3D-printed ‘balloon banjo’ is ready for pickin’
The banjo is an infamously difficult to learn musical instrument. Mastering multiple open tunings makes the learning curve much steeper than the guitar, while its many complex finger picking and…
August 2026
Danish town plans for underground parking garage, finds long-lost medieval convent
Archaeologists in Denmark have finally pinpointed the remnants of a long lost 13th-century monastery, although its location may dismay local sports fans. With the help of ground-penetrating radar (GPR), researchers…
The world’s largest electric plane takes flight
The world’s largest, fully battery-powered jet officially completed its maiden flight. The successful test run marks a noteworthy step forward for long-awaited electric aircraft and battery technology broadly, but don’t…
We just got a glimpse at what NASA’s Skyfall helicopters will look like in action
If you just can’t wait for NASA’s new Mars helicopters to get to work, you can now see what they would look like in action. This week, the agency released…
Wildfire smoke now bigger prenatal threat than human sources of air pollution
In 1965, a presidential advisory panel issued a report warning that pervasive chemical and carbon pollution was harming environmental health and changing the climate. Five years later, President Richard Nixon…
All-terrain wheelchair debuts at Zion National Park
Get ready to explore on the Extreme Motus. Visitors to Zion National Park with mobility challenges or disabilities can now enjoy more of the Utah park’s spectacular trails by renting…
What to remove from photos before posting online
You might already be familiar with the online game GeoGuessr. But if you’re not, it’s where you get served up a Google Street View image at random, and you have…
So much solar: Digging into the list of every US power plant that went online this year
It’s been a wild first half of the year in the US power sector, with announcements of gigantic natural gas power plants and some long-awaited renewable energy projects coming online.…
Man builds supersonic trebuchet in his backyard
Generating a sonic boom is usually only the result of immense cosmic forces or highly advanced aircraft designs, but it is possible to create one in your backyard. Aerospace engineer…
A suitcase-sized satellite may unlock the secrets of the early universe
The big bang may have started everything we know and love, but there wasn’t much to show for it at first. After that monumental release of initial energy, it took…