During the decade-long civil war in Sierra Leone, rebels would cut off the arms and legs of civilians as a scare tactic, leaving behind thousands of war amputees. After the war, 2015 National Geographic Emerging Explorer David Moinina Sengeh, who was born and raised in Sierra Leone, became involved in helping these amputees. They were given prosthetics to wear, but most chose not to wear them because they were so uncomfortable. Later in life, Sengeh joined the Biomechatronics group in the...

What if, in the future, a chair could morph its shape to fit your own unique body so it is truly comfortable? National Geographic Emerging Explorer Skylar Tibbits just might be able to make this a reality. As the director of the Self-Assembly Lab at MIT, Tibbits is taking 3-D printing to a whole new level by adding a fourth dimension, the element of time. Through 4-D printing, Tibbits is developing ways to program materials so they can build themselves or change shape over time, which will...

In the intestines alone, the average person houses around 100 trillion microbes, and for every human cell in the body there are 10 microbial cells—making us more microbial than human. Scientific studies are beginning to show that these bacteria may be playing a much larger role in our lives than we originally thought. It appears that microbes may be influencing our brain and behavior, and many conditions, including schizophrenia, depression, and autism, have been linked to microbial...

As the climate changes and water becomes scarce in many parts of the world, growing enough food to feed the world's increasing population will be a challenge. Caleb Harper, a 2015 National Geographic emerging explorer, is working to solve this problem by using technology to reenvision the way we grow our food and move farms into the city. Imagine living in a world where food can be farmed from anywhere via a personal food computer, and your plants can send you a tweet when you're away to tell...

Wildlife trafficking is one of the largest illegal trades in the world, bringing in billions of dollars each year. Government agencies are often ill equipped to deal with wildlife crimes, causing many criminals to see the trade as an enticing low risk, high-profit venture. A 2015 National Geographic emerging explorer, Onkuri Majumdar, is trying to change this by helping government agencies crack down on the illegal trade. Here, Majumdar talks about strategically working to protect these...

One person dies of rabies every 15 minutes and another 300 are exposed. Disease ecologist and National Geographic 2015 Emerging Explorer Daniel Streicker is rethinking the way we currently manage bat rabies in his effort to limit the spread of the disease from bats to humans and livestock.

Biophysicist and National Geographic 2015 Emerging Explorer Manu Prakash is on a mission to bring a microscope to every kid in the world. Made out of paper and costing around a dollar to make, these microscopes allow kids to explore their world from a new perspective, answering questions like, Do ants have fingers? They're also becoming important educational tools that teach kids about sanitation and malaria in the developing world.

Can we replace bad memories with good memories or even erase certain memories to improve our mental health? Neuroscientist and 2015 National Geographic Emerging Explorer Steve Ramirez is pioneering ways to manipulate memories, hoping his work may one day lead to novel methods of treating PTSD, depression, and Alzheimer's.

Convincing people to help an often demonized predator isn't easy, but that's just what 2015 National Geographic Emerging Explorer Jessica Cramp left her career and home to do. Cramp helped establish a shark sanctuary in the Cook Islands and is showing local fishermen and others why these creatures are so important to our oceanic ecosystems.

Could recycled cell phones save the rain forest? 2015 National Geographic Emerging Explorer Topher White thinks so. A physicist, engineer, and inventor, White is adorning trees with old phones that can pick up sounds of illegal logging activity and send real-time alerts to rangers. White's work comes at a critical time since deforestation is the second largest contributor to climate change.

Nuclear engineer and National Geographic Emerging Explorer Leslie Dewan is revolutionizing the field of nuclear power by designing a way to power our world with nuclear waste.