One hour of walk time with a pair of EnSoles, designed by Hahna Alexander (inset), provides 2.5 hours of talk time on a smartphone.

Smart Startup

Generating Power One Step At a Time

The Pittsburgh-based startup SolePower is developing an insole that collects kinetic energy as you walk to power your mobile phone

Miracle fruit, or Synsepalum dulcificum, grows on bushy trees native to West Africa.

Can This Berry Solve Both Obesity and World Hunger?

At a playful café in Chicago, chef Homaro Cantu is experimenting with miracle fruit, a West African berry that makes everything a little sweeter

This Plant-Based Gel Stops Bleeding in Seconds

A salve that seals severe wounds is making its way to veterinary clinics. Military and trauma testing may soon follow

Almost two-thirds of new teachers report that their training left them underprepared.

Round Table

How Do You Make a Great Teacher?

Push student teachers harder, stick with them once they’re in the classroom, and integrate them into their schools’ communities

Those who see Needle Tower often wonder how, with barely 14 inches of contact with the ground, the 60-foot tower stays upright.

How Does the Hirshhorn’s 60-Foot “Needle Tower” Stay Upright In A Stiff Wind?

In the 1960s, when artist Kenneth Snelson mingled architectural innovation with abstraction, the result was heavenly

A full-size Boeing 757 tail equipped with sweeping jets was tested in a wind tunnel at the Ames Research Center.

Designing a Smaller, Lighter Airplane Tail

With engineers from Caltech, Boeing and NASA, Israel Wygnanski is ushering in a new era of fuel-efficient airplane design

The Rubbee electric drive turns your bike into an e-bike.

2014 Holiday Gift Guide

Eight Tech Gifts for Early Adopters

From a personal drone and a 3D printer to sleep and sport performance trackers, these gadgets will please the technophiles in your life

A system in testing off the coast of Cape Town uses an electric field to safely ward off predators.

An Electric Fence Wards Off Sharks

South Africa has begun testing a humane way to make its beaches safer

Artist Yoshi Sodeoka envisions musical instruments carried in satellites orbiting the Earth that would be able to “neutralize nations at war."

How Will We Make Music in 200 Years?

A group of innovators were asked to imagine what music will be like in 2214. If they’re right, it could be pretty bizarre

Middle-class families scooped up affordable and speedy Model Ts. As they began to race through the streets, they ran headlong into pedestrians—with lethal results.

When Pedestrians Ruled the Streets

The driverless car may take a while to catch on—just as the automobile did a century ago

One of the original Regency TR-1 models resides in the Smithsonian collections.

How the Transistor Radio with Music for Your Pocket Fueled a Teenage Social Revolution

In a burst of post World War II innovation, the Regency TR-1 transistor radio became the new “It” gift for the holiday season

Muhammad Ali, Abraham Lincoln, and Georgia O'Keeffe are among the Americans listed

Meet the 100 Most Significant Americans of All Time

A new, special issue of Smithsonian magazine attempts the impossible: to list out the most significant people in United States history

A new, zero-power screening method might make testing for lead and other pollutants easier than ever.

Drop This Capsule Into a Stream and It Will Screen For Pollution

Researchers have developed a sensor (no batteries required) that creates a barcode indicating the amount of pollutants and their whereabouts in water

This is how you build the world's first solar bike path.

A Bike Path Near Amsterdam Is Now Generating Solar Power

As cyclists ride above, solar panels embedded in the pathway pump energy into the power grid

One third of an airline's operating costs go to fuel.

Holy Smokes! Tobacco May Fuel Planes in the Future

The seeds from a new type of tobacco plant grown in South Africa release an oil that can be made into biofuel

The Innovative Spirit - OLD

Designing for Seniors and Soldiers, Toward a “Silver” Architecture

Going green is good, but could architects be doing more for two segments of our population?

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

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