Alan Guth: Waiting for the Big Bang
Three decades ago, the innovative physicist had a eureka moment that explained the universe.
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Life After Death: Bruno Frohlich
This archaeologist has pieced together murders from as far back as the Bronze Age to the present. "I get excited about something and I forget about everything else."
7 Great Innovators in Archaeology
Meet some of science's most important movers and shakers—from past and present.
Teen Wonder: Taylor Wilson
After achieving nuclear fusion at age 14, Taylor, now 19, is working with subatomic particles for solutions to nuclear terrorism and cancer.
Brave Sage of Timbuktu: Abdel Kader Haidara
He made it his life's work to document Mali's illustrious past and led the rescue operation to save 350,000 manuscripts.
9 Great African Innovators in the Arts and Sciences
We take a look at some of Africa's top intellectual and creative innovators.
Shakespeare in Shackles: Laura Bates
Laura Bates teaches Shakespeare's "criminal tragedies" to Supermax prisoners in Indiana, with remarkable results.
Decoding Jeff Jonas, Wizard of Big Data
Jonas invents new ways to sift and sort data to smoke out wrongdoing, reunite families, and solve other problems.
Nick Watson: Bringing the Wilderness Solution to Vets
Nick Watson takes hundreds of veterans into the wilderness as a way to help them readjust to civilian life.
Daniel Nocera: Maverick Inventor of the Artificial Leaf
Nocera's invention turns the energy of sunlight into a chemical fuel. But making it cheap and practical is a hurdle.
Lori Marino: Leader of a Revolution in How We Perceive Animals
Find out what led to Marino's transformation from hard-core researcher to animal rights champion, and if others can follow.
George Church: The Future Without Limit
Church manipulates microbes and tinkers with DNA to fight disease, create new biofuels, and perhaps even resurrect extinct species.
Using Adversity to Unleash Innovation
The blind social worker Sabriye Tenberken is training a new generation of social reformers.
Shubhranshu Choudhary: Giving a Voice to a Ravaged, Neglected Region
Shubhranshu Choudhary created a community news service using cell phones as the media platform in the area where he grew up.
Making a Home on the Range for Bison
Sean Gerrity is using Silicon Valley tactics to make the largest wildlife preserve in the continental U.S. a reality.
From Our Archives
Record-Breaking Underwater Mission
Timed for 50 years after a historic Jacques Cousteau effort, Mission 31 advances ocean science and exploration.
Messaging Mars
A college student has an ambitious plan to send millions of digital messages to the red planet.
Greek Beauties Get Facelift
Stripping decades of grime from five marble statues in Athens has restored their beauty.
Virtual Dolphin on a Mission
A novel video game featuring a lifelike virtual dolphin may soon help stroke victims—and, eventually, real dolphins too.
Blood Antiquities
In Cambodia and beyond, archaeologists and criminologists are fighting the underground trade in cultural treasures.
Conservation and California Drought
With worsening shortages, the Golden State turns to water conservation. Will it work?
What Speeds Up Aging?
A new study urges more work on "gerontogens," which speed up the aging process.
Test-Tube Meat for Locavores
Don't kill the pig, say Dutch researchers—just grow its cells in the village meat factory.
Lost Cities Spotted From Space
Archaeologists have used Cold War spy-satellite photos to uncover thousands of unsuspected archaeological sites.
Welcome to the Multiverse
Gravitational waves that rippled through the first moments of the Big Bang point to the birth of multiple universes, not just ours.
Neanderthal Groups Were Scattered
Comparisons with Neanderthal DNA may point to genes that make us uniquely human and uncover the origins of genetic ailments.
Squid and the Value of Pain
Pain can sometimes be a good thing: It may help injured squid survive encounters with predators, says a new study.