Creative Frontiers
The discoveries, inventions, and startups shaping the future
Your Next Shot Might Be Inspired by a Spider
A study of prey-catching arachnids sheds new light on the biomechanics of venom-injection.
The New Math of Subways
New software can take simple data and infer exactly what's going on across a transportation system.
A Breathalyzer That Can Diagnose Cancer
Breathprints can give doctors information that patients won't or can't offer.
For the First Time, We Have a Detailed Model of the Universe
And its rendering stretches almost all the way back to the Big Bang.
An Acid-Spewing ATM That Protects Itself From Thieves
How scientists turned a beetle's unusual defense mechanism into technology.
Scientists Made Color-Changing Paint Out of Gold Nanoparticles
It's like Hypercolor but for touch instead of heat.
This Is Big: Scientists Just Found Earth's First Cousin
Meet Kepler-186f, the closest thing to our planet ever discovered—and maybe our best shot at locating life elsewhere in the universe.
'Coffee Flour': The Java You Can Eat
Coffee's future may involve some not-so-average Joe.
Soon to Grace the NYC Skyline: Towers Made of Fungus
A cutting-edge building material promises structures that are both sustainable and ... compostable.