Smart News: Ideas & Innovations | Smithsonian Magazine

The annual release of offshore oil is no accident — it’s a chance to train, test, and prepare for the possibility of a catastrophic oil spill

June 19, 2015

The algorithm ranked the "The Scream" by Edvard Munch as a highly creative work of its time.

New Research

History’s Most Creative Paintings, As Picked by a Computer

Some masters got snubbed

June 18, 2015

Captive chimps now have the same protections as wild ones

June 17, 2015

The project isn’t the enormous high-speed rail alternative that Elon Musk orginialy proposed, but it is close

June 16, 2015

The practice is relatively new and touches on complicated legal and ethical issues

June 16, 2015

Cool Finds

In California, Smart Water Meters Tattle on Wasteful Ways

The internet-connected meters provide nearly real-time feedback on water use

June 16, 2015

Team WPI-CMU’s robot climbs over cinder blocks during the finals of the DARPA Robotic Challenge

It’s like humanoid robots have ended adolescence — awkward clumsiness abounds

June 12, 2015

Fear the claw. More often than no, claw machines are likely rigged for you to lose.

Cool Finds

Here’s How Claw Machines Are Rigged to Make Sure You Lose

That’s why simply grabbing a prize is so deceptively difficult

June 11, 2015

Though still in development, Google's Im2Calorie program can compute the number of calories in a glamor shot of your food.

Google is Trying to Count Calories in Food Porn

All you need is an Instagram photo and an algorithm

June 11, 2015

The outbreak, which spread surprisingly fast, hit farms that produce liquid eggs

June 10, 2015

New Research

This Computer Runs on Water

A new class of computers takes advantage of the physical properties of water

June 10, 2015

Cool Finds

How Non-stick Frying Pans Are Made

Spinning the pans helps coatings apply evenly and makes the process hypnotic

June 10, 2015

Cool Finds

Behind the Scenes at a Tyrannosaurus Rex Dissection

Months of work went into creating a model, life-sized dinosaur for experts to dismember and cut open

June 10, 2015

New Research

Researchers Are Training Robots Using Minecraft

The popular game helps robots learn real-world skills

June 10, 2015

Cool Finds

This is What it Looks Like When a GoPro Falls From Space

SpaceX put a camera in a payload fairing for its Falcon 9 rocket

June 8, 2015

The Cavendish banana is succumbing to a disease that wiped out its predecessor

June 5, 2015

“Fake Willy” nearly drowned on its mission to drive sea lions out of Astoria, Oregon

June 5, 2015

The little blue pill is nothing like flibanserin, the sexual dysfunction drug for women recently approved by an FDA advisory committee.

As the FDA weighs the merits of a new drug to boost female libido, it’s clear this is not a little blue pill for women

June 5, 2015

An artist’s concept of NASA’s Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator

Trending Today

NASA Will Launch a Flying Saucer Soon

Weather has kept the test vehicle, designed to land softly on Mars, grounded for the moment but the launch window is still open

June 4, 2015

Cool Finds

Japanese Elevators May Soon Have Toilets

Earthquake-trapped travelers could have access to running water in elevators

June 4, 2015

Smart News / Smart News Ideas & Innovations