The steady methodical flow of sand through an hourglass as it succumbs to the pull of gravity is a great way to kill time—but not a very productive one. This clever alternative hopes to change that, ...

Under a microscope, a bouquet of lollipop-like structures, each smaller than a grain of sand, waves gently in a Petri dish of liquid. Suddenly, they snap together, like the jaws of a Venus flytrap, as ...