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Innovation

Why Hedy Lamarr Was Hollywood’s Secret Weapon

The starlet patented an ingenious technology to help with the war effort, but it went unrecognized for decades

Could This Bionic Vision System Help Restore Sight?

The technology gives hope that blind patients, who lost sight from disease, might one day emerge from the dark

Aimee Stapleton and other researchers at the University of Limerick have found that lysozyme—in tears, saliva, mucus, milk and chicken eggs—accumulates an electric charge when squeezed.

Future of Energy

Your Tears Can Generate Electricity

A protein found in human tears can create electricity when placed under pressure, potentially paving the way for better biomedical devices

A smart window prototype dims in response to electricity.

Future of Energy

These Windows Tint With a Flick of a Switch

Stanford engineers are developing electric windows that block glare without blocking your view

Testing football gear

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Could This Strange Fluid Prevent Concussions and Twisted Ankles?

Army researchers, academics and industry have been using shear thickening fluids for body armor, better football helmets, rehabilitation tools and more

"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

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