Ancient Manuscript Reveals Medicine’s Beginnings

When Syriac scholar Dr Gregory Kessel first handled the ancient medicinal manuscript “On the Mixtures and Powers of Simple Drugs,” he immediately knew he had encountered it before. Kessel recalled a stray page at a Harvard library that looked eerily similar and, it turns out, it was one of seven missing pages from the influential text. An ensuing international page-hunt provided five more strays leaving …

A Structure For Ocean Self-Cleaning

Boyan Slat wants to rid the Pacific Ocean of half of its plastic waste by 2025. To do so, the 20-year-old and his nonprofit company Ocean Cleanup have designed a simple yet effective floating barrier that will allow the ocean to clean itself. Unlike nets—which sea life can become entangled in—the barriers will skim the surface of the water as ocean currents pass below it, …

Earbuds That Offer Superhuman Hearing

A hotly anticipated set of wireless earbuds called Here won’t even play your favorite songs. The soon-to-be-released tech gadget from SF-based Doppler Labs is instead meant to be a type of super-human volume control and sound equalizer for your everyday life. Users will be able to turn up the volume if they’re sitting in the nosebleeds at a concert or tune out specific sounds like …