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Innovation / Technology

One of Brigham Young University engineering professor Larry Howell's initial origami projects was a solar array that compacted to 9 feet during launch, but deployed to 82 feet across in space to generate power.

How Origami Is Revolutionizing Industrial Design

Scientists and engineers are finding practical applications for the Japanese art form in space, medicine, robotics, architecture and more

Transparent wood becomes cloudier as it cools.

This Transparent Wood Could Be an Energy-Saver in Green Buildings

Researchers in Sweden have developed a material, able to store and release heat, that could potentially be used in windows

The National Museum of American History has in its collection this Autoped motor scooter from 1918.

Pop History

The Motorized Scooter Boom That Hit a Century Before Dockless Scooters

Launched in 1915, the Autoped had wide appeal, with everyone from suffragettes to postmen giving it a try

Featuring a small plastic hinge binding both pieces together, this clever container became the perfect way to conceal treats from prying eyes.

Thank One of America’s Most Prolific Inventors for the Hinged Plastic Easter Egg

Donald Weder holds some 1,400 U.S. patents for inventions, including the ubiquitous egg and a process for making plastic Easter grass

Nanayakkara has gone out of his way to ensure students and scientists in his prolific lab are enabled to create based on their interests, and collaborate with each other on their ideas.

Inside Professor Nanayakkara’s Futuristic Augmented Human Lab

An engineer at the University of Auckland asks an important question: What can seamless human-computer interfaces do for humanity?

Scientists and ocean advocates are hoping to find a way to both protect sea turtles and other threatened species and help fishermen make a living.

How Scientists Are Using Real-Time Data to Help Fishermen Avoid Bycatch

Using a strategy called dynamic ocean management, researchers are creating tools to forecast where fish will be—and where endangered species won’t be

The “Human Organ Monitoring Apparatus for Long-distance Travel” (HOMAL) measures the biophyisiologic properties—temperature, pressure, vibration and altitude—of an organ.

Drones’ Newest Cargo Might Just Be Human Organs

Surgeon Joseph Scalea is developing a cooler, biosensors and an online platform with GPS to monitor organs in transport in real time

As a person with autism, Grandin is deeply familiar with the anxiety of being in an unfamiliar environment. She has used her uncommon insight into the experience of livestock to invent a number of systems for improving livestock handling.

Temple Grandin’s Pig-Stunning System Came to Her in a Vision

Patented 20 years ago, the invention never took off. But the renowned animal science professor still thinks its time may come

The Italian poster was created for Lamarr's 1946 World War II film, I Conspiratori (The Conspirators). Her image reflects the allure that led to her being called the “most beautiful woman in the world.”

Ingenious Women

Thank This World War II-Era Film Star for Your Wi-Fi

As the National Portrait Gallery acquires a film poster of Hedy Lamarr, it’s worth reflecting on her double life as an actress and a pioneering inventor

The team with the metamaterial. Reza Ghaffarivardavagh is front-center, Xin Zhang is rear-center.

This New Material Acts Like a Giant Mute Button

The metamaterial silences noise while allowing for airflow, making it a potential soundproofing material for airplanes, HVAC and more

The Patents Behind Basketball

This March Madness consider how the sport has evolved in its 128-year history, through innovations in ball design, hoops and training devices

Ingenious Women

Meet the Female Inventor Behind Mass-Market Paper Bags

A self-taught engineer, Margaret Knight bagged a valuable patent, at a time when few women held intellectual property

Dumbo prepares to fly.

The Original ‘Dumbo’ Story Would Have Had More Twists and Turns

Before soaring into theaters, Disney’s flying elephant was about to be published as a scrolling children’s book

Despite statistical methods that help sports fans improve their brackets, the probability of a perfect bracket remains something of a mystery in mathematics.

The Mathematical Madness Behind a Perfect N.C.A.A. Basketball Bracket

Picking a perfect bracket is so unlikely that it will almost certainly never occur, even if March Madness continues for billions of years

The free, online software uses crowdsourcing and facial recognition to help users identify unknown subjects in Civil War era photographs.

The Computer Scientist Who Wants to Put a Name to Every Face in Civil War Photographs

As Virginia Tech’s Kurt Luther perfects his facial recognition software Civil War Photo Sleuth, the discoveries keep coming

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Ingenious Women

Ingenious Women: A Podcast Series on Women Who Changed the World

In partnership with Wondery’s American Innovations, we celebrate the many contributions of women inventors throughout U.S. history

Margaret Hamilton stands next to a stack of program listings from the Apollo Guidance Computer in a photograph taken in 1969.

Women Who Shaped History

Margaret Hamilton Led the NASA Software Team That Landed Astronauts on the Moon

Apollo’s successful computing software was optimized to deal with unknown problems and to interrupt one task to take on a more important one

Festivalgoers attend the Trade Show during the 2019 SXSW Conference and Festivals this week in Austin, Texas.

Seven Innovations That Made a Splash at This Year’s SXSW

The massive Austin event has become the place for unveiling cutting-edge tech, from educational apps to virtual reality art

In theory, all you’d need to do is give a blood sample and his test would indicate whether you have allergies to a certain substance or not.

Teen Inventor Designs Noninvasive Allergy Screen Using Genetics and Machine Learning

Seventeen-year-old Ayush Alag is one of 40 finalists in this year’s Regeneron Science Talent Search

The Groclock aims to teach little kids to stay in bed until a predetermined time.

Five Technologies That Could Ease the Transition to Daylight Saving Time

Don’t forget, it’s nearly time to “Spring forward!” Here are some strategies to help you deal with the change

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