Gallery: A Freaky Anti-Rubber Is Still Weirding Scientists Out
Konakovic, et al.01mask-hires.jpg
Computer model of Max Planck's head formed from an auxetic copper sheet.
Konakovic, et al.02paper-8.jpg
Close-up view of flat copper sheet cut into linked triangles.
Konakovic, et al.03paper-4.jpg
Auxetic shoe on a 3D-printed base.
Konakovic, et al.04shoe-flat-piece.jpg
Flat sheet before being reshaped into a shoe.
Konakovic, et al.05fabrication-shoe.jpg
Auxetic shoe on a 3D-printed base.
Konakovic, et al.06paper-13.jpg
Computer models of two face masks formed from the same auxetic sheet.
Konakovic, et al.07paper-31.jpg
Computer model of an auxetic lamp shade that is stable in both closed (left) and open (right) positions.
Humans Watched This Supernova Explode Nearly a Millennium Ago. Now You Can See It in High Definition
The new image isn’t just stunning—it may also provide clues about how this star survived its own explosion.
Jorge Garay
Scientists Trapped an Antimatter Particle for Months to Study Its Secrets
These elusive and reactive particles have been challenging to hold on to and even more challenging to study, but a new method paves the way for tests on the differences between matter and antimatter.
Jorge Garay
The Anthropic S-1 Filing Is Also an AI Doomsday Primer
Anthropic thinks “closing the loop” is the best path to AI triumph—and a recipe for “existential” threats to humanity.
Brian Barrett
How This Tiny Startup Built the World’s Safest Bike Helmet
Inspired by head-banging woodpeckers, Vancouver-based Pikio Labs has discovered a new approach to skull protection.
Chris Haslam
Meta Finally Ditched the Cameras—and Made Its Best Smart Glasses Yet
No cameras? No problem. Ditching the surveillance baggage makes Meta’s audio-only frames surprisingly easy to live with.
Boone Ashworth
I Did Push-Ups With Snap’s Chunky AR Glasses
They fit better than they look and stay put when you move, but Snap’s $2,195 Specs still feel like a developer prototype in search of a purpose.
Boone Ashworth
The ‘Exotic Physics’ Behind a Mysterious 1,000-Mile Cloud on Mars
The cloud has baffled astronomers since its discovery in 2018. Now, a new study offers a possible cause for its appearance.
Tereza Ondráčková
The Science Behind the Nobel-Winning Technology That Controls Neurons With Light
Optogenetics revolutionized neuroscience, but its origins come from an entirely brainless organism—an alga.
Fernanda González
Formlabs Has a 3D Printer for Normies
The Form Studio 1 is a $699 desktop-sized printer that fits on a desk and only stinks a little bit.
Boone Ashworth
Anthropic Says It Will Revolutionize Biology—Some Day
In breathless press releases and posts, the company has touted its models’ ability to deliver scientific breakthroughs. But its IPO filing taps the brakes on just how fast its AI will lead to big discoveries.
Emily Mullin
Life Is Asymmetric. The Scientists Who Figured Out Why Won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Henri Kagan and Kensō Soai designed chemical reactions producing only one of the two mirror-image forms of a molecule—an important finding for the synthesis of pharmaceuticals and other biological substances.
Fernanda González
Jensen Huang’s Vision for Europe Runs on Plug-In Data Centers
At Nvidia’s GTC in Berlin, Huang unveiled the company’s new plug-in data center—the DSX Pod—as the key to unlocking Europe’s AI infrastructure lag. Oh, and autonomous humanoid robotics.
Tom Bristow