Recreating spider silk, the flexible yet tough as steel strands of protein, spun by the arachnids, has been the holy grail of material scientists for many years now. However, making it in bulk has been a little elusive, thanks to the fact that spiders are very territorial and devour each other if placed in very close quarters...

On Wednesday, December 7th, some lucky Tauranga students got to participate in the release of 49 Little Blue Penguins back to the ocean. These tiny flightless birds were the fourth batch of penguins to be released from the group 343 oiled birds, rescued and nursed back to health, following what was one of New Zealand's worst pollution disasters....

Looking for something offbeat to do this Christmas vacation? How about the Ice Hotel? Located in the village of Jukkasjarvi, 200 km north of the Arctic Circle in Sweden, it is as the name indicates, built entirely from ice blocks lugged in from the nearby Torne River....

A young Australian is $15,000 USD richer and the proud winner of this year's prestigious James Dyson award, thanks to an invention that was inspired by the small Namib beetle, that resides in one of the world's most arid regions - The Namib Desert....

While the notion of a 'paperless' society has been floating around ever since the first computer was invented, the reality is far from that. Though we all try to consume our media on-line, there are times when we just have to print things out - And now, thanks to this handy dandy 'Little Printer', we may not feel as guilty about doing so....

While the banana peel has a reputation of just being a slippery hazard, it is actually useful for many things - Ranging from use as a fertilizer to curing warts and even, polishing shoes and silver. Now it turns out, that it can even help remove heavy metals from water....

The beautiful oceans that cover three-quarters of our planet are home to some of our most valuable natural resources. However, while our knowledge of outer space is quite extensive, the same cannot be said about the deep waters, thanks to the fact that any attempts to monitor them has either been too cumbersome or too expensive. Now, California-based Liquid Robotics has come up with an innovative invention that is both economical and easily deployable across the waters....

The unassuming gecko - That tiny lizard that seems to scamper around any surface in gravity-defying positions, has intrigued scientists for many years. In the past, this amazing ability has been duplicated by researchers to create wall-scaling robots and now, a team of scientists from Germany have come up with a gecko inspired adhesive tape, that can be re-used thousands of times....

Ants are industrious little insects that always seem to know where they are heading - Now, a team of curious researchers from the Technical University of Munich and Brazilian Center for Physics Research believe they may have the answer - It's all to do with their in-built GPS systems....

Most of us think of the Octopus as an eight-legged mollusk that spends its days wriggling around with its snake-like arms. However, not only does this intelligent animal have a razor-sharp memory, it has also, been known to maneuver through mazes and even try escape from tanks....

On Sunday October 16, thirty-nine teams representing 21 countries, gathered in Darwin, Australia, to compete in the 2011 Veolia World Solar Challenge. The biennial 1,860 mile race is often called one of the world's greatest scientific adventures - One in which contestants battle the harsh conditions of the Australian Outback, behind the wheels of a solar-powered car....

Ken Nedimyer first dived into the pristine waters off the Florida Keys at the tender age of 13, whilst on vacation with his parents. He enjoyed it so much, that he returned in 1969 to obtain a degree in Zoology from the Florida Atlantic University and never left....

Though we see futuristic cities in movies, in the real world, things are still pretty low-tech, with every major decision being handled by humans. However, a new city in Portugal promises to change that and usher in what may become the future standard of sustainable urban living....

Though glass is generally a better candidate for recycling than plastic, it may come as a surprise to you that not all glass is considered equal - Since there is more demand for clear glass, most recycling plants focus on that, in lieu of colored glass, which often ends up in landfills. Now, a team of researchers from the UK's University of Greenwich has come with a great way to re-use recycled colored glass - To filter pollutants from ground water....

Ever wonder why escalators have the same boring rectangular stairs and relatively straight look? Jack Levy from City University London certainly did and has come up with a radical design that not only makes them more exciting to ride on, but also, more cost-efficient....

Take a stroll inside the pine forest near Gryfino in Northwest Poland and you will feel like you were just transported to Harry Potter's 'Forbidden Forest' - thanks to the 400 eerily curved pine trees....

The 9.0 Earthquake and subsequent Tsunami that rocked Japan earlier this year, was one of the worst natural disasters that the country has had to deal with. Now, an innovative Japanese firm has come up with a floatable shelter designed to reduce the number of human casualties, should something similar happen again....

The oceans surrounding the coastal city of San Diego, California are known to be warm, crystal clear and . . . . . . . Bioluminescent? At least that's what they have been for the last few weeks and the residents seem to be enjoying every moment of it....

One of the best parts in Disney's Aladdin is watching him and Princess Jasmine flying around on Aladdin's magical carpet. Now, a Princeton student has invented a prototype that could some day, turn into a real-life flying carpet....

Finding a green fuel that is cheap and plentiful enough to replace fossil fuels is one of the biggest challenges that humans face - Not only because of the global warming issues, but also, because fossil fuels are a finite source. While hydrogen is a viable replacement, it does not occur naturally and to produce it, takes energy from 'dirty' fossil fuels - Now, there may be a solution....

Seeing a pod of normal humpback whales is treat enough for most of us - So you can only imagine how excited Australian resident Wayne Fewings and his family must have been, when they saw this pure white humpback calf!...

The hierarchical structure that exists within bee colonies has always been a source of fascination for researchers. The biggest mystery? With tens of thousands of identical members in each colony, how do just a handful get selected to be Queen bee(s), while the rest get relegated to being workers?...

While to the human eye, this rare albino baby seal with its ginger skin, striking blue eyes and pink flippers, may seem absolutely adorable, to his own clan of shiny black-skinned seals, he was an outcast - So much so, that his family and friends completely abandoned him...

Access to cheap and plentiful electricity is something most of us take for granted. However, such is not the case in many parts of the world, especially in third world countries, where the poor live in shanty homes that are often constructed from cardboard or other flimsy materials....