2 | September 4, 2009 11:31am | By Andrew Nusca

Mitsubishi and IHI Corp. said they will join a $21 billion Japanese project to build a massive solar-powered generator in space within 30 years and beam electricity to earth.

23 | September 4, 2009 11:09am | By Andrew Nusca

The unemployment rate in the U.S. ticked up to 9.7 percent in August, according to the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics. But that unemployment rate varies dramatically by education...

September 4, 2009 7:05am | By Larry Dignan

Parts of hybrid vehicles contain rare earth metals, a little-known class of elements on the periodic table. Their increased demand worldwide is soon expected to exceed supply. Oil, meet neodymium.

5 | September 3, 2009 12:54pm | By Andrew Nusca

Researchers have developed an electronic "tongue" that can digitally measure the taste of sweetness. The innovation may be a way of detecting early warning of diseases such as pneumonia and lung...

1 | September 3, 2009 12:33pm | By Andrew Nusca

If you're an athlete who swears by taking painkillers to numb the pain, it may be all in your head. Worse, you may be hindering your own workout.

1 | September 3, 2009 10:59am | By Andrew Nusca

A team led by researchers has successfully tested a structural system that helps a multi-story building hold itself together through a magnitude-seven earthquake. Even better? After the 'quake is...

September 3, 2009 9:54am | By Andrew Nusca

How does a woman in a remote village in India get the information she needs for her ailing child? Through the use of cheap and increasingly accessible mobile phones and voice based applications...

September 3, 2009 2:59am | By Larry Dignan

A new generation of contact lenses built with tiny circuits and LEDs could make bionic eyesight a reality.

21 | September 2, 2009 7:11am | By Andrew Nusca

There are more genetic differences within ethnic groups than between them, indicating that distinct 'ethnic groups' exist in the mind more than the body, according to new research.

16 | September 2, 2009 6:46am | By Andrew Nusca

Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley have built what they claim is the world's smallest semiconductor laser, capable of generating visible light in a space smaller than a single...

September 2, 2009 6:38am | By Andrew Nusca

Not to be left out of the "green" car wars, Mercedes-Benz announced on Monday the "first fuel-cell car to enter series production." The upside? The only thing that comes out of the car's tailpipe...

3 | September 1, 2009 11:37am | By Andrew Nusca

If you're looking for something to really get the eco-friendly crowd up in arms, look no further than Raser Technologies' plug-in Hummer H3e, which can get 100 miles per gallon.

3 | September 1, 2009 11:16am | By Andrew Nusca

IBM scientists in Zurich, Switzerland have taken the highest-resolution image ever of an individual molecule. The breakthrough helps researchers determine how a charge moves through molecules,...

1 | September 1, 2009 10:57am | By Andrew Nusca

Disney's $4 billion acquisition of Marvel, home of Spiderman, X-Men and The Incredible Hulk, has been described in many terms. It's impossible to describe the deal without mentioning that...

September 1, 2009 2:21am | By Larry Dignan

Have you seen BMW's new turbodiesel hybrid electric concept car? It's called the "Vision EfficientDynamics Concept" and it focuses on cranking out performance from a three-cylinder turbodiesel...

5 | August 31, 2009 3:13pm | By Andrew Nusca

Depression in humans is not a disorder, but a mental adaption that has cognitive advantages, according to two scientists. The science behind the discovery might surprise you.

4 | August 31, 2009 2:14pm | By Andrew Nusca