Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Smart News / Smart News Ideas & Innovations

After Decades of Wishing for a Mars Colony, It May Finally Be Within Reach

With multiple paths to the red planet laid out, we might actually see people on Mars in the next few decades

Electric Bus Charges While It Picks Up Passengers

Utah State University’s buses charge like an electric toothbrush or cell phone while dropping off and picking up passengers

Could a Computer Out-Diagnose Dr. House?

Could computers may make diagnostic wizardry a thing of the past?

Schematic drawings for the transforming robot

A Real, Working Transformer Robot!

This remote-controlled car turns into a walking, missile-shooting robot

None

Getting the Prosthetic Is Easy, Compared to Getting It To Do What You Want

None

Elon Musk’s Plan for Mars Is Really Vague But Definitely Expensive

Like any self-respecting space entrepreneur, Elon Musk has a plan for a Mars colony

None

Different Wars Have Different Sounds

Changing weapons and technologies bring new sounds to the battlefield

A LEGO rover (not the one used in the experiment.)

NASA Uses Interplanetary Internet to Control Robot in Germany

We’re not going to say these are the tools of the robot apocalypse. But, they’re probably the tools of the robot apocalypse

None

A Four-Point Plan For Feeding Nine Billion People

The world is set for food shortages as the population continues to climb. Here are four things we can do to stop it

None

Mine-Hunting Humans And Dolphins To Be Replaced by Robots

Just like human jobs, mine-sniffing dolphins are being replaced by robots

Island Nation Now Runs Entirely On Solar Power

A one-megawatt solar power plant now provides150% of the electricity demand of a small Pacific island nation

New Jersey Will Be Able to Vote Online This Year, But You Probably Never Will

This week, the state is grappling with how to bring their citizens the vote

Cities, Bridges And Burning Man Don’t Build Themselves

As humankind expands into the far reaches of the world - we build things. Bridges, cities, buildings. How do those things get built?

Splat.

Giant Paintball Gun Could Save the World From Death-by-Asteroid

A big asteroid will eventually hit the Earth. What can we do to push it out of the way?

Inside Google’s Top Secret Data Centers

It’s the physical network of thousands of fiber miles and servers that create the multibillion-dollar infrastructure that makes Google Google

More Chocolate, More Nobels

Chocolate consumption statistically relates to Nobel Prizes

Rogue Ales is planning on brewing a new beer from beard yeast.

Brewmaster Makes Beer From His Beard Yeast

Most fermenting species of yeast are found on animals, insects and rotting fruit, so cultivating yeast from a person’s body might not be that far-fetched

Are You an Expert? If Not, Forget the 4-Hour Work Week

The seemingly too-good-to-be-true 4-hour workweek has a few glaring caveats

British Architects Plan to Build a House Entirely From Waste

England will soon begin construction on its first building built entirely from waste

The lower on this gun was made with a 3D printer.

It’s All Fun and Games Until Someone 3D-Prints a Gun

The 3D printing gun idea has taken off, but Stratasys, the company who’s printers are being used, isn’t happy about it. They want their printers back

Page 98 of 101