CRISPR is a breakthrough technology with humble origins. Scientists first discovered the powerful gene editor in bacteria that were using it as a weapon against invading viruses called phages. Phages ...

Despite their brief history, computers and AI have fundamentally changed what we see, what we know, and what we do. Little is as important for the world’s future and our own lives as how this history ...

Our cells are like the ultimate soft robots. Made mostly of a liquid interior wrapped inside a fatty shell, they split, stretch, roam, and squeeze into every nook and cranny of the body. Actual robots ...

With their bright blue bases, yellow gears, and exposed circuit tops, the 3D-printed robots look like a child’s toys. Yet as a roughly two-dozen-member collective, they can flow around obstacles ...

Our bodies are constantly breaking down. Over time, their built-in repair mechanisms also fail. Knee cartilage grinds away. Hip joints no longer support weight. Treatments for breast cancer and other ...

Where would we be without knowledge? Everything from the building of spaceships to the development of new therapies has come about through the creation, sharing, and validation of knowledge. It is ...

Designing drugs is a bit like playing with Polly Pocket. The vintage toy is a plastic clam shell that contains a multi-bedroom house, a skating rink, a disco dance floor, and other fun scenarios. Kids ...

When the gene editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 rocketed to fame more than a decade ago, it transformed biotechnology. Faster, cheaper, and safer than previous methods, the tool helped scientists gain insight ...

Our hands are works of art. A rigid skeleton provides structure. Muscles adjust to different weights. Our skin, embedded with touch, pressure, and temperature sensors, provides immediate feedback on ...

For nearly 18 years, Tim Friede injected himself with doses of venom from the world’s deadliest snakes. A snake enthusiast, Friede was regularly at risk of snakebites and always kept vials of ...

My nephew couldn’t stop playing Minecraft when he was seven years old. One of the most popular games ever, Minecraft is an open world in which players build terrain and craft various items and tools.

Let a mouse nose around a house, and it will rapidly find food and form a strategy to return to it without getting caught. Given the same task, an AI would require millions of training examples and ...