Innovation

This App Could Bring Sex Ed To All Students

Real Talk helps middle schoolers access reliable sex ed information using storytelling, regardless of whether they have internet at home

"This book was representative of an era during which colonialism and the associated conversion to Christianity oppressed the indigenous population in often violent ways,” says curator Gabriela Pérez-Báez.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

A Rare Public Display of a 17th-Century Mayan Manuscript

With the book newly digitized, scholars are reinterpreting a story of native resistance from within its pages

Ultrasonic “tractor beam”

Five Ways Ultrasound Is Changing Medicine, Martian Exploration and Even Your Phone

If you thought ultrasound was only for prenatal care, think again

A raccoon butterflyfish on a coral reef in Egypt's Red Sea. The vast majority of aquarium fish come from countries with known cyanide fishing problems.

Future of Conservation

Soon, You Could Be Able to Tell if Your Aquarium Fish Was Caught With Cyanide

A new handheld detector aims to root out this widespread, destructive practice

Bowery's indoor farm

Bespoke Produce? A New Farming Venture Tweaks Veggies To Suit Consumers' Needs

Bowery, a new indoor farming company, offers "customized" greens and herbs

Stop your baby from sucking his or her thumb with this, er, "clever" invention.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Patents (Only) a Mother Could Love

For Mother's Day, we've pulled some of history's wackiest patented ideas for mothers and children

Is Artificial Intelligence the Key to Personalized Education?

AI expert Joseph Qualls thinks it will change the way kids learn. But it also raises some big issues.

The team has developed many different prototypes. Their latest iteration can display six characters at a time and images the text using an internal camera.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

This Device Translates Text To Braille in Real Time

Team Tactile hopes to create an inexpensive and portable device that can raise text right off the page

Researchers at the Technical University of Denmark created these images using a new technique of structural color laser printing.

A New Color Printing Technique Borrows From Bird Feathers

Structural coloration, like that in peacock plumage, holds promise for images that don't fade away

Environmental chemists are developing a method that could suck toxic metals out of marine environments.

How Electrified Steel Could Suck Toxic Metals From the Ocean

After a century of strip mining and deforestation, New Caldonia researchers are working to de-contaminate marine waters

Premature infant in a traditional incubator

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Will This Artificial Womb One Day Improve the Care of Preemies?

A new treatment, tested on lambs, involves letting fetuses mature in fluid-filled sacs

What if you could unlock your smartphone this way?

Could a Doodle Replace Your Password?

Drawing your own unlock pattern on a touchscreen is faster and easier to remember than a password, and much harder to crack

Students for a Democratic Society was the largest – and arguably most successful – student activist organization in U.S. history.

What Was the Protest Group Students for a Democratic Society? Five Questions Answered

Todd Gitlin, former president of Students for a Democratic Society, shares his perspective on protest in the 60s and now

Lifting an Unwieldy 75-Ton Hovercraft Out of the Water

When you're crane-lifting a giant hovercraft into a ship's hold, plenty can go wrong

A slave fortress in Cape Coast, Ghana

A Digital Archive of Slave Voyages Details the Largest Forced Migration in History

An online database explores the nearly 36,000 slave voyages that occurred between 1514 and 1866

Does Creativity Breed Inequality in Cities?

Richard Florida thinks so. In his new book, the urban theorist says sometimes the most innovative cities also have the worst social and economic disparity

Smart Startup

There's No Snoozing in Class With This Chemistry App

Chem101 allows professors to push out exercises for students to do on their devices, increasing classroom engagement

Neuroscience is giving new meaning to the phrase "get on my wavelength."

New Research

Students’ Brains Sync Up When They’re in an Engaging Class, Neuroscience Shows

What does it really mean to get our brains on the same wavelength?

Roadmap is a new idea whose aim is to facilitate action on climate change without any of the usual suspects—governments, countries, international bodies, negotiating parties.

Using a New Roadmap to Democratize Climate Change

A new tool aims to bypass governments and put the power of climate action in the people’s hands

The Innovative Spirit fy17

In an Emergency, You'll Want This Hi-Tech First Aid Kit

Ram Fish, founder and CEO of 19Labs, talks about developing his clinic-in-a-box

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