By engineering E. coli bacteria to respond to light, scientists have guided it like tiny drones toward patterns that depict Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. The researchers want to show that these engineered bacteria may someday be used as “microbricks" and microscopic living propellors.

In the vein of “deep fakes,” the A.I.-augmented videos infamous for superimposing one person’s face onto another’s body, Recycle-GAN, a new system from Carnegie Mellon University, presents another case for how difficult it will be to distinguish fiction from reality in the future.

Dynamic 3D-printed “motion sculptures” created by researchers at MIT offer athletes a unique way to visualize their bodies in motion. The system they’ve developed uses an algorithm that scans 2D videos of a person in motion and generates data points that can be printed into sculptures.

Oliver Bendel worries that our anthropocentric, high-tech future fails to consider the well-being of Earth’s other creatures: "Machine ethics has so far concentrated almost exclusively on automatic actions that affect people." Bendel has now proposed design ideas for animal-friendly autonomous machines.

A playful new Kickstarter campaign aims to supply remote communities with a steady source of renewable electricity while giving backers a handful of dairy-inspired tech devices. The campaign, SunMade Cheese, is the newest venture from Yolk.

In September, NASA will launch an advanced satellite called ICESat-2 (short for Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2). Scientists will use the satellite’s laser instruments to measure changes in elevation of land ice in polar regions like Greenland and Antarctica.

Like many tech products that emerge on crowdfunding platforms, Instadreamer is at once imaginative, intriguing, and somewhat suspect. The bracelet’s creators say their device will let users “take control of their dreams” by inducing vivid, lucid dreaming episodes.

An unassuming device developed by engineers at the University of British Columbia could pave the way for ultrasounds scanners that cost as little as $100. Barely bigger than a credit card, the UBC ultrasound sensor is mobile, wearable, and can be powered by a smartphone.

Studio System+ expands on the company’s flagship printer by offering more functions and the ability to print smaller metal parts with higher resolution. Studio Fleet is a bundled system of printers, debinders, and furnaces that support rapid fabrication of high-quality, complex metal pieces.

An artificial intelligence algorithm has bested experts at predicting patient deaths from heart disease. In a study published recently in the journal PLOS One, researchers from the Francis Crick Institute make yet another case for using A.I. to inform medical diagnoses.

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley are currently working on a high-tech solution to make better use of the water we have at hand. They’ve engineered sand, coating the grains in compounds that react with and help destroy organic pollutants found in stormwater.

Two new imaging techniques developed by researchers at the University of Kansas blend science and art in a haunting and captivating way. The techniques allow for photos to be taken of 50-plus-year-old vertebrate specimens, depicting the intricacies of their anatomy.

Researchers have pioneered a new way to harness the sun’s energy. By combining organic and synthetic parts in a process called semi-artificial photosynthesis, they’ve developed a proof of concept that can split water into hydrogen and oxygen using modified photosynthetic mechanisms from plants.

4-Mation is like a modern reimagining of the Victorian zoetrope device. Whereas the classic design relied on 2D images, kind of like a flip book, 4-Mation uses 3D objects and strobing lights to create dynamic visuals.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota have 3D printed a prototype for a synthetic eyeball, equipped with photodetectors that allow the device to pick up on light. The prototype could help usher in more advanced devices for visually impaired people.

Researchers have created an A.I. system that can tell the difference between real and fake news — often with better success rates than its human counterparts. Such a system may help social media platforms and search engines filter out articles meant to misinform.

In a recent paper in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, researchers show that female mice are immune to the cognitive damage that results from simulated space radiation. The study may pave the way toward treating this hazardous consequence of space travel.

Researchers have developed an AI-generated anonymity system that “paints” over video frames, using inspiration from masters like Picasso and Van Gogh to reimagine a person’s appearance. The goal is to minimize outer resemblance but maintain fidelity to a subject’s inner character.

New research out of École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland might help some amputees better mesh what they see with what they feel. In a recently published paper, the researchers show how an amputee’s brain can be tricked into believing that a prosthetic hand belongs to their own body.

