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Innovation / Education

Mersiv is worn around a user’s neck, like a necklace, and features a silver dollar-sized pendant with an embedded camera and microphone.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

This Language-Teaching Device Constantly Whispers Lessons In Your Ear

A conceptual gadget called Mersiv immerses language-learners in their tongue of choice

Moana

How the Story of ‘Moana’ and Maui Holds Up Against Cultural Truths

A Smithsonian scholar and student of Pacific Island sea voyaging both loves and hates the new Disney film

The technique is sort of a combination of light microscopy, which bounces light off of objects, and electron microscopy, which bounces electrons off of objects.

A New Technique Brings Color to Electron Microscope Images of Cells

Scientists at the University of California, San Diego, have found a way to attach artificial color to biological structures

David Lynch

American Ingenuity Awards

Director David Lynch Wants Schools to Teach Transcendental Meditation to Reduce Stress

The acclaimed filmmaker has become the champion of the practice that’s now been adopted by thousands of kids

"You have students drowning in debt and scholarships that go unawarded. The system is broken," says Christopher Gray.

American Ingenuity Awards

Christopher Gray’s Scholly App Is Bringing Millions of Dollars to College Students in Need

The entrepreneur’s new digital platform has helped applicants land $50 million in scholarships

The creators of SurviVR consulted with members of the FBI and the NYPD, various intelligence analysts, Navy Seals and other security, terrorism and survival experts.

Face an Active Shooter in Virtual Reality, and You May Be Better Prepared to Survive a Real-Life Encounter

A new VR program called SurviVR aims to train employees how to deal with an active shooter situation in the workplace

The LudusScope is an open-source, 3D printed, smartphone-integrated microscope.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

With This Smartphone Microscope, You Can Play Soccer and Pac-Man With Microbes

Stanford engineer Ingmar Riedel-Kruse built a 3D-printed microscope that allows students to not only observe but also interact with tiny creatures

Antelope graze nearby as an oil well is drilled in the Devon Energy oil fields.

Future of Energy

Is Oilfield School a Path to a Working-Class Future or an Anchor to the Past?

A new federal program designed to train the next generation of Wyoming oil workers signed up lots of eager students. Will any jobs await them?

How AltSchool Is Personalizing Education By Collecting Loads of Data on Its Students

Ex-Googler Max Ventilla founded AltSchool to prepare students for the 21st century. Now, he’s spreading his model and software to partner schools

Empress Green is a 4,500-square foot urban farm located at Urby Staten Island, a 900-apartment complex in New York City.

Meet the Woman Who Runs NYC’s First Commercial Farm in a Residential Development

Wouldn’t it be great if all apartment complexes came with an urban farm?

Smart Startup

Designing Classrooms For the 21st Century

By being a “Pinterest for teachers,” room2learn provides ideas for improving classroom layout and functionality

Seven Items You May Want to Add to Your Back-to-School Shopping List

From smart lunch boxes to apps for making digital flash cards, these technologies can help students of all ages this coming school year

The Future of Libraries

Besides lending books, the local institutions are training young journalists, renting garden plots and more

How You Wound Up Playing ‘The Oregon Trail’ in Computer Class

From the 1970s to 1990s, the government-owned Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium dominated the educational software market with more than 300 games

Andrew Brennen talks with a student, while on his tour of America with an organization called Student Voice.

Andrew Brennen Believes Education Reform Begins With a Simple Question

The UNC-Chapel Hill sophomore has been traveling the country asking students, “What would you change about your school?”

Sewer in a Suitcase: This handy kit shows people where water goes after it goes down the drain.

These Kits Beautifully Explain How City Sewers and Zoning Laws Work

New York’s Center for Urban Pedagogy uses art and design to help people better understand complex laws and systems

Jekan Thanga (right) and students holding FemtoSats

The Innovative Spirit fy17

These Tiny Satellites Can Be Launched Into Space for as Little as $1,000

Researchers at Arizona State University may be paving the way for consumer satellite flight

Future Is Here Festival

Tech Visionary Nicholas Negroponte Talks About the Future of Education

The act of writing a computer program, says the founder of MIT’s Media Lab, allows a child to learn about learning

Andy Weir

Future Is Here Festival

Andy Weir, Author of “The Martian,” Shares Details About His Next Novel

The science fiction writer also talks about the future of space travel

When Work Becomes a Game

Across corporate America, applying the principles of games to the non-game setting of the workplace is a growing phenomenon

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