Technology
Technological applications and advances in computers, agriculture, industry and transportation
The Magazine of the Future (on floppy disk!)
More than 20 years before the iPad, an entrepreneur saw the potential of interactive, digital magazines
April 23, 2012 |
By Matt Novak
The World’s Most Expensive Vegetable
Long before hops cones were used to make beer bitter, hops shoots were eaten as a spring green
April 23, 2012 |
By Peter Smith
Hand-fishing for Swamp Monsters
"It's the most exhilarating thing I've ever done," says filmmaker Bradley Beesley, whose documentaries have popularized the ancient art of noodling
April 19, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
The Legumes of War: How Peanuts Fed the Confederacy
Food shortages were a problem for both military and civilians. But even in these hard times, people could find relief in peanuts
April 19, 2012 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Plus Ça Change in France
The nation says au revoir to the franc and to "mademoiselle" and bonjour
to a proposed new theme park—Napoleonland
April 19, 2012 |
By Susan Spano
The Most Dangerous Game: Chasing a Sea Snail?
Abalone divers die of exhaustion, heart attacks, or becoming entangled in kelp. The fear of being eaten by a great white shark is persistent and haunting
April 11, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
From the Smithsonian Collections: Famous Footwear
Famous footwear of the Smithsonian collections, from Chinese foot-binding booties to Dorothy's ruby slippers
April 10, 2012 |
By Sarah C. Rich
The Flying Ambulance of Tomorrow
In the 1920s, a French inventor devised an ingenious way to provide emergency medical assistance
April 10, 2012 |
By Matt Novak
The High-Tech Minimalist Sock-Shoe
Nike's latest innovation promises to improve runners' comfort, help the environment, and revolutionize shoe manufacturing
April 06, 2012 |
By Sarah C. Rich
Better Feet Through Radiation: The Era of the Fluoroscope
In the 1940s and 50s, shoe stores were dangerous places. At the center of the shopping experience was the shoe-fitting fluoroscope—a pseudoscientific machine that became a token of mid-century marketing deception.
April 04, 2012 |
By Sarah C. Rich
Secretary Clough on Discovery’s Next Mission
The retired space shuttle will fly one last time – to the Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center
April 2012 |
By G. Wayne Clough, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution
Richard Clarke on Who Was Behind the Stuxnet Attack
America's longtime counterterrorism czar warns that the cyberwars have already begun—and that we might be losing
April 2012 |
By Ron Rosenbaum
A Short Trip to Coal Country
In eastern Pennsylvania, learn more than you ever imagined about flammable carbon at the Anthracite Coal Museum, and marvel at the virtual ghost town of Centralia
March 30, 2012 |
By Susan Spano
These Shoes are Made for Printing
In many ways, 3D printing could be a superior way to manufacture shoes. But comfort isn't one yet.
March 28, 2012 |
By Sarah C. Rich
The Greatest Diving Sites in the World
The vertiginous void of the Great Blue Hole offers divers the feeling of facing off with the edge of the world
March 28, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
Top Ten Most-Destructive Computer Viruses
Created by amateur hackers, underground crime syndicates and government agencies, these powerful viruses have done serious damage to computer networks worldwide
March 20, 2012 |
By Sharon Weinberger
The Shape of Fruits to Come
How our need for convenience is redesigning our food supply
March 16, 2012 |
By Sarah C. Rich
Will Matt Rutherford be First to Circumnavigate the Americas Solo?
"Basically, I either fail and everyone thinks I'm crazy, or I succeed and I'm a hero," says the sailor, who is on the homestretch of a nearly one-year journey
March 15, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
Wildflower Hunting in the California Desert
March is the traditional time to view the fab flora in Joshua Tree National Park
March 15, 2012 |
By Susan Spano
