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Innovation / Innovators

Plastic Whale organizes boat tours along Amsterdam's canals to collect garbage--in particular plastic--which it then recycles and uses the repurposed material to build boats.

Fishing for Plastic Is the Latest Way to Clean Up Amsterdam’s Canals

Plastic Whale offers visitors an opportunity to see the city by boat while also cleaning up its waterways

When Was the Earliest Internet Search?

Years before the birth of the Google, a forgotten experiment laid the groundwork for the ubiquitous search engine

Ad Astra per Astra by America Meredith

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Meet the Little-Known Math Genius Who Helped America Reach the Stars

It’s time for Mary Golda Ross to be remembered as an aerospace pioneer

A 2017 Ducati motorcycle, a Panigale 1299 Superleggera, as-yet unridden, is on view at the Cooper Hewitt in New York City.

A Sensuous Blending of Style and Speed, This Ducati Is Both Art and Machine

An appreciation for the cognoscenti of motorcycles

Sean D. Tucker says the Oracle Challenger III is "truly a magic carpet—just a dream to fly."

This One-of-a-Kind Biplane Embodies the Thrill of Airshow Flight

The Air and Space Museum’s new “We All Fly” gallery will encourage imaginations to soar

Scientists don full-body suits to minimize contamination and disturbance of the precious artifacts uncovered in the 1617 church in Jamestown, Virginia, where a new skeleton awaits identification.

A Jamestown Skeleton is Unearthed, but Only Time—and Science—Will Reveal His True Identity

Jamestown Rediscovery archeologists use new technology to uncover the bones of one of the first English colonists

The Boquera brothers (above, Fèlix) are the fourth generation in their family to work the sea off the Costa Brava of Catalonia.

Catalonia

How a Fallback to Historic Traditions Might Save Catalonia’s Red Shrimp Fishery

The Boquera brothers, two fishermen from the Costa Brava, are part an innovative management plan that combines science with maritime skills and knowledge

Among the colorful characters immortalized in the colorless daguerreotype medium are (clockwise from upper left): writer Henry Thoreau, Seneca leader Blacksnake, Navy Commodore Matthew Perry, mental health crusader Dorothea Dix, showmen P.T. Barnum and Tom Thumb, and actress Charlotte Cushman.

How Daguerreotype Photography Reflected a Changing America

The National Portrait Gallery brings the eerie power of a historic medium into focus

Saturated invites visitors to contemplate the essence of color, and the fascinating ways in which different hues interact.

Future of Art

How Newton, Goethe, an Ornithologist and a Board Game Designer Helped Us Understand Color

A new exhibition at the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum explores the kaleidoscope of figures who shaped color theory

Playing with Native American instruments, fifth-graders from New York City Public School 276 play with percussion instruments made of pelts and other fibers.

How Native Civilizations Innovated to Conquer the Wilderness

A new activity center at the American Indian Museum in NYC sheds light on the original know-how of the Americas

On May 17, 2018, in a gift to posterity, the organizer, publisher and political strategist Mark Segal donated 16 cubic feet of personal papers and artifacts, including the poster above.

Mark Segal, LGBTQ Iconoclast, Activist and Disruptor, Donates Lifetime of Papers and Artifacts

Following the 1969 Stonewall Raid, Segal built a life around protest and the quest for equal rights for minority groups

David Korins' striking design—involving a double turntable, a second level catwalk, scaffolding and ropes, calls to mind the ships that brought the Founding Fathers to America.

Future of Art

Hamilton’s David Korins Explains What Makes the Smash Hit’s Design So Versatile

The renowned designer dishes about the new Hamilton exhibition, precision and metaphor on stage and how the turntables almost didn’t happen

“All ten of this year’s winners present a powerful design perspective and body of work that is at once inclusive and deeply personal,” says the museum's director Caroline Baumann.

Future of Art

America’s Top Designers Are Both Embracing and Breaking With Tradition

Smithsonian’s Cooper Hewitt announces ten National Design Award winners

A new show at the Smithsonian's Cooper Hewitt in New York City looks at how design interacts with other senses beyond vision, like this "smell" map of Amsterdam by Kate McLean that reveals the aroma of the city's restaurants, old book stores, laundromats and other neighborhood sites.

Could Our Housewares Keep Us Healthier?

Some designers are harnessing sound, color, smell and touch in products that promote well-being and independence for all

A Brief History of the Stoplight

How a bright idea shaped our cities and gave the go-ahead to our love affair with the car

Awesome Con provided an opportunity for science fiction and real-life science to play off of one another. The Robot from Netflix's Lost in Space reboot (center) illustrates the former, while the NASA jacket of the con attendee on the right nods to the latter.

The Real Science Behind Your Favorite Nerd Culture at Awesome Con

Astrophysicists, vehicle technicians and biologists joined the party to bring cutting-edge research to fictional worlds

Top to bottom from upper left: Jim Clark, Brenda Laurel, Tony Fadell; Carol Bartz, Steve Wozniak; Kevin Kelly, Nolan Bushnell, Marissa Mayer; Larry Page, Jaron Lanier, Tiffany Shlain

What Will Be the Next Big Thing to Come Out of Silicon Valley?

The titans of technology tell us what they think is coming soon to a planet near you

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