Science and Creativity

A picture of a robot in a hospital room and a patient laying on the bed sick.

Tommy the robot nurse helps Italian doctors care for COVID-19 patients

Robots like Tommy can measure blood pressure and oxygen saturation for the patients in the ICU. They also limit the number of direct contact doctors and nurses have with patients, thus reducing the risk of infection.

Tommy the robot nurse helps Italian doctors care for COVID-19 patients
Looking up at the sunshine coming through tree tops in a forest.

Scientists say nature therapies don’t just feel good — they save trillions in health costs

Scientists say nature therapies don’t just feel good — they save trillions in health costs
A tent stands on Antarctica’s sea ice.

Antarctic robot might lead way to life beyond Earth

Antarctic robot might lead way to life beyond Earth
A woman walks by a mural in New York.

Why are so many languages spoken in some places and so few in others?

Why are so many languages spoken in some places and so few in others?
A roulette wheel is spun.

The economics of risk taking in the workplace

The economics of risk taking in the workplace
A radio telescope dish at sunset.

How Australia helped show the world the live moon landing

It's thanks to the Parkes Observatory in Australia that people around the world got to see the moon landing on television screens in 1969.

How Australia helped show the world the live moon landing
A woman's hands hold a medical tube next to a small box.

Gene therapy is a game changer for medicine — but comes with a hefty price tag

As genetic information becomes more readily available because of companies like 23andMe, scientists are finding new ways to treat diseases through gene therapy.

Gene therapy is a game changer for medicine — but comes with a hefty price tag
moonshot

This author says that innovative ideas — 'loonshots' — are too often shut down

History is full of examples of loonshots that have been dismissed by those in the mainstream.

This author says that innovative ideas — 'loonshots' — are too often shut down
A black and white photo showing three scientists in an old looking laboratory.

Why history's most famous scientists are usually a bit weird

Obsessed with work, insensitive, socially detached, and neglectful of family and friends — these may not be the most endearing qualities in a person, but they are just a few of the common characteristics a researcher found when studying some of the world’s most famous and prolific inventors.

Why history's most famous scientists are usually a bit weird
Magnified red microbes float among a yellow background

A micro safari through household germs reveals that cleanliness isn’t always a good thing

Take a look around — you might not be able to see them, but they are everywhere. We are surrounded by forests of bacteria and microbes. And it turns out, that might not be such a bad thing. But our obsession with cleanliness could be.

A micro safari through household germs reveals that cleanliness isn’t always a good thing
Hemlock art installation

As Eastern hemlock trees die off, an art installation creates space for reflection and mourning

Climate change is spurring the hemlock wooly adelgid, an invasive insect, to move further north, and it’s bringing down many hemlock trees.

As Eastern hemlock trees die off, an art installation creates space for reflection and mourning
A Mobius strip made with a piece of paper and tape.

The weird world of one-sided objects

The Mobius strip has fascinated environmentalists, artists, engineers, mathematicians and many others ever since its discovery in 1858.

The weird world of one-sided objects
a factory making citronella candles

Why plant-based mosquito repellents are so hard to design

As humanity experiences relentless pressures from disease-carrying mosquitoes in many parts of the world, there is an urgent need for new tools to use against those beasts — because they keep getting scarier.

Why plant-based mosquito repellents are so hard to design
rhino

Can lab-crafted embryos save the northern white rhino?

The northern white rhino is the world's most endangered mammal, and its only two living members are a mother and daughter, living in Kenya's Ol Pejeta Conservancy.

Can lab-crafted embryos save the northern white rhino?
Pajau Vangay

Scientist Pajau Vangay used to make 'pretty code.' Now, she studies guts.

For Vangay, the Immigrant Microbiome Project isn’t just about advancing scientific discovery in an ivory tower lab. It’s about social justice and making science more inclusive.

Scientist Pajau Vangay used to make 'pretty code.' Now, she studies guts.