Materials science and engineering

New York Times reporter Colin Nickerson writes about Professor Linn Hobbs’ research into whether the ancient Egyptians used a synthetic material to build the Great Pyramids. "It could be they used less sweat and more smarts," Hobbs told The New York Times.

In a piece that appears in New Scientist and Slate, Markus Buehler of MIT compares molecular structures found in nature to the composition of musical pieces.