Better mousetraps: How inventors plan to change football

Working in garages or big labs, hundreds have tried to ‘improve’ the game. Few have succeeded.

US Air Force uses new guided bomb in Iraq

The GBU-54 – used for the first time in Iraq on Aug. 12 – will help US forces hit moving targets and minimize civilian casualties, say military officials.

A bright idea for easing traffic

New method to time traffic lights could help Americans burn less gasoline.

Where’s the beef? Try the lab.

Researchers attempt to make meat without killing livestock.

Sugar-Powered Cars

Ultracapacitors: the future of electric cars or the 'cold fusion' of autovation?

ZENN Motors says its electric car will cruise for 250 miles on a single five-minute charge. Skeptics cry shenanigans.

The Archimedes Codex unpeeled by modern technological sleuthing

Deciphering latent script on ancient parchment makes curator Will Noel's job an Indiana Jones-style adventure

$10 million quest for a practical 100-mpg car

Small innovators rule so far in the entries for the Progressive Automotive X Prize for the most fuel-efficient car.

How to reengineer an engineering major at a women's college

A Smith College professor's program may provide a pattern for how to attract and keep women engineers.

Power harnessed one step at a time

Engineers call it 'crowd farming.' If it works, you could help power city lights just by taking a stroll.

Municipal Wi-Fi thrives – on a small scale

Big-city wireless Internet plans took a hit this summer, but places like Owensboro, Ky., and Rio Rancho, N.M., put networks in place.

A new step toward synthetic life

A genome firm says it changed one bacterium species into another by transferring DNA 'software.'

Backstory: Saving the planet, one car at a time

Switching an old convertible to run on plug-in power is tricky, expecially in front of an expectant crowd. Part 2 of two.

Backstory: From gas-powered to electric auto in 36 hours flat

We ride along as entrepreneur Greg Abbott turns a 1978 Triumph Spitfire into a completely clean, zero-emissions electric vehicle. Part 1 of two.

Battery tech starts catching up to high tech

Nanotechnology is giving batteries, often considered a weak link in electronics, a much-needed boost.

His energy bill is $0.00

A New Jersey civil engineer powers his home with solar panels and hydrogen tanks. Can it work in the mainstream?