Innovation

Hanqing Jiang (left) and his students, Wenwen Xu and Xu Wang, with their supercapacitor materials

This Edible Supercapacitor Could Transform Ingestible Electronics

The materials for a new electronic component that could power a tiny camera sound more like breakfast than science

Adam Donnelly repairs light leaks inside a camera that he and David Janesko constructed in Coachella Valley, California.

Art Meets Science

From Sticks and Stones, Two Artists Make Pinhole Cameras

David Janesko and Adam Donnelly are using materials found in nature to photograph nature

The Smart Pump by Naya uses a water-based system.

Smart Startup

Could It Be? A Quiet, Comfortable and Bluetooth-Connected Breast Pump

From breast pumps to bottles, the Silicon Valley startup Naya Health is making smarter products for parents and infants

A Search Engine That Matches Your Drawings to Photographs Isn't Too Far Off

Computer scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a new program that could let you Google your doodles

Buckminster Fuller's Geodesic Dome, 1967 World Exposition, Montreal

A Photographic Tour of the Wonders That World's Fairs Leave Behind

Jade Doskow goes to old World's Fair sites and photographs the remnants of once glorious visions

Fleet Farming turns yards into "farmlettes."

A Band of Biking Farmers in Florida Reinvents Sharecropping

Fleet Farming transforms lawns into farms to create a new local food system

Sewer in a Suitcase: This handy kit shows people where water goes after it goes down the drain.

These Kits Beautifully Explain How City Sewers and Zoning Laws Work

New York's Center for Urban Pedagogy uses art and design to help people better understand complex laws and systems

Mary Reynolds sits in a moss-covered pod designed by the West Cork artist Peter Little.

The Unlikely, Charming Designer Who Is Changing the Face of Gardening

With weeds, critters and Celtic symbols, Mary Reynolds is transforming what it means to garden

Environmental cues mosquitoes to swarm inside a lab.

The Next Pandemic

Kill All the Mosquitoes?!

New gene-editing technology gives scientists the ability to wipe out the carriers of malaria and the Zika virus. But should they use it?

If Grit Breeds Success, How Can I Get Grittier?

University of Pennsylvania psychologist Angela Duckworth talks about her new book and the importance of the personal quality

Ground beetle (Carabus (Coptolabrus) elysii), detail

Art Meets Science

Eek! Each of These Insect Portraits Is Made From More Than 8,000 Images

With a mastery of macro, Levon Biss captures every hair and dimple on insects’ vibrant bodies

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: The Danube

The Hollywood Bombshell Who Invented an Indispensable War Technology

In 1942, Hedy Lamarr received a patent for frequency hopping, but was told to devote her efforts elsewhere

A model for how suburbs could one day be designed. The white objects on the left are delivery drones.

Suburbia Gets No Respect, But It Could Become a Very Different Place

For starters, driverless cars would mean a lot less pavement

How to Build a Mosquito Trap From an Old Tire

Canadian researchers hope to curb the spread of Zika and other mosquito-borne diseases by luring the pests into homemade traps

Mya Le Thai holds her invention.

Future of Energy

Did Scientists Stumble on a Battery that Lasts Forever?

Researchers studying nanowires have found a battery material that can be recharged for years, even decades

Japan'a see-through trains

Japan Is Getting “Invisible” Trains That Blend into the Landscape

Admiring the scenery just got even better

Will digital assistants replace both Google searches and mobile apps?

How Machines Are Getting Better at Making Conversation

Digital assistants are developing personalities, with some help from poets and writers

The Innovative Spirit fy17

How Computer Scientists Are Using Twitter to Predict Gentrification

Cambridge researchers have created a way to predict a neighborhood's fortunes in coming years by analyzing social media data

"Science fiction is so important to our culture, because it allows us to dream," said Jim Green, director of NASA's planetary science division, at the "Future is Here" festival.

Future Is Here Festival

The Future Is Here Festival Considers Extraterrestrial Life and the Essence of Humanity

In the festival's final day, speakers turn to the cosmos and our place within it

Smart Startup

Hosting an Event? Don't Toss Leftover Food, Donate It

With an Uber-like app, Transfernation is reducing food waste while feeding those in need

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