Lyd is a battery-powered bottle that’s something like a sippy cup for adults. Its no-spill solution is a specialized lid that uses an algorithm to detect when your lips are on the bottle. If you’re the type of grownup who constantly spills beverages on yourself, this may be perfect for you.

Thanks to the California Academy of Sciences, you can access more than 700 scientific specimens and artifacts from its world-class collection via the online 3D and virtual reality platform Sketchfab. The collection includes items like an assortment of rare bones, Navajo bracelets, and intricate basketry.

A biohacker, pharmahacker, and two bioethicists walk into a bar. We ordered them a metaphorical round and had a chat about the risks and rewards of DIY medicine — from unsanctioned gene therapy to medication made on the kitchen counter.

In a bid to improve quality of life for cancer patients, a team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have turned to machine learning to help avoid toxicity from cancer medications. The researchers are specifically targeting glioblastoma, the most aggressive form of brain cancer.

There’s Waldo is the brain child of Matt Reed, a creative technologist at the creative agency Redpepper. Reed and his colleagues built the bot out of a uArm Swift Pro that’s controlled by a Raspberry Pi computer. Facial recognition software helps spot the character in under 4.5 seconds.

Researchers have created multifunctional microbots using to a new fabrication process that lets them build millimeter-scale machines with micrometer-scale features. To demonstrate their breakthrough, they created a transparent spider bot modeled off of the brilliant Australian peacock spider.

A team of roboticists and marine biologists from Harvard University have created a sampling device that’s soft and flexible for grabbing fragile organisms. What’s more, the device can be 3D printed on the fly so that researchers can make modifications to suit different organisms while out in the field.

Researchers have shown that genetically engineered silkworms can produce higher yields of spider silk. By using the gene editing tool TALEN, researchers replaced a one of the silkworms’ normal genes with that of the golden orb-web spider.

The Spyra One is a next generation water cannon that shoots single rounds up to 30 feet. It features a sleek design, bright colors, and digital display to show how much ammo is remaining. A Kickstarter campaign to fund the project has exploded.

New research suggests that the likelihood that life will develop on an Earth-like planet is closely connected with the light given off by its host star. The findings help pin down candidate planets, while weeding out those less likely to host life.

Just as Hurricane Irma battered the Caribbean in early September, a series of solar flares erupted from the sun and caused emergency radio communications to go offline for hours. The NOAA reported an eight-hour loss of high-frequency radio used by ham radio operators and other emergency bands.

Using a respiration sensor placed under the nose and bone conduction headphones near the ears, the device allows a wearer to hear her own breathing through slightly altered auditory feedback. In a pair of pilot studies, this feedback caused wearers to feel more stressed and more sexually aroused.

A team of scientists recently published a paper detailing a new plant breeding technique that could revolutionize the way we grow crops -- so we got in touch with them to hear more.

The 2018 Drone Awards showcases some of the best aerial photography around. From scenes depicting the perils of climate change to abstract art and images of our built environment, the more than 4,400 submissions from 101 countries, the Drone Awards has selected seven winners.

With the right infrastructure, major cities around the world may someday grow a fraction of their produce in towering “plantscrapers,” hybrid buildings that combine vertical farms with residential or business spaces.

An asteroid impact event is unlikely — but the consequence would be catastrophic. As As CEO of The Planetary Society, Bill Nye, the fun-loving science guy spearheaded a recent Kickstarter campaign called Kick Asteroid! with the aim to raise money and raise awareness about these outer space threats.

In the tradition of bio-inspiration, a German designer named Max Jürgensen in a labor of love has created a stunning lamp that mimics the appearance and movement of jellyfish. The Jellyfish Motion Lights, now being crowdfunded, are part lamp, part installation, and completely captivating.

Foci is a biometric wearable that looks a lot like a bluetooth earpiece that you wear on your waist. Using tiny sensors and a machine learning algorithm to monitor your breathing patterns, Foci helps identify your cognitive state and keep your mind on track if it begins to wander.

In an effort to create more sustainable and affordable housing for future populations, the United Nations and Yale University recently teamed together and created the Ecological Living Module, a roughly 240-square-foot tiny house, which they designed to test ways to minimize water and natural resources.