In addition to giving thanks and feasting, Thanksgiving weekend is also when people start to shop like it’s a sport. Between Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday, sales during this period gives many businesses something to be thankful for each year. Read more

Plus: Keeping Political Privacy in the Workplace, Introducing the World’s Thinnest House and Combating Counterfeit Parts with DNA. Read more

Ponytail physics, dead salmon science, coffee fluid dynamics and a shut-up machine – these are only a few of wacky subjects spotlighted in this year’s Ig Nobel award winners. Read more

Trucking powered by natural gas is approaching a critical threshold, recent findings suggest. However, even as the move toward more natural gas in truck engines gains traction, key obstacles to mass adoption remain. Read more

Plus: A New Popcorn-Delivery System, LEGO Machine Fun and a Visual History of Vintage Racecar Design. Read more

Are leadership qualities innate or can they be acquired? This question has obsessed leadership scholars for years, and while there is no consensus answer, some research does suggest that leadership skills can be developed and mastered. Here we look at five trainable (and highly valuable) traits of a good leader. Read more

While mechanical engineers are upbeat about the future for their profession, they are less certain that their skills will be adequate to meet global challenges in the coming 20 years, a new study on the future of the engineering profession concludes. Read more