Science News

(Phys.org)--A combined team of researchers from the University of Kiel in Germany and the University of Maryland in the U.S. has created a shape memory alloy that is able to be bent and snap back to its original form up ...

A plan to prohibit psychoactive substances not covered by existing law will only make matters worse, warns former UK government drug adviser David Nutt (full text available to subscribers)

How might future visitors to Mars build shelter? NASA's 3D Printed Habitat Challenge aims to foster an innovative, sustainable solution, says Sam Ortega (full text available to subscribers)

One four-legged machine is making great leaps in the field of robotics.

There's a feline parasite that makes us take unnecessary risks and could even cause psychosis. And up to 4 billion of us are unknowingly infected (full text available to subscribers)

I open my eyes to a gritty, urban skyline dotted with airships. Looking down, I find my feet, the rooftop's edge, and a vertiginous drop to the street below. Seconds...

I open my eyes to a gritty, urban skyline dotted with airships. Looking down, I find my feet, the rooftop's edge, and a vertiginous drop to the street below. Seconds...

Access to healthcare and diagnostic tools aren't always easy to come by in many parts of the world. In this e-book from KQED, discover how engineers from Stanford University designed an easy-to-use, easy-to-fix, paper mi...

From fragrant fruit stalls to stinking sewers, find the nicest-smelling route around town with geotagged photo captions

Physicist Jim Pivarski explains how particle detectors tell us about the smallest constituents of matter. The previous article in this series introduced tracking, a technique that allows physicists to see the trajectorie...

When these six climate impacts occur, they will dramatically transform the planet.

Apes -- which include gorillas, bonobos, chimpanzees, orangutans, gibbons and siamangs -- are humanity's closest living relatives, sharing about 98 percent of their DNA.

A gentle dance involving two chunks of dirty ice may explain the distinctive duck-like shape of the Rosetta probe's quarry

The sense of awe we feel from gazing at the Grand Canyon or up at some mind-bogglingly tall trees seems to make us more considerate, helpful and ethically aware

Trotting along at 5 MPH (8 kph), an autonomous robot built by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has gained the ability to recognize moving obstacles and jump over them.

Soldiers are often under pressure to learn and remember skills from their training up to months or years later, sometimes in the heat of combat. Now, the U.S. military's R&D agency is funding research on ways to boost sk...

One woman's snack break turned sour this week when she reached into a bag of grapes and felt the bite of a venomous black widow spider. But black widows aren't as horrifying as you might think.

Three colorful dragon heads made of clay have been discovered in a huge palace in Xanadu, a city constructed by the grandsons of Genghis Khan. The finds reveal the colors of the legendary city.

Images reveal recent discoveries in Xanadu, built by the grandsons of Genghis Khan. Archaeologists excavating the city have now discovered colorful dragon heads made of finely baked clay.

Skates, stick, helmet and wearable tech? At the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, ice hockey is getting a high-tech boost

The risk of heart disease leaps with just a single cigarette - but the good news is that quitting the cancer sticks always pays (full text available to subscribers)

It's tempting to blame corruption on bad morals. But scientists who study organizations say that corruption -- or abuse of power for private gain -- is very complicated.