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Astronomical interferometry (noun, “As-troh-NAH-mih-kul IN-tur-fur-AH-meh-tree”) Astronomical interferometry is a technique to view distant things in space. It combines data from multiple telescopes to image a celestial object. When light collected by two or more telescopes is mixed, those light waves…

ChatGPT and other artificial-intelligence tools are already reshaping our digital lives. But our AI interactions are now about to get physical. Humanoid robots powered by a certain type of AI could better sense and react to the world than past machines. Such…

Like most little kids, Anne Kort was fascinated by dinosaurs. But by high school, she had become interested in other kinds of prehistoric life. “I just wanted to learn about everything that wasn’t a dinosaur,” says Kort. “I like all…

Earth’s tundra is warming about four times faster than the rest of the planet. The rising fever in this Arctic ecosystem is boosting the production of carbon dioxide (CO2) by underground microbes, a new study suggests. If true, it could…

It was a drizzly day, last year, when two researchers first took on the Wall of Death. This amusement park attraction near Parma, Italy, looks something like a giant wooden barrel with the top sawed off. But on this dreary…

Kids like Tola Martins in Disney’s Iwájú don’t drive to school, they fly. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley pulled a similar stunt when they missed the train to Hogwarts. As did Flint Lockwood when he had to stop a giant…

Superconductor (noun, “SOOP-er-con-DUCK-tor”) A superconductor is a material that conducts electricity without resistance. Many materials conduct electricity. That is, they allow electric currents to flow through them. Such materials are called conductors. For instance, metal wires conduct electricity that powers…