World Science Festival

When science writer Lydia Denworth’s son Alex was nearly two years old, doctors discovered that he had significant hearing loss that was only likely to get worse. Denworth was thrown into the nexus of scientific, cultural and political issues surrounding hearing. We sat down with Lydia Denworth...

With a 3-D printer, all you need to create whatever you can imagine is plastic or metal alloy wire and a bit of time. Using a technique called “additive manufacturing,” a 3-D printer builds up layers of material into whatever knob, part, utensil, fashion accessory, or miniature you fancy. The...

With a 3-D printer, all you need to create whatever you can imagine is plastic or metal alloy wire and a bit of time. Using a technique called “additive manufacturing,” a 3-D printer builds up layers of material into whatever knob, part, utensil, fashion accessory, or miniature you fancy. The...

With a 3-D printer, all you need to create whatever you can imagine is plastic or metal alloy wire and a bit of time. Using a technique called “additive manufacturing,” a 3-D printer builds up layers of material into whatever knob, part, utensil, fashion accessory, or miniature you fancy. The...

With a 3-D printer, all you need to create whatever you can imagine is plastic or metal alloy wire and a bit of time. Using a technique called “additive manufacturing,” a 3-D printer builds up layers of material into whatever knob, part, utensil, fashion accessory, or miniature you fancy. The...

With a 3-D printer, all you need to create whatever you can imagine is plastic or metal alloy wire and a bit of time. Using a technique called “additive manufacturing,” a 3-D printer builds up layers of material into whatever knob, part, utensil, fashion accessory, or miniature you fancy. The...

With a 3-D printer, all you need to create whatever you can imagine is plastic or metal alloy wire and a bit of time. Using a technique called “additive manufacturing,” a 3-D printer builds up layers of material into whatever knob, part, utensil, fashion accessory, or miniature you fancy. The...

With a 3-D printer, all you need to create whatever you can imagine is plastic or metal alloy wire and a bit of time. Using a technique called “additive manufacturing,” a 3-D printer builds up layers of material into whatever knob, part, utensil, fashion accessory, or miniature you fancy. The...

With a 3-D printer, all you need to create whatever you can imagine is plastic or metal alloy wire and a bit of time. Using a technique called “additive manufacturing,” a 3-D printer builds up layers of material into whatever knob, part, utensil, fashion accessory, or miniature you fancy. The...

With a 3-D printer, all you need to create whatever you can imagine is plastic or metal alloy wire and a bit of time. Using a technique called “additive manufacturing,” a 3-D printer builds up layers of material into whatever knob, part, utensil, fashion accessory, or miniature you fancy. The...

With a 3-D printer, all you need to create whatever you can imagine is plastic or metal alloy wire and a bit of time. Using a technique called “additive manufacturing,” a 3-D printer builds up layers of material into whatever knob, part, utensil, fashion accessory, or miniature you fancy. The...

America is facing an animal invasion on multiple fronts. These invaders aren’t looking to start a war—only to, make a home. But however benign their intentions might be, invasive species unfortunately pose threats to native species, and upset the balance of native ecosystems. Some are...

After flying a plane across the United States last summer using nothing but the sun for power, Swiss pilots Andre Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard have their eye on the whole enchilada. On Wednesday, April 9 they unveiled a solar-powered aircraft they believe will help them circumnavigate the globe...

Thank you to all our guests for helping make this year’s World Science Festival Gala a smashing success! This year we honored brilliant geneticist, Mary-Claire King, and Alan Alda was the host. We gathered some of the highlights from the celebration.

While dinosaurs might’ve ruled the earth millions of years ago, pterosaurs were ruling the skies at the same time. And these flying reptiles get the royal treatment in the American Museum of Natural History’s new exhibit “Pterosaurs: Flight in the Age of Dinosaurs.”

40 years ago, the first cell phone call was made. We take a look back over a century of how phone communication has evolved. Check out this infographic showing, from a scientific and technical perspective, what happened then and what happens now, every time you make a call.

