Charon is very cold place. Frigid geysers spew material up through cracks in the crust of Pluto’s companion world. Charon just might be the equivalent of an outer solar system ice machine, according to Jason Cook. --by Robert Burnham

Smart cars and smart phones already exist. Engineers at ASU say that making antenna systems ‘smarter’ promises to further expand the horizons of the wireless communications world. --by Joe Kullman

Kids who participate in ASU’s Young Writers Program feel good about what they are doing. They enjoy their success and revel in the positive reinforcement they get for their ideas. They learn that their lives are worth writing about. --by Sheilah Britton

Lots of people want to do right by the small blue planet we call home. Protecting our world is no small concern for the people who create the toasters, cell phones, automobiles, and medical equipment that we use every day. To practice sustainability, product designers must juggle a mind-boggling array of variables to create even the simplest products. --by Adelheid Fischer

Nature, through the trial and error of evolution, has discovered a vast diversity of life from what we can only presume to have been a primordial pool of building blocks. Inspired by this success, a new Biodesign Institute research team, led by John Chaput, is now trying to mimic the process of Darwinian evolution in the laboratory by evolving new proteins from scratch. --by Joe Caspermeyer

The worldwide HIV/AIDs epidemic doesn’t generate much front page news anymore. But the disease has not gone away. And the story has many facets. AIDS is a story about human suffering, medical research, education, and social mores. In Mozambique, the story also involves organized religion. --by Sheilah Britton

Nanotechnology holds great promise for industries ranging from medicine to computers to fashion. But what kind of effect do all these tiny particles have on the environment? A Chandler, Arizona high school student is working with ASU researchers to find out. --by Diane Boudreau

Researchers from ASU and the Walter Reed Army Medical Center are teaming up to create the next generation of powered prosthetic devices based on lightweight, energy-storing springs. --by Christine Lambrakis

Where some people see slime, Milt Sommerfeld and his colleagues see fuel and food. They believe algae can provide solutions to some of the trickiest environmental problems looming right in front of us. --by Diane Boudreau