The Discovery Files

Harvard University researchers have created a gel-based audio speaker that demonstrates the capabilities of ionic conductors, which were long thought to be limited in their application.

Researchers at Brown University have pinpointed the brainwave frequencies and brain region associated with sleep-enhanced learning of a sequential finger tapping task akin to typing, or playing piano.

When mice ate a diet of 25 percent extra sugar, females died at twice the normal rate and males were a quarter less likely to hold territory and reproduce, according to a toxicity test developed at the University of Utah.

Environmental researchers at Harvard University have published evidence that significant reductions in mercury emissions will be necessary just to stabilize current levels of the toxic element in the environment.

A new technology developed by researchers at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University may make spotty streaming and data-hogging downloads a thing of the past.

A research team at Harvard University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has demonstrated the ability to 3-D print a battery.

A toxin dangerous to humans may help E. coli fend off aquatic predators, enabling strains of E. coli that produce the toxin to survive longer in lake water than benign counterparts, a University of Buffalo study finds.

Researchers at Brown University find that theta brainwave activity in the prefrontal cortex predicts how well people can overcome their innate biases telling them to act when they can obtain rewards and to remain inactive to avoid punishment.

Using an atomic force microscope, UC-Berkeley scientists have taken the first ever atom-by-atom pictures clearly depicting how a molecule's structure changed during a reaction.

Adding captivating visuals to a textbook lesson to attract children's interest may sometimes make it harder for them to learn, suggests a study by Ohio State University researchers.

Software being developed at the University of Michigan works like a stoplight to help manage the traffic created by wireless transmissions.

By using swarms of untethered grippers, each as small as a speck of dust, Johns Hopkins engineers say they have devised a new way to perform biopsies that could provide a more effective way to access narrow conduits in the body.

Researchers at the University of Illinois have developed new micro batteries that out-power even the best supercapacitors and could drive new applications in compact electronics.

Scientists at NCAR find that reductions in four pollutants that cycle comparatively quickly through the atmosphere could temporarily forestall the rate of sea level rise by roughly 25 to 50 percent.

A research team at the University of Southern California has developed a way to encrypt a crucial portion of the photo to keep it secure, while leaving enough unencrypted that it can still be utilized by cloud filesharing services.