An Ebola virus disease outbreak centered on the West African country of Guinea has claimed more than 80 lives so far. Here’s a primer on this deadly disease.

A rundown of some of the biggest scientific frauds in history – at least, the ones that have been exposed.

Today’s announcement from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, about the detection of “gravitational waves” emanating from the universe’s first moments, is tremendously exciting, but a little tough for the layman to grasp. We caught up with Brian Greene, in Vancouver to give a...

The Moth and WSF team up to bring you poignant, hilarious and unpredictable stories of science.

This year at NYCC, we brought together a group of authors and scientists for a conversation about how the art, science and storytelling of comic books and graphic novels can be a launch pad into worlds of scientific exploration and discovery.

Brian Greene introduces "When Science Gets Graphic" at New York Comic Con.

Jonathan Coulton offers up an astonishing one hundred bucks for the purchase of a quantum computer.

Comic book author Jim Ottaviani says while science is all about repeatability, precision and accuracy, storytelling about science isn't served well by devotion to including every detail.

Charles Soule explains the inspiration for his imaginative mathematical graphic novel "Strange Attractors."

The "When Science Gets Graphic" audience smiles at Jonathan Coulton's comment about the hazards of scientific inaccuracies in his song writing. And how willing people are to point them out.

"When Science Gets Graphic" audience member asks how we get diverse scientific disciplines like biology more involved in comic books.

Author of "Professor Astro Cat's Frontiers in Space" Dominic Walliman sees a parade of cosplay characters at New York Comic Con.

The Big Ideas Series features innovative programs that inspire and captivate audiences while exploring some of the most complex of scientific questions, including our origins, our fundamental nature, and our place in the cosmos.

The Moth and WSF team up to bring you poignant, hilarious and unpredictable stories of science.

The Big, the Small, and the Complex is a series exploring the latest developments in astrophysics, nanoscience and neuroscience—fields recognized by The Kavli Prize. This series is made possible with help from The Kavli Foundation, the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, and the Royal...

Quantum mechanics is one of the most amazing and surprising discoveries, ever. While nobody expected it, the microscopic world of atoms and molecules behave in vastly different ways from the objects around us. During the 2013 World Science Festival, the event Spooky Action: The Drama of Quantum...

Youth joined food scientist, Julie Goddard, from the University of Massachusetts, to see what’s cooking in a food lab and just how much science you need to know in this yummy apprentice program.

Taught by after school program, Engineering for Kids, apprentices designed, built, and tested their own balsawood bridges and other types of bridges to study structural loads.

Budding food scientists at work.

What one apprentice learned about life underwater.

Students worked with Roboticist Edwin Olson to program and drive a robot through obstacles and mazes.

A young scientist's first encounter with a real brain.

A student eagerly awaits his turn to ask a question.

Upon completion of the workshop, each apprentice received a “Scientist's Apprentice Certificate."

Students also received a World Science Festival backpack.

How do you turn Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection into a story, especially a story that relates to rap?

Download this comprehensive guide to teaching black holes in the classroom. How does gravity work across space? How do black holes form? What is time dilation? Includes stunning images of black holes, a glossary, and classroom activities.

Festo's autonomous bionic bird soared above the World Science Festival's tech fest, Innovation Square, on June 2, 2012.

Another amazing Festo creation is the AquaJelly, an autonomous robotic jellyfish with eight mechanical tentacles to propel itself underwater just like the real deal.

A robotic snake that can slither up poles (and people) slithered through the crowds at Innovation Square

Come see why Dennis Hong's humanoid was named Time magazine's 2011 Best Invention of the Year.

SmartBird, a massive, autonomous flying contraption straight out of a sci-fi fever dream, buzzed the square every hour.

Mechanical engineer Maurizio Porfiri's robotic fish are convincing enough to swim with real schools of fish.

How do you turn Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection into a story, especially a story that relates to rap?