Scientists at the University of Chicago are hoping a new, highly sensitive camera they're developing for the South Pole Telescope will reveal new information about the early universe. The camera measures something that's nearly 14 billion years old: radiation left over from the Big Bang.

It has been thought that almost nothing can survive in the watery depths near the South Pole. But a group of researchers sent a robot armed with a camera a half-mile below Antarctic ice and discovered an entire ecosystem. It is the farthest south that fish have ever been found. 

What is a robotic razor fish teaching scientists about building better robots? Why are Argonne scientists going down to the South Pole? And how can a tiny laser boost high-speed data transmission? Our science guy, Neil Shubin, has those stories and more research news in this edition of Scientific Chicago. Read an article.