Sound Waves For Brain Waves

Researchers use ultrasonic pulses to control the brain

Engineers Are Doing Well by Doing Good

The data

Keeping Watch On Glucose

New monitors help fight the long-term complications of diabetes

Synthetic Skin

Can robots, computers, and chip-making techniques save tissue engineering and bring internal organs to market?

Breathe Deeply

The back story

Sound Waves For Brain Waves

Researchers use ultrasonic pulses to control the brain

The Cellphone and the Hearing Aid: The Odd Couple

Cellphones and hearing aids aren't always compatible in close proximity, but they're starting to get along

Fiber to the Brain

Polymer nanowires threaded through the bloodstream may be a practical way to enter the cranium

Cheap Microfluidic Device Made From Paper and Tape

Harvard scientists hope to reduce the cost of medical tests

Colon Cancer Screening, The Easy Way

Radiology researchers devise a workaround for a nasty problem

A Better Camera Pill

Brain-wave Test Challenges Vegetative-State Diagnosis

Tests using an EEG have shown unexpected cortical functioning in vegetative patients

Bioethics and The Brain

Microelectronics and medical imaging are bringing us closer to a world where mind reading is possible and blindness banished—but we may not want to live there

Brain-wave Test Challenges Vegetative-State Diagnosis

Tests using an EEG have shown unexpected cortical functioning in vegetative patients

Can Machines Be Conscious?

Yes—and a new Turing test might prove it

Economics Of The Singularity

Stuffed into skyscrapers by the billion, brainy bugbots will be the knowledge workers of the future

How to Talk Like a Salesman

Short answer: by learning to think like one

Neuromorphic Vision Chips

ICs that mimic the structure of the retina turn shifting light and shade into moving edges and surfaces, much as the eyes do in serving the visual cortex.

Colon Cancer Screening, The Easy Way

Radiology researchers devise a workaround for a nasty problem

Virtual-Reality Test Reveals Hidden Concussion Damage

A technology that can tell when athletes are ready to get back in the game

A Better Camera Pill

Metamaterials Breakthrough Brings Invisibility Closer

Negative refraction of visible light is a step toward invisibility

Biological Warfare Canaries

In the face of germ warfare, just knowing you are under attack is half the battle

Winner: The Revolution Will Be Prosthetized

Darpa's prosthetic arm gives amputees new hope

Winners & Losers VI

Special report

You Tell Us

Not everything is a clear-cut winner or loser. Sometimes it's hard to tell whether we'll someday look back and say, "How did we ever live without that?" or "I guess it seemed like a good idea at the time." Here's your chance to weigh in now

You Tell Us: What Your Tattoo Says About You