Innovation

FireCast 2.0 targets the most fire-prone buildings, many of which haven't been inspected in years.

How Data and a Good Algorithm Can Help Predict Where Fires Will Start

The New York City Fire Department is using a tool called FireCast to predict which buildings are most likely to have fires

This "smart" mattress cover can track sleep patterns along with respiration and heart rates.

This Week in Crowdfunding

A "Smart" Mattress Cover and Other Wild Ideas That Just Got Funded

Don't have a green thumb? A sensor for your potted plants alerts you when they need watering

Use Virtual Reality to Eliminate That Pain in Your Neck

Altering visual perceptions can trick the brains of chronic sufferers so they can enjoy pain-free motion

A Prado visitor touches a 3-D printed replica of a contemporaneous copy of the "Mona Lisa."

Please Touch the Art: 3-D Printing Helps Visually Impaired Appreciate Paintings

The new "Touching the Prado" exhibit in Madrid showcases 3-D replicas of paintings, so blind visitors can feel key works of art

One of two newly installed wind turbines at the Eiffel Tower.

The Eiffel Tower Gets a Green Upgrade

The landmark now has two wind turbines above its second level

Chuck Brown (1936-2012), the Godfather of Go-Go, owned this six-string Gibson guitar, now in the collections of the Smithsonian's Anacostia Community Museum.

Chuck Brown's Guitar Drove the Musician's Persuasive "Wind Me Up" Rhythm

The Godfather of Go-Go's family recall how the musician crafted the innovative sound that would define a local tradition

This Dutch Wind Wheel Is Part Green Tech Showcase, Part Architectural Attraction

A giant structure proposed in Rotterdam puts cutting-edge energy tech inside a rotating observation wheel, with room for a hotel and apartments

Each Librii site will include an anchor building for housing collections, an e-hub with computers and an agora equipped with WiFi.

Smart Startup

Building Libraries Along Fiber-Optic Lines in Sub-Saharan Africa

The Washington, D.C.-based startup, Librii, is rethinking what a library looks like

This robot, made of drinking straws, teaches kids how to hack.

This Week in Crowdfunding

A Kit to Make Robots Out of Drinking Straws and Other Wild Ideas That Just Got Funded

Perhaps a three-dimensional paper mount of an animal is just what your living room needs

Xerox founder Joe Wilson with the 914, which could make copies up to 9 by 14 inches.

How the Photocopier Changed the Way We Worked—and Played

Decades before 3-D printers brought manufacturing closer to home, copiers transformed offices, politics and art

Someone Built a Bold New Font Out of Buildings

Created out of aerial photography, you'll never guess where the "O" comes from

The lab-on-a-chip gets the power it needs for testing though the headphone jack on a smartphone, and sends the results through the port to the phone for computation, display and storage.

This $34 Smartphone-Assisted Device Could Revolutionize Disease Testing

A new low-cost device that plugs into a smartphone could cut down on expensive lab tests

As a kid, you may remember getting your first glimpse of paramecium in pond water or the cell structure of an onion by peering through a microscope.

Ultra-Cheap Microscopes Could Save Millions of Lives

Researchers are designing portable microscopes that cost just a few dollars to make

Revolution Bioengineering is working to genetically engineer petunias that continuously change from pink to blue and back again.

Art Meets Science

Would You Like to Grow Color-Changing Flowers?

A Colorado company is working to genetically engineer petunias that change colors throughout the day

The Zboard 2 is an electric skateboard that can reach speeds of up to 20 miles per hour.

This Week in Crowdfunding

Five Wild Ideas: From a Vest for Weight Loss to an Electric Skateboard

Plus, building blocks for children inspired by Archimedes

Google's driverless car prototype. Is this the cab of the future?

Cabs of the Future Won't Have Drivers

Recent moves by Uber and Google may foreshadow a battle over who will control fleets of autonomous cars on city streets

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A Man With ALS Says "I Love You" to His Wife for the First Time in 15 Years

A new invention from Not Impossible Labs allows Don Moir to script an audible love letter

Imagining the future of artificial hearts.

Help for the Brokenhearted: Wearable, Biosynthetic and 'Beatless' Artificial Hearts

Cow-machine hybrids and continuous-flow technologies are helping people survive devastating heart failure

Round Table

What is the Most Important Innovation in the History of Rock 'n' Roll?

Musicians, historians and critics tell us what they consider to be the greatest game changers for the industry

Trained in CPR? This Life-Saving App Could Make You a Superhero

When someone is experiencing cardiac arrest, PulsePoint sends alerts to CPR-certified invidividuals nearby

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