A quantum device designed by a team of UC Santa Barbara physicists led by Andrew Cleland and John Martinis has been named the 2010 Breakthrough of the Year by the journal Science. Science, the ...

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Every issue of Popular Science begins with two amazing, full-page ...

Science-fiction writers could be excused for complaining that in 2010 their best plotlines were stolen -- by real scientists. Take the work of researchers at the U.S.-based J. Craig Venter Institute, ...

Year-end lists inevitably leave room for debate and criticism, and ours is no exception. It was an eventful year, and we relied on voting among Scientific American editors to cull our candidates. Any ...

Back in March, a group of researchers designed a gadget that moves in ways that can only be described by quantum mechanics -- the set of rules that governs the behavior of tiny things like molecules, ...

What tales were ensconced between the pages of 2010’s best comics? Stories about psychic drugs, lunatic orcs, a lost Norse god, and a certain Toronto boy with relationship troubles. Unlike films, ...

Science fiction makes a lot of predictions about the future — that's really the point, isn't it? The best science fiction looks at the future, trying to see where we are headed and what it will be ...

Herbicide concerns Studies link water polluted by the common farm weed killer atrazine with birth defects and low birth weights in newborn humans (SN: 2/27/10, p. 18). Other work suggests the chemical ...

2010 has been a great year for science books. In addition to new titles from many of my favorite authors, there were also a number of exceptional debut titles this year. (I am not counting myself ...

It is no secret that, in general, i.e. outside of dedicated science reporting venues and the occasional medical report on the evening news, the scientific community does a craptastic job of ...

A new study finds a steady drop since 1945 in disruptive feats as a share of the world’s booming enterprise in scientific and technological advancement. By William J. Broad Miracle vaccines.

Devices that can discern honest statements from lies are much sought after, especially since a 2003 National Research Council report concluded that traditional polygraphs flag stress, not deception.