The Quest to 3D-Print a Passenger Plane Engine — And Fly It

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

One-third of GE's Catalyst engine, a turboprop set to fly in the Cessna Denali, is 3D printed. It has the most 3D-printed parts of any plane engine in the world. (Credit: GE Aviation) In 2014, eight engineers started a secret project behind the walls of GE Aviation’s headquarters. Their challenge? Build an aircraft engine with 3D printing instead of traditional manufacturing. The engineers wanted to make an engine with fewer parts than normal – way fewer parts. The normal CT7 t ...read more

Watch Live: India prepares for their first Moon landing

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

India could be the fourth country to land a spacecraft on the lunar surface (Credit: ISRO) India’s space agency is prepping for their first soft landing on the Moon today. The mission, called Chandrayaan-2, would make India the fourth country to reach the Moon’s surface -- behind the United States, Russia, and China. The Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) Chandrayaan-2 mission consists of several parts, including an orbiter to observe the Moon for a year, the ...read more

Does Testosterone Make Men Less Empathetic? A New Study Says No

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

A study asking men to infer emotions by looking at the others concluded that testosterone does not affect empathy levels. (Credit: El Nariz/Shutterstock) Testosterone often gets a bad rap. The hormone responsible for male sexual development has been linked in studies to aggression and a lack of empathy. People with autism – a developmental condition that can lead to anxiety and trouble interacting with others – also have a hard time empathizing. Since the condition is four time ...read more

Why Neuroscience is Coming to Courtrooms

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

(Credit: Knowable Magazine) On March 30, 1981, 25-year-old John W. Hinckley Jr. shot President Ronald Reagan and three other people. The following year, he went on trial for his crimes. Defense attorneys argued that Hinckley was insane, and they pointed to a trove of evidence to back their claim. Their client had a history of behavioral problems. He was obsessed with the actress Jodie Foster, and devised a plan to assassinate a president to impress her. He hounded Jimmy Carter. Then he ta ...read more

If We Find Alien Life, Can We Avoid Harming It?

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

Subsurface water on Jupiter's moon Europa is one place humans plan to search for life. This artist's concept shows a massive plume of underground water erupting from the moon's surface. (Credit: NASA/ESA/K. Retherford/SWRI) As humans explore the solar system, the tantalizing possibility of discovering extraterrestrial life continues to pop up. But the goal of most scientists is to discover existing life on another world, not to accidentally bring it there from Earth. Whether travelers are ro ...read more