The nonprofit SkyTruth enlisted more than 200 volunteers to scan aerial imagery and pinpoint the locations of fracking wastewater ponds in Pennsylvania.

Tracking Frackers From the Sky

Citizen scientists eyeing Pennsylvania’s natural gas drillers in aerial images may help determine if there is a link between fracking and certain illnesses

Microbes were used in the cleanup of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

New Understanding of Toxin-Loving Organisms May Help Tackle Pollution

A breakthrough in the understanding of how bacteria break down toxins using vitamin B12 could lead to improved cleanup methods

Slipped into the handle of an officer's firearm, this sensor keeps commanders aware of on-duty activity.

A Sensor In Guns Tells Dispatch When Police Officers Need Backup

By monitoring the position and status of firearms, commanders can see exactly what’s happening in the field

Using the Automatic Link and License+ app, parents can coach their teens to have safer driving habits.

Parents, Give Your Teens Driving Lessons Without Even Being in the Car

A six-month training program gives parents of new drivers a training tool—and a little extra peace of mind

Rub the label to see if the food inside is still good to eat.

A Label You Rub To See If Food Has Expired and Other Finalists for the Dyson Award

There’s also a pen that lets you know when you should reapply your sunscreen and a device called Luke Stairwalker

This past weekend an innovation festival at the National Air and Space Museum celebrated inventions from across the United States.

The Innovative Spirit - OLD

Here’s What You Missed at the Smithsonian Innovation Festival

Inventors and museum staff alike inspired the crowd to see the world through the prism of innovation

MicroCHIPS, a startup formed by MIT researchers, has developed a drug delivery chip that is implanted under the skin.

Turn Your Birth Control On and Off With a Remote

Bill Gates is backing MicroCHIPS, a Massachusetts-based startup developing an implantable chip that releases birth control hormones on demand

The Innovative Spirit - OLD

The Smithsonian Celebrates American Invention at This Weekend’s Innovation Festival

How do you bring an idea to life? The inventors of new technologies will share their stories at a two-day event at the National Air and Space Museum

Doctors are refining a method to remove the "ouch" from injections.

A Needle Could Make For Pain-Free Flu Shots

Using temperature, vibration and pressure, this needle can trick a patient into feeling no pain

Located on the Rhode River of the Chesapeake bay, the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center's new laboratory building emits 37 percent less CO2 and cuts energy costs by 42 percent.

A New Environmental Science Lab Now Walks the Walk, Cutting Its Overall Emissions by 37 Percent

With geothermal heating, on-site water reclamation and a host of other energy saving technologies, the Smithsonian’s first LEED-Platinum building opens

The bedside S+ frees sleep trackers from uncomfortable watches and chest monitors.

Tech Watch

This Device Tracks Your Sleep Without Ever Touching You

The ResMed S+ monitors your Zzzs from the comfortable distance of your nightstand and offers tips for getting a better rest

Google's newest Street View collection takes users to Gombe Stream National Park, where Jane Goodall pioneered her chimpanzee behavioral research. "Don't forget to look up," a Google project manager says.

Exclusive: The Chimpanzees of Gombe National Park Make Their Street View Debut

For its latest collection, Google traveled to the African rainforest where Jane Goodall pioneered her groundbreaking chimp research

A plate filled with drops of blood detects microRNA patterns that might indicate cancers.

Testing for Cancer With a Single Blood Sample

Startup Miroculus has developed a system that screens for dozens of cancers in 90 minutes

What the Heck is a Robobird?

No flock will mess with this robot – which is precisely the point

2014 Ingenuity Awards

The 2014 Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award Winners

These 10 innovators in science, history, society and the arts are a testament to the imagination and hard work that define the nation’s spirit

2014 Ingenuity Awards

How Palmer Luckey Created Oculus Rift

The young visionary dreamed up a homemade headset that may transform everything from gaming to medical treatment to engineering—and beyond

2014 Ingenuity Awards

How One Physicist’s Pursuit of the Cosmos Took Off in Antarctica

Francis Halzen’s amazing experiment heralds the beginning of a new era in astronomy

2014 Ingenuity Awards

Rosanne Cash on Discovering New Artistic Terrain

The singer-songwriter looked to her Southern ancestors to come up with a different kind of concept album

2014 Ingenuity Awards

Could This Be the Answer to the Tech World’s Diversity Problem?

Kimberly Bryant hopes to crack the code with her organization that teaches young girls of color how to program

2014 Ingenuity Awards

Meet the Two Scientists Who Implanted a False Memory Into a Mouse

In a neuroscience breakthrough, the duo pioneered a real-life version of Inception

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