Innovation

People have strong opinions about pizza -- in terms of passion, it ranks right up there with politics and religion. How did this Italian peasant food become a diet staple?

By Alia Hoyt

You stay behind at work and agree to close up alone. You go into the walk-in freezer to put away some food, and the door shuts behind you. You do everything you can think of, but you can't get it open. Now what?

By Katherine Neer

In movies, bad guys can take over an airplane and start shooting up the place. Wouldn't the plane explode or depressurize as soon as the bullet pierced its skin?

By Marshall Brain

A man has a gun. But this is no ordinary man, and this is no ordinary gun. This isn't a setup for a sci-fi thriller. It's the premise for quantum suicide.

By Josh Clark

A February 2008 blast at a sugar refining plant near Savannah, Ga., killed at least six people. Investigators believe the accident occurred when sugar dust exploded.

By Josh Clark

How does a ball point pen work?

You know that bumper sticker that says "Shoot your TV"? Click here to find out what would happen if you actually tried it (it's best to let us do the dirty work).

By Marshall Brain

On July 2, 2001, heart failure patients gained new hope, as surgeons performed the first artificial heart transplant in nearly two decades. The AbioCor Implantable Replacement Heart is the first completely self-contained artificial heart and is expected to at least double the life expectancy of patients.

By Kevin Bonsor

You see light sticks everywhere during the holidays – especially Halloween. Have you ever wondered why these cool light sources glow? What's happening when you crack one? Take a look inside a light stick.

By Tom Harris

They dispense everything from hairspray to cleaning products to whipped cream. Without them, you'd be doing a whole lot of pumping.

By Tom Harris

Nothing quite thrills like seeing fireworks light up the night sky. A lot of design and planning goes into creating the awe-inspiring shapes we've come to love.

By Karen Kirkpatrick

If you step on a crack, you'll break your mother's back. Surely you know this jingle from childhood. It's a silly example of a correlation with no causation. But there are some real-world instances that we often hear, or maybe even tell?

By Nicholas Gerbis & Melanie Radzicki McManus

Seven million (and counting) YouTube viewers can't be wrong. Nano quadrotors are tiny, autonomous flying machines that have the Internet buzzing.

By Chris Opfer

Bend but don't break: That's the idea behind many of these temblor-thwarting technologies. They may even allow a building's inhabitants to walk out unharmed and start picking up the pieces after the earthquake subsides.

By William Harris

Some truly bizarre and troubling things have been done through the ages in the quest for scientific knowledge. The 10 experiments on this list all made humans into lab rats.

By Maria Trimarchi

You may have heard of Topsy the elephant and her sad demise at the hands of Thomas Edison. But what's the real story?

By Nathan Chandler

Using a portable toilet at an outdoor concert or festival might be disgusting. But it sure beats going in a field! Now, imagine if your job were to clean out those suckers.

By Dave Roos

Sure, novelty foods can seem gimmicky sometimes, but color-changing ice cream is a treat that's fun for your taste buds and your eyes. Learn the chemistry behind the confection — it's sweeter than you think.

By Nicholas Gerbis

Science is forever uncovering the mysteries of our universe, but some questions remain elusive. What topics have us still scratching our heads?

By Nathan Chandler

Animal testing has a long, gruesome history, but it's also saved countless human lives.

By Oisin Curran

Before the scientific method came along, science dabbled in some pretty far-out ideas in its youth. Remember miasmas? And spontaneous generation? And the four elements?

By Nicholas Gerbis

Most loss of life in earthquakes comes from people being trapped inside crumbling buildings. And engineers have come up with many techniques to lessen the structural damage. But is there a way to make a building completely earthquake-proof?

By Laurie L. Dove

Surprisingly, the date stamped on your unopened can of tuna doesn't really have much to do with how safe it is to eat. So what does it mean, and how can you decide whether to eat it or chuck it?

By Laurie L. Dove

You might have heard of George Washington Carver and Neil deGrasse Tyson. But what about Patricia Bath? Or Percy Julian? Meet 10 African American scientists who have made the world a better place for everyone.

By Laurie L. Dove

Ice sculptures can range from small tabletop pieces to entire buildings. In this fundamentally temporary medium, art and engineering combine to form sparkling, breathtaking effects.

By Nathan Chandler