Can you spot the cuttlefish? A common European cuttlefish camouflages itself on the seafloor. Credit: Justine Allen

Blending in

Engineers take a lesson from nature’s masters of disguise

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Caption: For Valentine’s Day this year, a Japanese company used a 3-D printer to produce chocolate copies of people’s faces. Credit: FabCafe/Think 3D/K’s Design Lab

‘Print’ almost anything

3-D printers allow people to build almost anything they can imagine — from toys to food, buildings to body parts

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Credit: Stuart Burdford / iStock Photo

Teens seek invention protection

Increasingly, young researchers seek patents to defend their innovations against theft

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When a band of zoo buddies tears through a Monte Carlo casino, the marble columns don’t have a chance. Nafees Bin Zafar used mathematics to power the visual effects behind this madcap scene in Madagascar 3. Credit: “Madagascar 3” © 2012 DreamWorks Animation LLC, used with permission of DreamWorks Animation LLC

Cool Jobs: Math as entertainment

Magic, movies and metal: How mathematics adds dazzle to the visual world

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Mining engineer Bibhu Mohanty sets off controlled explosions as part of his job designing blasts that break apart rock. Credit: Bibhu Mohanty

Cool Jobs: Explosive pursuits

These researchers study things that go boom — or poof!

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