The no-frills battery-free phone prototype is powered by ambient radio signals or light.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

You’d Never Have to Plug in This Battery-Free Cell Phone

Harvesting energy from ambient radio waves and light, the ultra-low power device doesn’t need a battery to make calls, but there’s a catch

Podnar shoots dry ice pellets, which sit at a frosty temperature of around negative minus-180-degrees Fahrenheit, at the object's surface

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Conservation of a Pair of Saint-Gaudens Goes al Fresco at the Freer

The beauty of dry ice cleaning is the efficient and environmentally safe process; but also the procedure was on view from the street

Robots Will Lead Passengers to Their Gate at Seoul’s Airport

The microneedle patch being applied.

The Next Pandemic

Needle-Free Patch Makes Vaccination as Easy as Putting on a Band-Aid

The new product could be available in about five years, scientists say

The e-mosquito prototype

A Blood-Monitoring Device Inspired by Mosquitoes

The e-mosquito is a continuous glucose-monitoring device that could help people with diabetes better manage their blood sugar

A Smithsonian scientist and other researchers announce success in the first-ever cryo-preservation of zebrafish embryos using gold nanotechnology and lasers.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

A Cool New Way to Freeze and Unfreeze Zebrafish Embryos Using Gold Nanotechnology and Lasers

The downstream applications could make food cheaper, repair coral reefs and help restore frog populations

This two-stair prototype harvests energy from a user as they descend the stairs, then returns it on the upward climb.

New Assistive Stairs Put a Spring in Your Step

Inventors design a staircase that recycles energy to assist users

This is an illustration, not a picture, of a virus, because viruses are super small. But a new "VirusCam" promises to be able to see and track individual viruses, potentially leading to breakthroughs for human health.

“VirusCam” Can Watch Individual Viruses to (Someday) Keep You From Getting Sick

Viruses are tiny and hard to see, but a new microscope can track them individually to try to better prevent disease

No flush

How Fake, Lab-Made Poop Can Improve Sanitation

The, er, sludge replicates the properties of human waste to better understand sanitation in Bangladesh

This false-color image depicts various compounds that ants smell to detect where their nestmates stand in the colony's social hierarchy.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Studying Ant “Noses” Could Lead to Better Bug Repellents

The new class of repellents, called “excito-repellents,” is similar to “getting on an elevator with someone who’s put on way too much perfume”

Georgia Tech engineers Glaucio Paulino and Jerry Qi show two of their 3-D printed "tensegrity" structures that fold flat and build themselves up with heat. These are just proofs of concept, but Qi and Paulino predict that structures like this could be used to build space habitats or heart stents.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Print, Then Heat for Self-Assembling Space Stations

With special ‘memory’ polymers, stents and space habitats could one day build themselves

When the writing box is unfolded, it offers a slanted writing surface, a drawer to hold inkwells and quills, and plenty of room for paper.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

History Was Writ Large on This Desk Belonging to Thomas Jefferson

The ingenuity of this clever writing box was matched only by the young republic’s innovative declaration for nationhood

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These Boots Could Save a Firefighter’s Life

Engineer Hahna Alexander designed SmartBoots, which harvest energy from the wearer’s steps, to aid workers in dangerous professions

“Soccer is the one thing that’s very familiar to them," says Luma Mufleh, founder of Fugees Family. “It reminds them of home.”

How Soccer Is Changing the Lives of Child Refugees

Arrivals from war-torn countries find refuge at a Georgia academy founded by an immigrant

Bioluminescent cancer cells appear in a three-dimensional scan of a mouse with cleared tissue.

Transparent Mice Let Researchers See Cancer Spread in Real Time

By making organs transparent, researchers at Tokyo University can spot individual cancer cells

Eight billion cans sold, and counting.

How Spam Went from Canned Necessity to American Icon

Out-of-the-can branding helped transform World War II’s rations into a beloved household staple

Laser-cut paper coated in conductive materials allows this small device to generate electricity just by being squeezed.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

New Invention Puts the Power of Static in Your Pocket

Squeeze this paper device and you can create electricity

Scientists used the new adhesive to create electronic skin controlled by a smartphone.

A More Super Superglue Could Help Build Jelly-Like Robots

A tweaked version of the popular adhesive may give a big boost to stretchable electronics and soft robots

At the top of the Great Historical Clock, amid decorative flourishes,George Washington reviews his troops.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

This Towering 19th-Century Mechanical Clock Was the Smartwatch of Its Era

With hundreds of moving parts, the Great Historical Clock of America has been revived

The current elastic headband used in almost a million surgeries annually is on the right. The granular jamming cap, filled with coffee grounds and packed firm with a vacuum, is on the left.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Coffee on the Brain—Literally—Could Help Surgeons

A cap made of coffee grounds helps nose and throat surgery patients get the best care

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