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Tara Polar Station Arctic Research
A spaceship-like vessel glides silently through the Arctic’s icy heart but it’s just the Tara Polar Station, a floating laboratory that will spend the next 20 years to discover the Arctic Ocean’s secrets. Built to withstand temperatures as low as -52°C and the crushing pressure of shifting sea ice, this platform will change how we study one of Earth’s most isolated and critical ecosystems.

Robot Eat Robots Metabolism Grow
Columbia University’s latest engineering project is straight out of a sci-fi novel, but it’s based on a simple idea: what if robots could grow, heal and adapt by absorbing parts from other robots? They call it “robot metabolism” and it flips traditional robotics on its head, from stiff, electricity-driven machines to robots that act like living organisms, using materials from their environment to evolve.

NASA X-59 Quesst Aircraft Supersonic Taxi Test
Photo credit: NASA / Carla Thomas
The X-59 rolled out of the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works hangar in Palmdale, California on July 10, 2025 and is now taxiing on its own power for the first time. This is the final step before flight for the NASA Quesst mission aircraft. Central to the Quesst mission is the X-59 which will change the way we think about supersonic travel and potentially open the skies to commercial aviation.

Joby Aviation Electric Air Taxi Expand Manufacturing Capacity
Joby Aviation is disrupting urban travel, and charging towards a future where electric air taxis are real. The California company has announced a major expansion, doubling production at its Marina, California facility and opening a new plant in Dayton, Ohio. With a sixth aircraft already in the skies and a solid plan to grow, Joby is positioning itself as the leader in redefining city mobility.

DARPA Persistent Optical Wireless Energy (POWER) Record Transmission
In the vast expanse of New Mexico’s White Sands Missile Range, a DARPA team fired invisible light 5.3 miles and made history. They transmitted 800 watts of power, or enough to run a small appliance or light up a campsite, via a laser beam to a receiver that turned it back into electricity. For 30 seconds, the system held firm, transferring over a megajoule of energy. They even popped popcorn with some of that power, a playful tribute to the 1985 film ‘Real Genius’.

Harvard New Rubber Crack Resistant
Rubber is everywhere—tires, seals, gloves, even the soles of our shoes. It’s flexible, strong and essential but it has a problem: it cracks easily. Once a crack appears it grows and ruins the material. A team at Harvard’s John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences has created a new natural rubber that’s 10 times tougher and better at stopping cracks than anything we’ve seen.