Smart News / Smart News Ideas & Innovations

Energy Innovation

People Had To Be Convinced of the Usefulness of Electricity

When electricity came around, it wasn’t immediately seen as a necessity

August 1, 2013

Energy Innovation

Mississippi And Alabama May Be the Sites of the Next Oil Sands Mines

The Mississippi and Alabama governors say they hope to draw upon knowledge and best practice insights established in Alberta

July 30, 2013

Google Translate Can Now Handle Handwriting

Next time you get a hand written note from your hostel mate in a language you can’t understand, you can turn to Google Translate

July 29, 2013

Meet Your Local Farmer Bot

Not so much the dream of the far future, agricultural robots are nearly ready for prime time

July 23, 2013

A New Surgical Knife Identifies Cancerous Tissue As Doctors Are Cutting It Out

The knife cauterizes tissue and then analyzes the smoke produced by the burning flesh using mass spectrometry

July 19, 2013

More HIV Patients Could Get Earlier Treatment

The World Health Organization issued HIV treatments that could impact the number of patients who receive drugs and other support for the condition

July 16, 2013

First Arrest Caught on Google Glass

Google won’t be changing anything in response to the video, but they do say they’re talking to lawmakers about the implications of recording everything

July 9, 2013

These New Windows Let the Summer Breeze In, But Block the Street Noise

A window speckled with little holes will let the air through, but not the sound

July 8, 2013

Wander Harry Potter’s Diagon Alley With Street View

The Diagon Alley set from Harry Potter has been added to Google Street View

July 5, 2013

This Super Weird-Looking Bike Might Break the Speed Record

It has to be pushed to start and caught when he stops to not fall over but this strange fish-shaped bike might be able to beat the speed record

July 5, 2013

If Women Assume Fake Names, They Do Better on Math Tests

Assuming a false name helped women perform better on math tests

July 3, 2013

Buttercup the One-Legged Duck No Longer Has to Hobble

Buttercup’s adorable plight, which concluded on Sunday when engineers successfully outfitted the duck with a 3D printed duck foot

July 3, 2013

Woman Builds a Prosthetic Leg Out of Legos

Vanity prosthetic legs aren’t new - but this is probably the first one built out of LEGOS

July 3, 2013

These Contact Lenses Can Zoom In and Out, Give You Telescopic Vision

These contact lenses can switch your vision back and forth from regular sight to a 2.8x zoom

July 2, 2013

One Thousand Robots Face Off In a Soccer Tournament

The roboticists behind RoboCup want their team of bots to beat the World Cup champions on a level playing field by 2050

July 2, 2013

Pufferfish’s Deadly Toxin Could Help Chemo Patients

Researchers in New Jersey are working on an experimental drug that they hope will provide pain relief to cancer patients going through chemotherapy

June 27, 2013

Batteries Are Now Unbelievably Tiny

A group from Harvard and the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana figured out how to print tiny batteries, no bigger than a grain of sand

June 25, 2013

Now You Can Control Video Games With Your Thoughts Alone

Thinking of blinking sends the paddle sailing in this brain-controlled version of PONG

June 24, 2013

Plan a Psychedelic Wedding with Glowing Dresses Made from Material from Engineered Silkworm

Researchers say they see potential for the glowing silk to be used for some medical technologies, too

June 21, 2013

These People Want to Replace Fruit Stickers With Laser Etched Tattoos

One company is trying to solve the sticker problem by actually laser etching logos onto fruit

June 21, 2013