Technology Innovation
Cat Brain Inspires Computer Design
A University of Michigan computer engineer, Wei Lu, has set out to develop a supercomputer the size of a 2-liter soda bottle that can mimic a cat brain. (Why a cat brain? It's a more realistic goal than a human brain, he says.)Mimicking the function of a cat brain is possible with current technolog...
April 26, 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
New & Improved Fugu: Now, Without Poison!
Aside from foraging wild mushrooms without a good guide book, or having tea with a former Russian spy, one of the most potentially dangerous meals you can have is fugu, the highly toxic puffer fish that can cause paralysis or death but is considered a delicacy in Japan. There, specialized restauran...
February 26, 2010 |
By Lisa Bramen
Science on my Phone
A few months after the purchase of my iPhone, I'll admit it: I'm an app addict. Luckily, there are plenty of great free apps out there. And here's some of my favorites in science:NASA App: Lots of pictures, a launch schedule, mission updates and plenty of videos to keep you up-to-date with the spac...
February 24, 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Riled up About Geoengineering
One of the most contentious sessions at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting this past weekend in San Diego was on geoengineering, the study of ways to engineer the planet to manipulate climate. Intentional ways to do so, I should say—as many of the speakers pointed out, ...
February 23, 2010 |
By Laura Helmuth
The Science of the Olympics
I've always been a fan of the Winter Olympics, but a bout with the flu in 2002 that kept me at home watching TV for a week made me an addict. But it's not just about watching hours of skiing and skating. There's science, too, and it seems to be everywhere this year. Here are some good resources and...
February 17, 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Finding Art Fakes through Computer Analysis
Pieter Bruegel the Elder was a 16th-century painter from the Netherlands known for his landscape paintings populated by peasants (though you may also be familiar with his version of the Tower of Babel). He also produced dozens of drawings and prints. In the early 1990s, though, several Alpine drawi...
January 05, 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
NASA's New Lunar Rover
The Smithsonian Institution pitches in to help NASA prepare for its next lunar mission with a new "home on wheels"
January 2010 |
By Megan Gambino
Christmas Dinner on the International Space Station
Ever wondered what astronauts might be eating for Christmas dinner? I found out recently when I had the chance to speak with NASA's Vickie Kloeris, who manages the food system for the International Space Station.Q: What goes into managing the space station's food system?A: We have a food lab here o...
December 24, 2009 |
By Amanda Bensen
World's 10 Fastest Supercomputers
When compared with those Apple IIe computers I first used, sending a triangular "turtle" across the screen to draw a picture during Computer Lab in elementary school, the iMac I now work on seems incredibly slick in design, complex in function, and fast. Today's supercomputers, though, and tens of ...
November 24, 2009 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Sci-fi Contact Lenses Get Closer to Reality
You've seen it in that spy show on TV, or that crazy sci-fi movie you watched last month: The dashing hero places a contact lens over his eye before setting off to infiltrate the bad guy's secret lair. As he sneaks past guards and cameras, his compatriots are sending him the path to follow, display...
November 16, 2009 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Tiny Cameras Show Albatrosses on the Hunt
Scientists from Britain and Japan used sophisticated techniques to study the feeding behavior of the black-browed albatross (Thalassarche melanophrys) at sea. A lot of useful information came out of this study, but the single item you will likely hear most about is a really cool photograph, taken ...
October 07, 2009 |
By Greg Laden
Living Car Free
I walked to work yesterday morning and back home in the evening. The weather was beautiful—sunny and in the 70s. The path is only about two miles long and takes me past some of the most glorious bits of Washington's architecture. Most days, though, I'll take Metro to work. Sometimes I take the bus ...
September 22, 2009 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Making Cooking Safer in the Developing World
A cooking stove called the Chulha just won an INDEX award for "design to improve life." Why? Because according to the World Health Organization, about half of all households worldwide—and 90 percent of rural households—get their cooking and heating fuel from "biomass" sources like coal, wood, charc...
September 21, 2009 |
By Amanda Bensen
Food Tattoos
Ever peel one of those pesky stickers off a piece of supermarket produce, and end up with a gooey or skinless spot marring an otherwise lovely nectarine or tomato? Ever been stuck waiting in the checkout line while the cashier ponders whether to ring up organic or regular bananas, since the sticker...
August 31, 2009 |
By Amanda Bensen
Picture of the Week—Project Pebble
The University of Cambridge Department of Engineering hosted a photography contest earlier this year, and the winners have just been announced. The photo above, Project Pebble, won first prize. Two engineering students, Ben Sheppard and Robbie Howshall, set out to design a low-cost, deep-sea photog...
August 14, 2009 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Find the International Space Station with Twitter
Though I may be tweeting (@SarahZielinski), I’m still not exactly convinced of the value of Twitter. That said, a new service called Twisst (follow @twisst) is starting to convince me otherwise. Twisst uses Twitter in an interesting mashup with other services to let followers know when they can vie...
June 30, 2009 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Bach's Forgotten Horn
In 1737-8, Johann Sebastian Bach composed and performed a cantata, "O Jesu Christ, meins lebens licht" ("O Jesus Christ, light of my life"). Among the instruments called for in the score are "two Litui." However, the Lituus is a forgotten instrument. No one has played or heard the instrument in mod...
June 03, 2009 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Tips from Solar Oven Chef
Smithsonian associate editor Bruce Hathaway guest blogs for us, chiming in about his love for solar cooking:The first days of May here in the Washington, D.C., area are usually ideal for solar cooking. The recent spate of rain-filled days has kept us from truly enjoying the out doors, but it won't ...
May 07, 2009 |
By admin
Insulation Made Out of ... Mushrooms?
If having fungus inside your home's walls sounds like a bad thing, the judges of the 2008 PICNIC Green Challenge would disagree. In October, Eben Bayer, a 23-year-old from Troy, New York, won 500,000 euros in the second annual Dutch-sponsored competition for the best solution to reducing greenhouse...
April 17, 2009 |
By Lisa Bramen
Booting Up a Computer Pioneer’s 200-Year-Old Design
Charles Babbage, the grandfather of the computer, envisioned a calculating machine that was never built, until now
April 02, 2009 |
By Aleta George
