Eric Niiler

But despite the frequency of those kinds of injuries in soccer, you won’t see many international pros wearing gear that might prevent a concussion—reinforced headbands. Recent tests show that some brands can reduce the impact of a concussive blow by more than 70 percent. Unlike sweatbands, these headbands are made with hardened polyurethane foam, like that found inside military helmets, while still allowing players to see the action around them. Still, soccer pros are loath to slip them on. The…

Dunion, a scientist at a National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration meteorology lab in Miami, was strapped into his seat along with the 18 other scientists and crew as winds approaching 200 miles per hour buffeted the P-3 Orion, an aircraft originally designed to hunt enemy submarines. When the plane dropped suddenly, he and the others felt a few moments of weightlessness. “It was like a roller coaster, but you couldn’t see where the turns were,” Dunion says. “It was intense. It was l…

A group of Bay Area scientists and engineers say they have just such a solution: A thin layer of tiny glass beads that, when spread across the ice, would boost its surface reflectivity, start a slight Arctic cooling trend, and overall create more ice. The idea is to kick off a positive feedback loop, says Leslie Field, founder and CEO of Ice911 Research, a nonprofit organization based in Menlo Park, California. Making the surface more reflective during the spring and summer months could prevent…

A new study shows that climate-driven sea level rise made the damage from Superstorm Sandy $8 billion worse around New York City.

Future crews on the Red Planet will need it to make propellant for the trip home. Scientists are also testing whether oxygen can be extracted from lunar soil.