Adam Cole

A clever photography trick allows you to see the invisible: the rising heat from a lighter, the turbulence around airplane wings, the plume of a sneeze ... and even sound waves.

This winter's unexpected arctic bird invasion has given owl researchers a rare opportunity. They're fitting a few of the errant owls with GPS backpacks to track their return to the Arctic.

Long before it fueled moviegoers, popcorn helped lay the foundation for the Aztec empire. In our video, we look at popcorn under a microscope, where the rock-hard kernel's fluffy secret is revealed.

When physicist Flavio Noca first saw penguins zooming around underwater, he was blown away by their speed and maneuverability. Now, his team has built a robotic arm that perfectly mimics the flippers in action — and he says the device could someday propel underwater craft.

This year's shower might serve up more than a hundred shooting stars every hour, but the bright streaks could be washed out by a nearly full moon.

Planthoppers are champion jumpers — launching themselves upward, hundreds of times their own height, in just a couple of milliseconds. They achieve this feat with the help of cog-like teeth on their legs — the first mechanical gear system ever found in nature.

Conservationists around the world are using a new kind of field equipment. It can navigate difficult terrain, detect tiny chemical samples, and ... wag its tail. Detection dogs are teaming up with humans to study rare, endangered and invasive organisms.

Scientists are always looking for a more accurate answer to the question, "What time is it?" Now they've built the most precise atomic clock yet — but it's not just telling time. It has the potential to investigate the accuracy of the General Theory of Relativity.

The program is part of a national push for science education among minorities. A U.S. Department of Commerce study found that blacks and Latinos are half as likely as whites to have a job in science or engineering.

The dose of radiation an astronaut would experience on a trip to Mars is higher than the annual limit set for workers at nuclear power plants. But Mars enthusiasts say the radiation threat isn't high enough to cancel the trip.