Technology

Boston Dynamic's Big Dog robot would carry supplies in the battlefield.

In the Military, Inventiveness of All Kinds Is a Weapon

Experts say a changing battlefield prompts calls for increasing emotional intelligence as well as technical prowess

The Geobulb LED light bulb

Don’t Curse the Darkness, Get One of the Bright New Lights

It's time to say good-bye to the iconic, but inefficient incandescent bulb and welcome in LEDs

"Car of the future" sketch from Ford

1955 Imagines Travel in 1965

The Ford Motor Company envisioned a Batmobile in every garage.

Although the lander may appear “flimsy and gangly,” says NASM curator Allan Needell, the craft represents “a very pure design built for a very specific mission.”

Apollo 11's Giant Leap for Mankind

When the lunar module landed on the moon, it provided an unforgettable moment for the millions watching back on Earth

Masdar personal rapid transit podcar, Masdar City

Could America Build A Sunshine City?

There’s a misperception about prejudice, says Richeson, that “people do bad things because they’re bad people, and there are only a few of these bad apples around.” All of us have prejudices, she adds, but we also have the capacity to change.

The Bias Detective

How does prejudice affect people? Psychologist Jennifer Richeson is on the case

“I wanted to build something that grows from large to huge,” Schachter (at Yahoo!’s Palo Alto office) told the Guardian. “I don’t know if I have another innovation in me, but it would be nice to try.”

Site Seer

Faced with the Internet's overwhelming clutter, Joshua Schachter invented a deceptively simple tool that helps us all cut to the chase

“His scientific contributions are joyful, spark curiosity and inspire the young,” computer scientist Jeannette Wing says of her colleague Luis von Ahn (on the Carnegie Mellon campus, seated upon one of the “guest chairs” he keeps in his office).

The Player

Luis von Ahn's secret for making computers smarter? Get thousands of people to take part in his cunning online games

In the Persian Gulf, authorities are concerned about terrorism as well as piracy. Coalition vessels (the Coast Guard cutter Aquidneck, behind Coast Guardsman Zachary Coone) patrol exclusion zones around Iraq's Al Basrah and Khawr Al Amaya terminals, where tankers take on millions of barrels of oil daily.

The Pirate Hunters

As buccanneering is back with a vengeance, stepped-up law enforcement and high-tech tools work to help protect shipping on the high seas

Barbed Wire was designed for "preventing cattle from breaking through wire-fences," Glidden writes in his application.

Patent Pending

The Supreme Court may soon reinvent the rules for invention

Bill Gates (in 2003) has "far surpassed anything I accomplished in engineering and business," says Jimmy Carter, now a fellow philanthropist.

35 Who Made a Difference: Bill Gates

The king of software takes on his biggest challenge yet

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A Century of Flight - Taking Wing

From the Wright brothers to the latest robot jets, the past century has been shaped by the men and women who got us off the ground

All Aboard!

A new multimedia exhibition shows how innovations in transportation spurred the growth of the nation

The compass has a symbolic importance transcending its utility.

Useful Gadget

The legendary explorers carried destiny on their expedition. But they could not have fulfilled is without this unprepossessing device

"Electric boats intensify my connection to the water," says Houghton (at tiller).

Batteries Included

Let's hear it shhhh, not so loud for electric boats

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Digging Ditches

Narrow, humble irrigation ditches called acequias sustain an endangered way of life but for how long?

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When Your Toast Starts Talking To You, the Info Age Has Hit Home

When your toast starts talking to you, the Info Age has hit home

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