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Innovation

A City Fabrick pop-up space.

Could Pop-Up Social Spaces at Polls Increase Voter Turnout?

Placemaking the Vote, one of the finalists in the Knight Cities Challenge, wants people to hang out at their polling places

A "wind tree" installed at the COP21 climate talks in Paris. Each tree produces enough energy to light 71 parking spaces (or power one average American home for four months).

Age of Humans

These Creative Wind Turbines Will Have You Rethinking What You Know About Wind Power

Wind turbines don’t have to all look the same. Here are some that are helping cities go green—and look like art in the process

Adam Steltzner celebrates the successful landing of the Curiosity rover on Mars on August 5, 2012.

What Landing a Rover on Mars Teaches You About Leadership and Teamwork

In his new book, NASA engineer Adam Steltzner shares his insights on how to inspire people to make the impossible possible

Knee bending machine from Dr. G. Zander’s medico-mechanische Gymnastik by Alfred Levertin (Stockholm: 1892).

Dr. Gustav Zander’s Victorian-Era Exercise Machines Made the Bowflex Look Like Child’s Play

A Smithsonian librarian highlights the precursor to today’s gym enthusiasts

Madison Hill of Samsung demonstrates a Family Hub Refrigerator at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Six Cool Gadgets From This Year’s CES

The Consumer Electronics Show has long been the launchpad for some of our most beloved electronics products

How the Phonograph Changed Music Forever

Much like streaming music services today are reshaping our relationship with music, Edison’s invention redefined the entire industry

Seven of the Most Innovative Gyms in the World

Go way beyond free weights and stationary bikes at these clever workout facilities

Thin Red Line Aerospace Chief Engineer and CEO Maxim de Jong inspects a UW-CAES “Energy Bag” during initial test inflation

Future of Energy

Could Renewable Energy Be Stored in Balloons in the Ocean?

Underwater compressed air energy storage is promising, but the fate of this tech remains unknown

Jeannette Garcia is pioneering recyclable plastics.

Eight Innovators to Watch in 2016

These thinkers are making fascinating developments in medicine, economics, art, music and more

An Underwater Museum in Egypt Could Bring Thousands of Sunken Relics Into View

The proposed site might revive tourism in Alexandria and also further research into the ancient ruins

This New App Wants to Help You With Your Homework

With GotIt!, high school students take a photo of a tricky math or science problem and get live tutoring by text from the highest bidder

A pile of letters wait to be loaded in a sorting machine at a USPS processing and distribution center.

Have Bad Handwriting? The U.S. Postal Service Has Your Back

Don’t worry, your Christmas gifts and cards will make it to their destination, even if your writing looks like chicken scratch

Making Sugar Twice as Sweet

An Israeli startup has invented a process to coat inert particles with sugar molecules, tricking the tongue into thinking food is sweeter

Everybody Loves Lists

Our Top Ten Stories of 2015

From treasures buried in glaciers to the racial history of a vanished city in Oregon, here are the most-read stories on Smithsonian.com this year

Farmigo relies on a decentralized system of neighborhood organizers and pickup locations.

Smart Startup

It’s Like Uber, But for Farmers’ Markets

A startup called Farmigo is trying to create a better food system for both eaters and farmers

The hydrogel bends and flexes like human skin.

Introducing the Band-Aids of the Future

MIT engineers are developing a “smart” bandage that can monitor and deliver drugs to a wound

The robotic arms move across the range, cooking and cleaning.

This Robot Will Make You Dinner

Moley Robotics is developing a robotic kitchen that can prepare a meal from start to finish—cleanup included

Metal microlattice

This Metal Is 99.9 Percent Air

A new metal “microlattice” is strong yet incredibly light, lending itself to a wide variety of aerospace, automotive and medical uses

Dot is an affordable active Braille smartwatch.

A Smartwatch for the Visually Impaired

Developed by University of Washington students, Dot translates texts, tweets and e-books to Braille

Kids test out the new 1,700-square-foot Wegmans Wonderplace at the National Museum of American History.

How the Smithsonian Hopes to Turn Infants, Toddlers and Young Children Into Museumgoers

The National Museum of American History opens its new “Wonderplace,” a space for the youngest members of the family

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