Cataract of the human eye

This Chemical Compound Could Melt Away Cataracts

Eye drops made from “compound 29” have been shown to reduce cataracts in mice. Researchers hope the same will hold true for humans.

Round Table

Why Does America Prize Creativity and Invention?

Our politics encourage it, there’s a high tolerance of failure, and we idealize the lone inventor

American Ingenuity Awards

This Wildly Creative Art Project Transformed an Ugly Interstate Into a 2,400-Mile-Long Visual Masterpiece

Zoe Crosher and Shamim Momin are behind the effort to turn the classic American eyesore into true art

Left: Alan Stern holds a 2005 Hubble image of the Pluto system on January 19, 2006, two hours after the successful launch of the New Horizons probe. Right: A triumphant Stern holds a full-frame image of Pluto, taken just hours before the New Horizons probe reached its closest point to Pluto.

American Ingenuity Awards

How Alan Stern Brought Pluto to Earth

The scientist behind NASA’s New Horizons mission gave cheering earthlings their first close-up view of the dwarf planet

Bill Hader and Fred Armisen share a laugh at the Broadway Video offices in Beverly Hills, CA, surrounded by the tools of their trade for their new series, Documentary Now.

American Ingenuity Awards

Why Bill Hader and Fred Armisen Are Parodying Documentaries in Their Latest, Ingenious Project

The “SNL” veterans behind the sly new series “Documentary Now” add a layer of authenticity to the art of sending up nonfiction films

American Ingenuity Awards

Meet Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Genius Behind “Hamilton,” Broadway’s Newest Hit

Composer, lyricist and performer, Miranda wows audiences and upends U.S. history with his dazzlingly fresh hip-hop musical

American Ingenuity Awards

The New Yorker Editor Who Became a Comic Book Hero

The amazing tale of a determined art director who harnessed the powers of the greatest illustrators around the world to blow kids’ minds

American Ingenuity Awards

The Young Inventor Who Is a “Minder” of a Business of Her Own

At age 11, Lilianna Zyszkowski designed a new life-saving device to help people track their medication. That was just the beginning

American Ingenuity Awards

Smile, Frown, Grimace and Grin — Your Facial Expression Is the Next Frontier in Big Data

Engineer Rana el Kaliouby is set to change the way we interact with our devices—and each other

Theaster Gates' Chicago studio includes a formal gallery and a wood shop.

American Ingenuity Awards

How Theaster Gates Is Revitalizing Chicago’s South Side, One Vacant Building at a Time

The artist’s creative approach to bringing new life to a crumbling neighborhood offers hope for America’s beleaguered cities

Doo Yeon Kim, left, and Rudolph Tanzi

American Ingenuity Awards

The Two Brains at the Forefront of the Fight Against Alzheimer’s

Rudolph Tanzi and Doo Yeon Kim have invented a revolutionary new tool to study the mysteries of the disease and counter the coming epidemic of dementia

Stockholm-Arlanda Airport

Appreciating the Art and Architecture of the World’s Airport Towers

Smithsonian photographer Carolyn Russo traveled the world to capturing these surprisingly elegant structures

Inspired by the ancient art of paper folding researchers hoped to make a device that could both fold itself and move on its own.

Watch This Piece of Paper Fold Itself Up and Walk Away

Scientists created a piece of graphene-based paper that can fold itself into a box, pick up objects and even inch around corners

Four engineering students from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada invented a printer that produces circuit boards in minutes.

This Year’s James Dyson Award Goes to a Circuit Board Printer

Four engineering students in Canada win the prestigious international award with their invention, which they hope will speed up electronics manufacturing

Could This MIT Economist Make Banking Useful to the Poor?

Natalia Rigol is attempting to figure out if community information can help developing world banks decide who to lend to

When You Sweat, Vents in These Clothes Automatically Open

Harnessing the power of bacteria, MIT researchers and New Balance have created breathable workout gear

Hybrid Holism, dress, July 2012. 3D-printed UV-curable polymer. In collaboration with Julia Koerner and Materialise. High Museum of Art.

The Dutch Designer Who Is Pioneering the Use of 3D Printing in Fashion

In a new exhibition, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta shows how Iris van Herpen started a high-tech movement

When people come to the Smithsonian,” says lighting designer Scott Rosenfeld, (inside the gallery displaying the work of mixed media artist Gabriel Dawe) “they want to experience art. They don’t have to worry about spectrum.”

The Renwick Reopens

The Renwick’s New Lighting Saves Energy, Money, Art, and Your Eyes, All at the Same Time

There’s way more to it than just screwing in the bulb and the museum’s chief lighting designer is turning it into an artform

A sugar mold with the University of Michigan logo

A Disaster in the Kitchen Leads to a Breakthrough in the Lab

After a failed attempt at making cotton candy, biomedical engineer Chris Moraes thought to use sugar to mold silicone and study human cells

Samples of cultured meat grown in a laboratory are seen at the University of Maastricht on November 9, 2011. Scientists are cooking up new ways of sustainably feeding the world's hunger for resource-intensive foods like meat products.

Age of Humans

Strange Foods of the Future: The Planet Can Stomach Them, But Can You?

These unusual delicacies could become the staple foods of the future

Page 96 of 153