Science / Technology & Space

Hubble’s Last Hurrah

The orbiting space telescope has captured star births and deaths, galactic collisions and the accelerating expansion of the universe

July 2004

Uncle Sam’s Dolphins

In the Iraq war, highly trained cetaceans helped U.S. forces clear mines in Umm Qasr’s harbor

September 2003

Eureka!

Accident and serendipity played their parts in the inventions of penicillin, the World Wide Web and the Segway super scooter

September 2003

Astronomy’s New Stars

Thanks to new technology, backyard stargazers have traveled light-years of late to join professionals in mapping the heavens

September 2002

Peewee Power

The invention of a gas-fueled generator the size of a quarter heralds a future of ever-smaller machines

July 2002

Second Nature

More and more, innovative scientists are turning to the natural world for inspiration…and design solutions

July 2002

Living Off the Land

Robots that feed themselves could become self-propelled farm machines—or military snipers

July 2001

Smithsonian Science

Extending a Recording Discoveries and Innovation

May 31, 2001

Reaching Toward Space

His 1935 rocket was a technological tour de force, but Robert H. Goddard hid it from history

February 2001

“When Bandogs Howle and Spirits Walk”

Studying the nighttime hours across the centuries, says historian Roger Ekirch, sheds light on preindustrial society

January 1, 2001

A Rare Bird

January 2001

Something’s Fishy about this Robot

When it comes to speed and maneuverability, fish leave man-made submersibles floundering, but RoboTuna and friends may change all that

July 31, 2000

Squaring the Circle Is No Piece of Pi

Mathematicians have sliced, and now supercomputers have crunched, but the mystery of pi goes on and on and…

April 30, 2000

Redefining Robots

At his laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico, researcher Mark Tilden creates machines that march to the beat of a different drummer

February 1, 2000

Making the Chips that Run the World

Making the Chips that Run the World A piece of cake: put 9½ million transistors in a space the size of your thumbnail and allow zero contamination

January 1, 2000

Will the Kitchen Please Shut Up!

Talking oven mitts, anyone? At the Counter Intelligence Project, research wizards are creating the culinary gizmos of tomorrow

September 1999

Science Makes a Better Lighthouse Lens

August 1999

View from the Cockpit

It’s a fast and furious time in science and technology, and a man who knows promises only more of the same

February 1999

Solar? Not in My Backyard!

September 30, 1998

My Answering Machine Sure Had Its Hang-ups

September 1998