Innovation
New ideas and scientific and technological advancementsWhy You Waste Time Playing Farmville
Why do 70 million people spend time managing virtual farms in Farmville? (I know they're not all crazy.) Tom Chatfield, a writer and video game expert (he blogs at What Happens Next?) says it's because the game designers have figured out how to take advantage of human nature. We evolved to find thi...
November 04, 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Comedians Discussing Chaos Theory? Only on British TV
One of the things I love about visiting the U.K. is British television. Specifically what my friend calls "quiz shows." That's not quite the right name for them, though, because they usually consist of a panel (or two) of comedians discussing anything from current events to music to natural history...
October 25, 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Robot Swan Dances Swan Lake
A Swedish research team recently unveiled “The Dying Swan,” a robotic waterfowl that flaps and writhes to the melodramatic strains of Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake.” I’ll say this—the designers did a good job conveying the special misery of a sick bird. Its tattered black plumage would be sad on its own...
October 19, 2010 |
By Abigail Tucker
The Science of Shrinky Dinks
Introduced in 1973, Shrinky Dinks had kids (and crafty adults) creating artwork on flexible sheets of plastic that, when popped in the oven, would magically shrink down to approximately 1/3 their original size. You were then supposed to play with whatever it was you made, but frankly, the entertain...
October 14, 2010 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Food and Beverage Packaging: The Good, the Bad and the Weird
Once upon a time, groceries made the journey between stores and consumers' cupboards wearing little more than a paper bag. But as packaging technology has taken off in the past 50 years, our food and beverage products have gained an extensive wardrobe—so extensive, it can get a little crazy.Accordi...
October 07, 2010 |
By Amanda Bensen
Water Conservation at the Smithsonian Institution
In 2007, the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) was preparing to open the interactive Sant Ocean Hall exhibit when its Greening Task Force decided to investigate how the museum could care for the bodies of water closest to home.Washington, D.C. is flanked by the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers,...
September 08, 2010 |
By Jess Righthand
Time to Stop Measuring Fuel Economy in MPG?
Today, if you go to buy a new car, you'll find a sticker like the one on the right giving you a bunch of data on fuel economy: the miles per gallon you'll get on the highway and in the city and the estimated annual fuel cost (based on 15,000 miles driven over a year and gas costing $2.80 per gallon...
September 01, 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
The Problem with Space Junk
There's a lot of space junk—or, as NASA calls it, "orbital debris"—circling high above our heads: around 19,000 objects larger than 10 centimeters, 500,000 between 1 and 10 cm in size, and tens of millions of pieces smaller than 1 cm. Generally, all that junk isn't much of a problem. If it falls to...
August 05, 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Smithsonian Implements Sticky Solution to Aid Energy Conservation
In 2009, the Smithsonian Institution replaced some 15,000 outdated lighting ballasts (devices that turn on fluorescent lights) in the National Museum of American History and the National Museum of Natural History in an effort to improve energy conservation. Of course, all the energy-efficient light...
August 03, 2010 |
By Jess Righthand
President Barack Obama: Why I’m Optimistic
Looking ahead to the next 40 years, President Obama writes about our nature as Americans to dream big and solve problems
August 2010 |
By Barack Obama
Charging Ahead With a New Electric Car
An entrepreneur hits the road with a new approach for an all-electric car that overcomes its biggest shortcoming
August 2010 |
By Joshua Hammer
Art's Bold New Direction
The director of the Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum predicts how art will engage us as never before
August 2010 |
By Richard Koshalek
James Cameron on the Future of Cinema
The director of Avatar and Terminator talks about future sequels, 3-D television and Hollywood in 2050
August 2010 |
By Lorenza Muñoz
Embedded Technologies: Power From the People
Energy harvested from our bodies will make possible mind-boggling gadgetry
August 2010 |
By Michael Belfiore
A Spanish Breakthrough in Harnessing Solar Power
Solar technologies being pioneered in Spain show even greater promise for the United States
August 2010 |
By Richard Covington
Reading in a Whole New Way
As digital screens proliferate and people move from print to pixel, how will the act of reading change?
August 2010 |
By Kevin Kelly
A Coral Reef Constructed From Yarn
This fall, a different kind of coral reef will be on display in the National Museum of Natural History's Ocean Hall. It's not made out of the calcium carbonate skeletons of living coral. It's made out of wool. And acrylic, and cotton, and whatever other fibers local yarn artists get their hands on....
July 29, 2010 |
By admin
Electric Cars Won't Save Us from Climate Change
GM announced yesterday that their electric car, the Chevy Volt, will cost $41,000. The car can go 40 miles on its battery, after which a gas-powered generator will charge the battery and extend the vehicle's range another 340 miles. The Volt isn't the only choice for electric-car enthusiasts: the N...
July 28, 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
New Technology Could Let Disabled Communicate by Sniffing
If you're paying attention, there can be an awful lot of information encoded in a series of nose sniffs. In and out, long and short, strong and shallow. One sniff, two sniffs, three sniffs. Now engineers at the Weizmann Institute in Israel have capitalized on that variety of sniffs and created a de...
July 27, 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
A Medical Lab on a Postage Stamp
In the magazine's 40th anniversary issue, one of the 40 things you need to know about the future is both revolutionary and unreal: "A medical laboratory will fit on a postage stamp."The idea behind Google—boiling down vast stores of knowledge into an elegant little package—is also the idea behind t...
July 19, 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
