An experimental, solar-powered drone capable of beaming internet down to Earth is set to take off. The drone is the product of a tightlipped partnership between Softbank and AeroVironment, an American aerospace company, aimed at delivering 5G and Internet of Things connectivity from the skies.

In a significant step for marine and genetic science, researchers have decoded the genome of the great white shark. The genetic code revealed a wealth of insight into what makes these creatures so successful from an evolutionary standpoint.

The final images from the Kepler Space Telescope have arrived. After nearly a decade of operation, NASA’s groundbreaking telescope ran out of fuel last year and was placed into permanent sleep mode on October 30. But days earlier, it captured one last image — a full view of the sky.

Steam power might be poised to make a comeback. Researchers at University of Central Florida have built an experimental spacecraft that runs on steam — and it’s not nearly as ridiculous as it might sound.

A new system developed by neuroengineers can turn thoughts into intelligible speech. Powered by speech synthesizers and A.I., the technology lays the groundwork for helping individuals who are unable to speak due to disability regain their capacity to communicate verbally.

Researchers have developed a new kind of sensor designed to enable artificial skin to sense pressure, vibrations, and even magnetic fields. The technology developed by engineers, chemists, and biologists could help burn victims and amputees “feel” again through their prosthetic limbs.

Taking up just about 97 square feet, the Ecocubo is designed to be both environmentally friendly and inconspicuous among its surroundings.

A tiny chip being developed by a semiconductor company called Wiliot could harvest the energy it needs out of thin air, the company claims. No battery needed. The paper-thin device pulls power from ambient radio frequencies like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and cell signals.

John Szivek, a scientist at the University of Arizona is investigating ways to mend broken bones using 3D printing and adult stem cells. The research is geared toward helping veterans who suffer combat injuries, which can often lead to prolonged ailments and bone defects.

China’s “artificial sun” has reached a temperature of 180 million ºF with a heating power of 10 megawatts -- six times hotter than the center of the sun. The device is designed to harness the energy of nuclear fusion, and could mark progress towards fusion as a clean energy source.

In order to bring the internet to those who lack it, a company called Loon is launching balloons into the stratosphere. From more than 12 miles up, these balloons beam connectivity over a large area on the ground. Loon hopes to empower people to build businesses, improve healthcare, and even increase crop yield.

Metrologists are meeting at the General Conference on Weights and Measures in Versailles to vote on whether to redefine the kilogram as a constant that can be observed in the natural world. Rather than defined by a block of metal, weights will be expressed in terms of the Planck constant (h).

Frogs have partially regrown amputated limbs thanks to a bioreactor developed by a team of researchers at Tufts University. By jump-starting tissue repair, the bioreactor was shown to help the amphibians regenerate a bigger, more complete appendage than they usually do in the wild.

In a new series of antimatter experiments, CERN researchers aim to unravel one of the many unknowns of antimatter — whether it falls in response to gravity at the same rate as ordinary matter, or if it instead behaves peculiarly. The researchers have developed two experiments called ALPHA-g and GBAR.

The narrative artbook follows the journey of a young traveler, Michelle, and her robot, Skip, as they head west to the Pacific coast through an alternative America torn apart by civil war and the trappings of military-grade virtual reality.

In a new book, Last Days of the Concorde, journalist and author Samme Chittum delves into the mindset that inspired engineers to design this marvel, the series of events that led to its fatal crash, and the possibility that commercial SSTs may someday take to the skies again.

Researchers at the University of Geneva in Switzerland have proposed a plan to use ultra-hot and ultra-short laser beams to punch through cloud layers and transmit information from satellites to Earth. The technique could be used to send thousands of times more information more securely.

Healthy mice have been born from two mothers, and later went on to bear healthy offspring of their own, according to a recent paper published by researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The research could pave the way for advanced breeding methods in other mammals.

By mimicking the vision of mantis shrimp, researchers were able to make significant improvements on today’s commercial cameras. They hope their technology can help mitigate accidents by letting self-driving vehicles see more clearly and making underwater GPS more accurate.

Thanks to the achievements of this year's winners of the Nobel Prizes in physics, chemistry, and medicine, we can better fight caner, probe quantum biology, and manufacture greener chemicals. One winner also includes the first female recipient in physics in 55 years.

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.