"We were joking that we could do some kind of a comedy about organ printing," says Zach Weinersmith. "What if there was this world where every part of your body is disposable? Everyone could act way more dangerously."

Ten Technologies That Will Change Our Lives, Soonish

A scientist and admired cartoonist explore how today’s research is becoming tomorrow’s innovations in a new book

Three-Room Dwelling (detail) by Frances Glessner Lee, about 1944-46

Home Is Where the Corpse Is—at Least in These Dollhouse Crime Scenes

Frances Glessner Lee’s “Nutshell Studies” exemplify the intersection of forensic science and craft

What can humans learn from this master of disguise?

Like Octopus Skin, This New Material Goes From 2D to 3D in Seconds

Octopi are masters of disguise, able to change both the color and texture of their skin. Engineers have developed a material that can do similar tricks

This Mapping Tool Could Help Wilderness Firefighters Plan Escape Routes

Firefighters may soon get safety help from a new technology that assesses terrain and plots a course out

Bone Armchair by Joris Laarman Lab, 2007

Have We Been Building Chairs All Wrong?

Experimental Dutch designer Joris Laarman uses algorithms and digital technology to innovate through constraint

A self-driving shuttle at Texas A&M

Are Self-Driving Cars the Future of Mobility for Disabled People?

Combining machine learning, artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles could revolutionize how people with disabilities get around their communities

Marie Curie in one of her mobile X-ray units in October 1917

Women Who Shaped History

How Marie Curie Brought X-Ray Machines To the Battlefield

During World War I, the scientist invented a mobile x-ray unit, called a “Little Curie,” and trained 150 women to operate it

Today's Galapagos tortoises mostly feature dome-shaped shells, like the one shown here. But researchers have found some that have the saddleback-shaped shells and longer necks that once characterized extinct Floreana and Pinta tortoises.

The Island Where Scientists Bring Extinct Reptiles Back to Life (Nope, Not That One)

Reviving a long-dead Galapagos tortoise will take Jurassic Park-esque tactics—but have humans already intervened too much?

How Artificial Intelligence Is Improving Magic Tricks

Computer scientists have designed a trick that uses an algorithm to search the internet for the words most associated with images

Researcher Christopher Clarke controls a TV with his coffee cup.

Use Your Hand (or Your Coffee Cup, or Your Cat) as a Remote Control

A new gesture recognition technology could allow users to turn almost any item into a remote for controlling televisions, tablets and more

How This Ship Handles Seas Loaded With Icebergs

The Ocean Endeavour is sailing toward a famous glacier near the Arctic town of Ilulissat. It’s a route packed with dangerous icebergs

In the late Bronze Age, ca. 500-450 BCE, bells were made in sets that rang different notes according to size.

Freer|Sackler: Reopens

A Rare Collection of Bronze Age Chinese Bells Tells a Story of Ancient Innovation

These rarely played ancient bells are newly analyzed with their acoustics remastered and digitized for a new exhibition at the Sackler Gallery

It seems that it’s only a matter of time before we have the technology for switchgrass, shown here, to replace corn as a feedstock for ethanol.

Future of Energy

The Next Generation of Biofuels Could Come From These Five Crops

Researchers are currently developing biofuels from these abundant species, which require relatively little land, water and fertilizer

Danish architecture firm THIRD NATURE's POP-UP project stacks a parking garage on top of a water reservoir.

What Can Cities Do to Go “Blue”?

In a number of projects and proposals, architects and urban planners are working with water instead of against it

Daniel Kish is an expert in human echolocation and president of World Access for the Blind.

How Does Human Echolocation Work?

Blind since he was very young, Daniel Kish is the world’s foremost proponent of using vocal clicks to navigate

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Want to Learn Cherokee? How About Ainu? This Startup Is Teaching Endangered Languages

Tribalingual founder Inky Gibbens explains how saving languages is a means of preserving different worldviews

This chatbot is designed to make it easier for people to deal with preparing for death.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Can a Chatbot Help You Prepare For Death?

They’re being designed to tee up end-of-life conversations, prep documents and provide spiritual counseling

Having shown that it’s possible to identify whale species from baleen, Solazzo says, “Now we have a new tool to study those collections.”

The Innovative Spirit fy17

These Ancient Whale Baleen Artifacts Can Now Tell New Stories

How an innovative protein analysis technique helped solve a decades-old mystery

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