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The notion that robots must be rigid metallic automatons made mobile by wheels, tracks or even legs has constrained the imagination of their designers. The weight of all those rods, gears and motors quickly adds up, and complex mechanical and electrical control systems are needed for robots to handle delicate objects or navigate across different types of terrain. [More]

People still need electricity when the wind isn't blowing and the sun isn't shining, which is why renewable energy developers are increasingly investing in energy storage systems. They need to sop up excess juice and release it when needed.

A reusable, electrically propelled spacecraft would open up vast realms of deep space to human exploration. The interactive below provides a walkthrough of the proposal laid out by Damon Landau and Nathan J. Strange

Energy efficiency is not just for appliances and vehicles on Earth--spacecraft that conserve fuel can provide a boost to humanity, too. In a recent article for

E-readers work dandy for straight stories, but some books demand the traditional treatment: lush photos, glossy pages, and a heft that commands considered travel. God bless the flip-worthy, full-color coffee-table book. Whether you're shopping for a foodie, design geek, or facial-hair devotee, we've picked a few of our recent favorites.

In 1977, 22-year-old Steve Jobs introduced the world to one of the first self-contained personal computers, the Apple II.

When I was in fifth grade, my brother Alex started correcting my homework. This would not have been weird, except that he was in kindergarten--and autistic

For the Xhosa in South Africa, a boy's coming of age is often marked by an elaborate and lengthy set of rituals. One of the ordeals is circumcision , which is traditionally performed by a healer and occasionally leads to an ineffective cut, infection or even death. The young men who emerge from the ceremony healthy, however, achieve not only new social status but are also much less likely to become infected with HIV

After more than 15 years of international climate negotiations, it has become ever more clear that all the carbon dioxide emitted to shuttle diplomats from city to city to hash out a regime to curb climate change has been largely wasted. The success of harried diplomacy in Kyoto in 1997 has given way to Japan buying its way out of emissions reductions in 2011 and refusing to sign up for more.

By Heidi Ledford of Nature of magazine With sales of more than $100 billion since it was introduced in 1997, the cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor (atorvastatin) is an unparalleled pharmaceutical superstar.

Popular Science, 1936. Bull with single horn is modern unicorn

DigitalGlobe, the firm that provides much of the imagery for Google Earth, is launching a next-generation satellite in 2014. However, the super-sharp images of the WorldView-3 aren't for Google and Bing Maps: They're going straight to the military and intelligence agencies

Ravens use their beaks and wings much like humans rely on our hands to make gestures , such as for pointing to an object, scientists now find. [More]

Skull of juvenile male Australopithecus sediba. Image: Kate Wong In the spring of 2010, the world met Australopithecus sediba , a nearly two-million-year-old human relative whose remains were found at a site just a short drive from Johannesburg, South Africa

It started with Vic Rail's horses, in September 1994. First one, then another, they died horrible deaths, 13 horses in all over the span of just two weeks, frothing from their noses and mouths, thrashing in agonizing pain