Scientific Innovation

The Best Books About Innovation of 2016

If you have a lover of big ideas on your holiday shopping list, consider these thought-provoking titles published this year

An Inca skull from the Cuzco region of Peru, showing four healed trepanations. The new review focuses on the practice in ancient China.

Drilling Deep: How Ancient Chinese Surgeons Opened Skulls and Minds

A new review finds evidence that the Chinese performed trepanation more than 3,500 years ago

The Four Newest Elements Now Have Names

Chemistry governing body officially approves names for the four newest additions to the Periodic Table

The Robodoc married robots and computers to revolutionize the complicated task of joint replacement surgery.

Why This Robotic Medical Device Belongs in a Museum

William Bargar and Howard "Hap" Paul revolutionized joint replacement surgery by developing a robot to do the job

Two captive Przewalski’s horses at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute's center in Fort Royal, Virginia

How Conservationists Use GPS to Track the Wildest Horses in the World

These horses' wildness makes them unique. It also makes them uniquely difficult for researchers to monitor and track

Anthony Antala

Need a New Organ? Surgeon Anthony Atala Sees a Future Where You Can Simply Print It Out

When you can order a new body part online, you’ll have this doctor to thank

Jeff Bezos

Is Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin the Future of Space Exploration?

No one had ever launched, landed and relaunched a rocket into space until the company's historic achievement

Just look at that vampiric cutie.

How Bats Ping On the Wing—And Look Cute Doing It

Researchers reveal how bats turn echolocation signals into a 3-D image of moving prey

Coming Soon: Otter-Inspired Wetsuits

A team at MIT has figured out exactly how otter and beaver fur keeps the animals warm in cold water

China Switches on the World's Largest Radio Telescope

Measuring 1,640 feet across, the massive device will scour the skies for signs of life and new galaxies

Scientists Virtually Peek Inside Ancient Biblical Charred Scrolls

A completely burned Biblical text is now readable

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The $10 Million Race to Invent Star Trek's Tricorder

Star Trek's fictional tricorder is far from becoming a reality. But a $10 million prize from the XPRIZE Foundation is hoping to motivate inventors

The pace of drug development can be key in minimizing the scale of an outbreak.

The Story of a Resurrected Antiviral Could Hold Lessons for Combating Zika

How Stanford scientists used two genetic screening techniques in tandem to unravel the mystery of a discarded antiviral

Tree Rings Help Circle in on Dating Pre-History Events

Solar flares create spikes in the Carbon-14 of woody plants that can provide anchor years for more accurate dating of artifacts

Cupping Isn't the Only Strange Tactic Olympic Athletes Use to Get a Boost

Those painful cupping "hickies" are only the start—athletes go to great lengths to gain an edge

Cauam Cardoso

Technology for the Poor Should Help, Not Hurt: An Interview With MIT's Cauam Cardoso

The PhD candidate is working on ways to systematically evaluate new technologies for the developing world

The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History holds this patent model for a Gorrie ice machine, the first mechanical refrigeration or ice-making machine the U.S. Patent Office patented.

Six of History's Smartest, Weirdest and Most Interesting Inventions for Beating the Heat

From a bicycle mister to ice energy, here are a few innovative ways for cooling down

Four Explosive Advancements for Future Fireworks

From color to sound, the next-gen fireworks are sure to wow

Tofu Power and Other Cool New Alternative Energy Sources

From fueling homes with tofu wastewater to lighting up bathrooms with the power of pee, these are some of the most unusual, hyperlocal fuel sources

An illustration of the excitation of a spin liquid on a honeycomb lattice with neutrons.

Three Things to Know About the Newly-Discovered State of Matter

There’s more to matter than just solids, liquids and gases

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